As a Dreamer of Dreams and a Travelin' Man, I Have Chalked Up Many a Mile

Congratulations to Mr. Joel Weckerly for correctly naming “Jealous Again” by the Black Crowes as a recent song of the day and also to Mr. Patrick Vincent for correctly naming “The General” by Dispatch as the Song of the Day from last Friday.

I had a great first week out on Mt. Shavano (14, 229 ft.) with a group from the East Brainerd Church of Christ in Chattanooga, TN. It is always fun to have a group on trail that has never experienced Wilderness Trek before because their eyes are always opened by things that I often take for granted. Much thanks to Dr. Glenn Beasley for his support on our trip as an adult sponsor from East Brainerd. Dr. Glenn took a great number of pictures during the trip and I hope to be able to post some of them in the coming days for your viewing pleasure.

You might notice in the aforementioned photos and from the title of my previous post that I am declaring this “The Summer of the Beard.” I caught a little bit of the bug during the Drive for Five, but this time the journey will not end in a disturbing mustache, but in two months away from a razor for my face. I will continue to shave my neck to avoid the development of what some might call a neck beard or a “neard.” I’ll try to provide weekly visual updates of my progress. Feel free to send samples of Rogaine to aid me in my quest.

Next week I am going to have a group from the Southlake Church of Christ in Southlake, TX. We will be climbing Mt. Ouray together. The only time that I have previously climbed Mt. Ouray was at the beginning of the 2004 summer but that trip was a memorable one. I had the group from the Impact Church in downtown Houston that featured a young man named Alex Gonzales who had probably watched a little too much “Chappelle Show”.

I say this because Mr. Gonzales constantly referred to himself in the third person as “Rick James.” For instance, he would say something along the lines of “Rick James is never cold,” “Rick James isn’t afraid of any bear”, and my personal favorite, “Rick James can’t get giardia.” I’m not sure how that last one turned out, but I do know that the dreaded “G” has brought a great number of people to their begging knees or at least to their nearest commode.

Quick Thoughts on a Saturday Night:
• There is something inherently enjoyable about reading Black Hawk Down in a Laundromat while listening to the Gladiator soundtrack on your iPod. Some of the people folding their clothes actually looked like members of the barbarian horde.
• I already miss good Mexican food.
• Henry Weinhard might just have made a deal with the devil when he developed his root beer recipe.
• Watermelon always tastes better when you have carried it up to high camp at 10,000 ft. It also tastes a lot better when you don’t have to hold it for 3 hours in an amphitheater.