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36 hours of mostly FAIL.
Jun. 21st, 2012 07:23 pmI left home at 6:30 AM yesterday to try to access some historical sites, all on private property, as research for a book project I've been mulling for a couple years now.
At about 12:30 PM I reached the site of Camp Colorado, a Civil War era frontier fort near Coleman, Texas. Most of the site is now behind a twelve foot chain-link fence... because it's a private game ranch. No access, no contact info to get access, nothing.
I spend some time in downtown Coleman talking to Mr. Terry, a local artist and the chief historian of the county. I learn a couple things: first, that the Colorado River crossing I'd chosen for a critical moment in the planned book is NOT on the pre-Civil War military trail. The old Military Crossing is a bit further east... and completely inaccessible by car. Yay.
The crossing I'd picked out before, near a height known as Parks Mountain, has dirt roads- on MapQuest and my GPS, anyway- that come within sight of the river. I drive up and down dirt roads to an old crossroad called Whon, TX... and find, yes, ANOTHER game ranch. I didn't get within four miles of the north bank. Back out to the highway, across the bridge, down another dirt road... to discover not a game ranch, but a much older fence and gate with a NO TRESPASSING sign almost rusted to illegibility. The remains of the road past the gate are barely detectable. It would still be a three-quarter mile hike from that point, and without the road it would be easy enough to get lost, so I decided not to trespass.
I arrived at my reserved hotel in Brady, TX at 4 in the afternoon on the longest day of the year. I COULD have done all of this TODAY instead of yesterday and lost no time at all. The hotel night was wasted, except I got a lot of editing done on the final draft of the next release of Mu Beta Epsilon.
I took a late breakfast today in Fredericksburg (an omelet at the Bakerei on Main Street- delicious but too expensive for what I got) and spent a little bit at the Frontier Museum. For practical purposes all I learned there was that Fredericksburg town was of a decent size even in 1861.
My last stop on my history tour was to have been Government Canyon State Natural Site... which is closed Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday thanks to state government penny-pinching. For most purposes, the whole detour was a flat-assed FAILURE.
I get to my hotel way too early and decide, on the spur of the moment, to see if I can collect some more info in downtown San Antonio. Unfortunately a tire FAILS on the van, forcing me to call AAA to get a tow ACROSS the freeway to a tire shop. Foreign object damage? Nope- a split sidewall, irreparable. They charge me not quite $30 for a used tire, NOT balanced. In the meantime I notice a small part of the sidewall on the tire opposite the one that failed- a spot about as big as my thumb- bulging outwards slightly. This tire is also about to fail- sooner rather than later.
So, to Wal-Mart for two brand-new tires. Yay, unwanted and unexpected expense.
Were the tires already damaged before the trip? Were they damaged on the unpaved county roads of west Texas? Dunno. No real way of knowing. But I'm marking them down as a consequence of the detour and its extra driving anyway.
I did eventually get to spend an hour downtown, learning not much new, before checking into my room, then getting some microwavable food for the weekend.
So here's my expenses for the trip:
ESTIMATED GAS FOR TRIP: $160 ($60 of which burned by detour)
HOTEL EXPENSE FOR TRIP: about $210 ($56 for hotel night in Brady)
FOOD EXPENSE THUS FAR: about $75 ($40 on detour)
TIRES: $240 or so
BOOTH COST FOR TEXAS COMICON: $175
OTHER EXPENSES: $10
So, what with one thing and another, I'm down at least $870 on this trip, right?
I won't get to load into the show until 6 AM or so tomorrow... but I've already been by the facility to see how it's laid out.
It's in a former big-box store. In a fairly bad part of San Antonio (not that there are many good parts- people with money prefer to live in the subdivisions and bedroom burgs north of town).
It isn't the weekend until at least tomorrow, but I'm calling it now: SUCK WEEKEND.
If you're anywhere near San Antonio this weekend, come help CHANGE that.
At about 12:30 PM I reached the site of Camp Colorado, a Civil War era frontier fort near Coleman, Texas. Most of the site is now behind a twelve foot chain-link fence... because it's a private game ranch. No access, no contact info to get access, nothing.
I spend some time in downtown Coleman talking to Mr. Terry, a local artist and the chief historian of the county. I learn a couple things: first, that the Colorado River crossing I'd chosen for a critical moment in the planned book is NOT on the pre-Civil War military trail. The old Military Crossing is a bit further east... and completely inaccessible by car. Yay.
The crossing I'd picked out before, near a height known as Parks Mountain, has dirt roads- on MapQuest and my GPS, anyway- that come within sight of the river. I drive up and down dirt roads to an old crossroad called Whon, TX... and find, yes, ANOTHER game ranch. I didn't get within four miles of the north bank. Back out to the highway, across the bridge, down another dirt road... to discover not a game ranch, but a much older fence and gate with a NO TRESPASSING sign almost rusted to illegibility. The remains of the road past the gate are barely detectable. It would still be a three-quarter mile hike from that point, and without the road it would be easy enough to get lost, so I decided not to trespass.
I arrived at my reserved hotel in Brady, TX at 4 in the afternoon on the longest day of the year. I COULD have done all of this TODAY instead of yesterday and lost no time at all. The hotel night was wasted, except I got a lot of editing done on the final draft of the next release of Mu Beta Epsilon.
I took a late breakfast today in Fredericksburg (an omelet at the Bakerei on Main Street- delicious but too expensive for what I got) and spent a little bit at the Frontier Museum. For practical purposes all I learned there was that Fredericksburg town was of a decent size even in 1861.
My last stop on my history tour was to have been Government Canyon State Natural Site... which is closed Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday thanks to state government penny-pinching. For most purposes, the whole detour was a flat-assed FAILURE.
I get to my hotel way too early and decide, on the spur of the moment, to see if I can collect some more info in downtown San Antonio. Unfortunately a tire FAILS on the van, forcing me to call AAA to get a tow ACROSS the freeway to a tire shop. Foreign object damage? Nope- a split sidewall, irreparable. They charge me not quite $30 for a used tire, NOT balanced. In the meantime I notice a small part of the sidewall on the tire opposite the one that failed- a spot about as big as my thumb- bulging outwards slightly. This tire is also about to fail- sooner rather than later.
So, to Wal-Mart for two brand-new tires. Yay, unwanted and unexpected expense.
Were the tires already damaged before the trip? Were they damaged on the unpaved county roads of west Texas? Dunno. No real way of knowing. But I'm marking them down as a consequence of the detour and its extra driving anyway.
I did eventually get to spend an hour downtown, learning not much new, before checking into my room, then getting some microwavable food for the weekend.
So here's my expenses for the trip:
ESTIMATED GAS FOR TRIP: $160 ($60 of which burned by detour)
HOTEL EXPENSE FOR TRIP: about $210 ($56 for hotel night in Brady)
FOOD EXPENSE THUS FAR: about $75 ($40 on detour)
TIRES: $240 or so
BOOTH COST FOR TEXAS COMICON: $175
OTHER EXPENSES: $10
So, what with one thing and another, I'm down at least $870 on this trip, right?
I won't get to load into the show until 6 AM or so tomorrow... but I've already been by the facility to see how it's laid out.
It's in a former big-box store. In a fairly bad part of San Antonio (not that there are many good parts- people with money prefer to live in the subdivisions and bedroom burgs north of town).
It isn't the weekend until at least tomorrow, but I'm calling it now: SUCK WEEKEND.
If you're anywhere near San Antonio this weekend, come help CHANGE that.
