Vacation?

From Dungpileton:

  

Nearest Relative - 4 hours, San Antonio

Friend Martha and family - 6 hours, Texas Rio Grande Valley

Friends Andrea and Josh - 9 hours, Lubbock

Friends Rob and Sue - 16 hours, Durango, CO

When vacationing to visit I try to keep a semblance of normalcy comparable to what I do at home such as exercise, proper diet, journal writing et cetera.  It never works out that way.  Avoiding junk food is the first discipline to fail.  McDonalds may serve artificial, salty fat laden offal but dammit, I love those McGriddles!  On the road it’s a constant battle to not stay sedentary but even when you think you are exercising enough to stave off the pounds somehow it’s not enough and you end up with a bloated, distended stomach.  In Lubbock I helped Andrea with her landscaping business – cleaning out flower beds and hauling brush from trees pruned by her son Josh.  Six to eight hours a day for 3 days would not have been that daunting if I had not twisted my knee and reinjured a hamstring on a morning run.  Lubbock, being the dreary conservative town that it is, promotes a fat, sedentary life rather than fitness therefore there are no bike and jogging paths.  You are on your own negotiating vehicles and uneven ground as you run.  If dressed properly the temperatures in the 20’s is not a hindrance and actually better than Dungpileton because the humidity is lower.  Without Vicodin I relied on daily dosages of Motrin to get by.   

 

Glitter the horse.  Lubbock Texas

 After day three I took to the road for Durango, CO to visit Robert and Sue, my friends of 30+ years.  As I entered into Colorado from New Mexico I had this feeling of reaching friendly lines because marihuana is legal for purchasing in this state.  Just a feeling I couldn’t act on because I have to follow the no drug policies set down by the Man which will remain in effect until I retire. There was no delusion of taking it easy here.  Rob is an avid trail runner and hiker.  Ten miles hiking in the mountains in winter is a walk in the park for him but this was my limit.  We took to the mountains on the second day.  I wore Hi-Tec Gortex shoes, gaiters and additional layers of clothing that worked effectively in the snow and temperatures which hovered around freezing.  Three hours and 8 miles later we were back at the trail head.  This was the peak of my exertion for the remainder of the visit. 

Colorado Trail to Gudy's Rest

With Robert Graham at Gudy's Rest, Colorado Trail

Durango, CO

I was bloated, broken down and passing kidney stones.  It was back to Lubbock for Joshua’s birthday then exile in Dungpileton where I am now recovering from my vacation.   

The Pit

Another adventure crossed off the bucket list.  I picked up Josh at the airport and checked into the hotel hours before our concert – Huntress, Testament, Kill Switch Engage and Lamb of God.  The concert was at the Verizon Theater in Grand Prairie.  Arriving at 6:00 pm we passed through a security check and with our special permit were allowed to enter the mosh pit section in front of the stage where the first band, Huntress (http://huntresskills.com/bio/), was playing.  The lead singer, Jill Janus, mesmerized the crowd with her angelic voice and the rapturous I want to fuck you to death felt like she was singing it only for me.   

Predictably the more seasoned thrash metal bands had more stage craft and a bigger following.  Testement (http://www.testamentlegions.com/site/) was followed by Kill Switch Engage (http://www.killswitchengage.com) and had I understood what the lead singer was saying I too would be singing the lyrics with the crowd.

 

By the time Lamb of God (http://www.lamb-of-god.com/home) came on the pit was filled to capacity with intoxicated participants.  People started slamming into each other and into the spectators which threw you back into the middle of the pit.  One standard etiquette of mosh pits is that if you are slammed to the ground the nearest people will help your up.  As I was four or five times. The pit ebbed and flowed with the music; people standing between songs then on cue with another song started the pit again.  I was in and out of the pit for about 3 hours and came out physically unscathed but thoroughly bruised and knowing I would pay for this in the morning.  

All these bands will never be played on mainstream radio.  I think its best they aren’t given air time with the rest of the phony pretentious crap that passes for popular music today.

The Color Run

The Color Run is a nationwide running event that is not competitive.  People can run or walk the 3 mile course where every mile they are showered with non-toxic yellow, red, green or blue dust.  This was held in Houston.