Dana Peak Park

A couple years ago I went hiking at a park here in central Texas. The landscape, with its rugged, hilly terrain breaking up the skyline and various plants and wildlife, was serene. It was not as breathtaking as say, Alaska or the Olympic National Park in Washington, but it was spectacular in it’s own right. I remember as I was walking a jack rabbit had ran off out in front of me. I stopped and watched him run off in a clumsy manner, as though he wasn’t sure of where to go. Once he was gone through the nearest brush, I kept standing there taking in the environment that lay before me. It was then and there when I felt it. Texas had reached out and grabbed my very soul.

Unwinding From Everyday Life

Today is my first day of leave (vacation) from the Army so I celebrated the best way I know how, I went for a ride. It wasn’t a long ride but a ride none the less. I left post through the north-west side which is on the way to all the training areas. Heading down the road I was able to see some M109 Paladin’s traveling along the tank trails which crossed the road directly in front of me. I slowed down and finally came to a stop so as to not become part of the pavement. As they finished passing, I thought that it would be a good opportunity to use my new FujiFilm Finpix S1800 camera and get a few shots of them as they crossed back over the hardball on their way to their training area.

Destination: Inks Lake State Park Part II.

After having one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had we decided to continue on our ride the rest of the way down Park Road 4. We got outside and were taking pictures of the café. A gentleman came out of the store and offered to take our picture, which we accepted, he must’ve hit the wrong button because there were none of us together when we got back home and looked. Anyway, we thanked him and he got on his little 4 wheeler and sped across the street to Perissos Vineyards. After getting home I googled the vineyard, turns out that guy was the owner.

Destination: Inks Lake State Park Part I.

Saturday morning I awoke to the sound of my blinds flapping back and forth against the window due to the wind. We got up, got dressed and made last minute preparations for the trip ahead. Upon walking out the door I realized that the wind, though pretty gusty, was not about to keep us from enjoying the day. We geared up, broke the silence with the low rumble of the bike and headed out. The plan that had been conjured up the night before was to take a few country roads heading south from Ft. Hood to FM963. FM963 is a beautiful, twisting farm road that runs along parts of Rocky Creek with some nice views of the creek. On the other side of the creek are some ridges that make for excellent views and photo opportunities. Just take extra caution where you stop, some of the curves are quite sharp and cars have little warning coming around the those turns. Before long we left the fun part of FM 963 and it straightened out before intersecting US 183. Before crossing the intersection, we caught a few glimpses of kangaroos and ostriches.

Safety In Group Riding

Today I went riding with a group of people. 39 to be exact. It was a motley bunch, men/women, old/young, experienced/not-so-experienced, cruisers/sport bikes. As fun, enjoyable and relaxing riding can be, one of the most overlooked aspect of riding is safety. Ugh, safety, really? I sound like some old geezer, huh? Well, I’m a 37 year old geezer who is still alive because I take safety seriously and you should too. If you don’t agree with me, research the statistics and get back with me.

Riding with a group can be a fun, rewarding experience creating memories to last a lifetime. It can also be detrimental to the safety of the group when inexperienced riders join along. The same can be said for seasoned riders who are not used to group riding. There are many reasons for this and it is not my intention to cover them all.  I will, however, cover a few that I personally noticed during my most recent group ride.

Balcones Canyonlands, FM1431

Today was a beautiful, sunny day here in central Texas. We, my gorgeous wife and I, took advantage of the weather and went for a “short” ride to enjoy the scenic Hill Country in all it’s beauty. The route we chose was discussed last night and we almost followed it precisely. We were to go explore several roads that we had passed by on several occasions but have never went down that way. Here is a link to the route we took so you can zoom in and pan: Map of Route.