Day 44 (Mon., July 12)

What a great trip this is turning out to be. Today was awesome with a capital A. The Guadalupe River State Park is beautiful, and so is everything around it. I started the day by getting up early and jogging four miles to set the pace. Once my run was over I had to enjoy the river. So, I got in it and I swam. The good thing about jogging and swimming at the Guadalupe River early on a Monday morning is that the park becomes all yours. I ran and there was no one else on the dirt road. I swam and no one was on the river. How perfect is that? You feel as if this great natural beauty is ALL YOURS.

After having a light breakfast I decided to leave the park. Not because I was bored of it, but because I knew there was a lot more things to see than just the park. So, I got on the truck, alerted the Park Rangers that I will be staying one more night and hit the road. I decided to stay one more night because I got here so late on Sunday (at 6 p.m.) that I knew I would miss a lot if I were to leave this morning. I don't have to be at work until mid-day on Tuesday, so I will just get up extra early and make the four-hour journey back home just in time to make it to work. I just know I would regret leaving early if I did.

 

So, once on the road I figured to FINALLY go to San Antonio. It has been a dream of mine to go to San Antonio. Ever since watching the movie Selena in theaters when I was in high school. In that movie, Selena, played by Jennifer Lopez, and her boyfriend go the San Antonio Riverwalk and have what looks to be a very romantic evening. Y'all know I am all about romance. So, at a young high school age of 17, I decided that someday I would visit San Antonio and see for myself how romantic this riverwalk really is. Driving to San Antonio was harmless. In less than 45 minutes I was there. I decided that the first place I would see would be the Alamo. I have heard all the rage about this place. I wanted to see it all for myself. Luckily, I only gave myself two hours in San Antonio, so I didn't spend too much time there. I say luckily because I have issues with the Alamo. Being a strong Chicano male, I have been influenced by my Chicano Studies professors, particularly Rudy Acuna, at Cal State University, Northridge. Their influence has led me to understand a different meaning for the Alamo. I guess I wanted to see it all for myself. Once there, the relentless was there and I knew why. They make the Alamo as such a shrine for whatever happened in history. I won't go too much into the misconceptions. But, I will say that going there was a huge disappointment. Especially when I was asked to take my hat off to enter the Alamo because "it's just custom" as the usher told me. He said that the place used to be a mission and had a different name before. But now is the Alamo and it's not a mission anymore and it no longer has any Catholic connotations... I thought long and hard about this. So, I am taking my hat off because this was once a mission and it's is not anymore because of some stupid battle? What the...????? ... Also, I saw a lot of memorabilia about this guy named David Crockett. They made him seem so strong and so much liked and so successful. But nowhere on here I saw that it explained how Mr. Crockett got his ass kicked by the opposition. Urgh. Biased I say, Biased!

 

"Wooohoooo!!! The riverwalk!" I thought as I bumped into it. I was walking the streets looking for it, when suddenly I looked below and there it was. The place I have been wanting to every summer since I was 18 years old. Seven years later, I was finally there. Too bad I went during the day, I bet the scenery is a lot more romantic during the evening. But anyhow, this was still quite the romantic place. You can have lunch at one of the restaurants on the riverside. I definitely have to come back here and spend some time. Maybe with a date other than my camera. Maybe with my wife, whenever that happens. I don't care. I am coming back, regardless.

I was driving back to the campsite when I noticed a flock of birds on the side of the road. Most people, I think, would have just kept on driving. But what does Julio do when he sees something like that? He sees a photo op. I pulled over and noticed the birds were having quite a feast -- eating a dead deer that was on the side of the road. The cause for the deer's death is unkown. It did seem that it had been there for more than a week as there were some indications, which I do not care to specify because of the poor animal. Once at the campsite, I decided to go to the river and shoot more featury-type photos. Here they are:

Caption: John Murphy, 33, of Austin calls it a day after fishing off the Guadalupe River all day long on Monday July 12, 2004.

Caption: 1-year-old Javier Morales' feet dangle off his chair on the Guadalupe River as his brother Julien (right) enjoys the water on Monday July 12, 2004.

Caption: Water flows freely as it makes its way down the Guadalupe River on Monday July 12, 2004.

Caption: A tree is backgrounded by the Guadalupe River. Camp rangers say that a few weeks ago, when the current was real high because of strong rainfall, the Guadalupe River water flow was well above this tree.

As you can tell I had a great day today. As always, I learned a thing or two. I decided to close out the day by adding a photo of when I was working on the web site, like yesterday. Today, however, I jumped on the bed of my Tacoma truck and worked from there while listening to some good music. Right now it's sort of scary knowing that someone around me can be looking at me, but I can't see them because it's so dark out here.

Well, the fun is almost over. I just had dinner and picked up. I will be sleeping for a few hours and then I will hit the road before sunrise in order to beat the traffic on the way back to the metroplex. This camping trip taught me a lot about myself. It taught me how selfish I am by not bringing anyone along. Actually, I offered the intern community the chance to come along, but since I was going to be here on Monday, and most people work on that day, then they couldn't. Needless to say, I had a great time. Yeah, I was lonely, but sometimes that's real good. It makes you grow as a person. This weekend rocked. I was able to see fireflies for the first time since I was 8 years old. That was a long time ago. I am just glad to have that experience again. And I hope that next camping trip, I get to enjoy it with good quality people. Just like this one -- with Cookie Monster, with my cameras, and, of course, with myself.

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