As I said in my last blog, I can feel the anticipation building as I move closer to next month and dealing with the 3 separate grants + moving + programmatic setup(s). I decided that I would get out of Houston and go camping for a couple of days. You know, I think it’s been more than 20 years since I’ve been camping : /

On my way to the campgrounds, I ran across some creepy places… so you know I had to stop and take pictures!

First, I found a cool abandoned motor lodge:

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And, I had to peek inside…

I was amazed to find that one closet was full of 1960s/70s era clothes:

Here’s the Motel sign. I wish I could make out the name,

Then I found an abandoned house. This one looked too rickety to risk going in though:

So, here’s some pics of the campground:

Here’s me at the campfire:

Warming up my feet:

Oh yah, almost I forgot. I ran across what seemed to be an old family graveyard while I was out. So, you know I had to check that out:

I liked this name: Hudson Oliphint.

I love when I run across folksy epitaphs: “No pains, no griets, no anxious fear, can reach our loved one sleeping here.”

So, it was really, really nice to run way for a couple of days. My first day kinda sucked because the people next to me were incapable of shutting the hell up! They brought a baby (who wouldn’t shut up crying), a dog (that wouldn’t shut up barking), 3 teens (who played music and wouldn’t shut up) and to top it off, their parents were kinda pathetic. The father would ask the kids to do something and when they wouldn’t, the mother would screech and scream at them – at which point they would screech and scream and the mother and the mother would loudly bemoan the fact that she didn’t have 3 abortions and then the teens would go back to what they were (loudly) doing. They didn’t shut up until 11.

When it got dark, I took my telescope and drove down to the edge of the water to do some stargazing. The sky was kinda hazy, so I wasn’t able to get a good look at Jupiter. However, since the moon wasn’t full, I was able to take a really close look at the surface of the moon (I didn’t have a moon filter). I could sit looking at the moon for hours and hours!

Anyway, my neighbors packed up Monday and I was left with nothing but peace and quite. Ah… it was so nice! I hiked for several miles and basically did a lot of communing with nature. My tent roof is mesh without the rain covering, so I was able to lay in my bed and gaze up at the trees and stars. It was all so beautiful, I started to weep. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to spend this much time with nature; I feel as if my batteries were recharged!

I had to take off earlier than I wanted to since I had a 3 PM appointment with the Havens Center representative at the Path of Tea. I had lunch from the Field of Greens and before my appointment, Rudy What’s-His-Name (I think he’s a coach of something in Houston) came in for a business meeting. I thought I’d get a pic cus’ I thought that it would be funny to have the big bad coach of a pro sports team getting a pic (even if it is a horrid post-camping photo) with a tranny 🙂