Day 43 (Sun., July 11)

Caption: Marianne Rodriguez (right), 17, and her nephew, Anthony Rodriguez, 10, both of San Antonio, jump off a boulder in the middle of the Guadalupe River. Anthony said it was hard to jump off the rock because the current was strong.

So, as I mentioned yesterday, today I was off on my little camping trip to the Guadalupe River in Texas. This place is located about 30 miles North-West of San Antonio and it took me 282 miles to get her from Dallas. I loved this little trip. I was selfish today. I didn't want anyone coming along. Of course, if I had the opportunity to enjoy this with someone, I would have liked it. But the alone time today was great. I was able to do a lot of thinking. That's good. So, let me give you the run down of what happened today.

First, I woke up early, but I knew I couldn't go anywhere without clean clothing. Sunday's are usually my laundry day, and today I had to get it done. Otherwise, I would have not had any clean clothes for this trip, and for the rest of the week. Once on the road I was able to concentrate on my trip. In the last five weeks in Dallas, I have learned that it is always good to be doing something new every weekend. Otherwise, you could go a little bored. Dallas is a fun city, but you just can't do the same thing over and over again. Today's agenda was to get away from the city and forget about work and forget about the other crap that has been in my mind lately. Did I follow that agenda? Of course not, Julio's kinda against set rules...

It would have been nice to spend a weekend without worrying about work. And to some extend, the first part of this two-day trip happened like that. I repeat, to some extent. On the way to the river, I drove through Waco. You probably remember Waco, Texas from the stuff that happened here in the early 90s. I don't remember the guy who was leading the cult that had major coverage in the early 90s. I remember a little about it. These people refused to go out of some house in Waco and burnt it down. They were trying to kill themselves because they were going to get into heaven, or something. I was 12 (I think) when that happened. All I remember was the smoke and the word Waco. Anyways, just a few miles south of Waco, traffic came to a complete stop. A Ford SUV got into a major car accident and members of the family in it had to go to the hospital. The impact, according to witnesses and evidence on the side of the road, was so hard that it flipped the big SUV and left it on its side. Two injured people were airlifted. Two others were sent via regular ambulance. I sneaked my way to the front of the line, because I was about 3/4 of a mile behind the scene when the traffic completely stop. As I got to the front and I was taking photos, I thought to myself: "damn, I thought u weren't going to work?"... "Oh well, this is kinda newsworthy."

Here are a few more featury-type photos of this news event:

Caption: Ronnie Gaines, 20, (left) looks on as an emergency helicopter takes off with two injured people who were hurt on a car accident in Waco, Texas Sunday July 11 on the southbound side of the Interstate 35 highway. Gaines, who lives in Waco, was on his way to visit his parents, who live in Temple, Tex. He said the drive is usually about 25 minutes, but not today.

Caption: Motorists were frustrated that the southbound Interstate 35 highway came to a stall in Waco, Texas on July 11, 2004. However, not all those stuck in traffic were upset. In fact, Leann Park, 15, or Grand Prairie, Texas, took advantage of the strong sun rays and tanned her feet as she hung them from outside her window. Park and her family were on their way to San Antonio.

 

Caption: Officer James makes his investigation as he is seen through the shattered windshield of a Ford SUV truck that was involved in an accident that forced the southbound Interstate 35 highway to shut down on Sunday July 11, 2004.

So, those are the feature photos that I came up with while being stuck in traffic, sort of. Technically, I could have kept on going once I sneaked my way to the front of the line. But, being the nosy photojournalist, I had to make sure that I took advantage of the situation. I just can't believe that on a day when I least wanted to work, I ended up busting my butt. Hey, I guess this helps for good practice to always be ready for whatever happens.

So, anyways. Back to the trip. It took me five hours to make the four-hour trip. Ok, don't blame me for being late. I spent 40 minutes of good quality time with the accident on the highway. When I finally got to the camp site, I set up my tent (grrrr, i forgot the nails or the spikes that hold down my tent. Oh well, it's not windy) and then I just hung out. I started my stay here by making sure I did my daily deed of running. So, I went running about three miles in the Guadalupe River woods. Whew, I thought for a second there, that I was going to have a blemish on my "run every day in July" goal. Luckily, I was able to get that run in. It felt so good doing it. Clean air! Clean air! Clean air! What a concept? I think I could have ran for three more without a sweat, but being that I have a heavy schedule for my next two days here, I thought I'd take it easy. After running, I decided to go in the river and enjoy the water. However, some inconvenience happened: I brought my date, which is my camera. She took all my attention and I ended up shooting a lot of photos and never got in the river. Well, I did, to take photos of kids in the water, but not because I wanted to cool off. Tomorrow, my date stays in the truck while I go swim.

Caption: Teresa Custer, 16, of San Antonio hangs out by the Guadalupe River. It was her first time to the river, which is 30 miles north-east of San Antonio.

Being here, while camping alone has its good and bad sides. It's great because it's time to think. Since I have been a loner for the past day, I have been thinking a lot. It's always good to think. The bad side is that it's too quiet. At the campground there is just one other family. A man and his two children. I know it's quality father and children time, so I won't go over there and start a conversation. However, it's not that bad as I have my usual crime partner Cookie Monster with me. If you look at the photo below, you will see exactly what I am doing at this moment. I am editing photos and updating the web site, while Cookie Monster helps out in deciding what goes into the web site. Most of you already know about my Cookie Monster. He is the greatest. I take him with me everywhere. Well, he is my travel buddy. I also have a second Cookie Monster, which stays at my bed at all times. I call the Cookie Monster with me today "My Roll Dawg", because where ever I go, he rolls with me. The Cookie Monster at home, well he's my "Hommie" for obvious reasons. Yeah, so what? I'm a grown man who likes his freaking teddy bear!!! Laugh all you want. I'm happy and just like my camera, when CM is my date, he never talks back. :) I was telling Maria about Cookie Monster and the night we both spent the most romantic time of my life, the other day. I told her that last November, when I took my lonely camping trip to Death Valley, California, I had the best night of my life. I camped out under the clouds. It's not usual to see clouds in Death Valley. Well, that night it rained. It rained all night and all happened that night was that the rain drops kept hitting the tent while I listened to Jazz. Cookie Monster and I had a blast that night. Yeah, go ahead laugh again. I don't care. I am a romantic guy and you don't always need a partner to be romantic. As a matter of fact, as I write this and CM looks over my work, the rain drops are hitting the tent -- again. I have great luck when I go camping by myself. I guess it was good to be selfish today.

 

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