Archive for March, 2006

Cumberland Island & PFC Sandow

Wednesday, March 15th, 2006

Trail to campsite

As a stated in my last journal, Michelle and I were going to go to Cumberland Island for springbreak. The ride down took all night, but once we got there it was great. The ferry left at 9:45 and we got to the island with our gear around 11:00. On the ride to the island we saw some awesome birds and even a dolphin. After registering with the ranger on the island, we hiked to our campsite down a deserted, but beautiful trail. Most of the island is covered with these amazing oak trees with Spanish moss hanging from them. Our campsite (which for some reason I didn’t get a picture of) was completely enclosed by these trees and meadows of young palm trees. We set up camp, made a quick lunch of Ramen noodles, and set off to explore the island.

The diversity of the island is probably the most amazing thing to me. From the beautiful and strange maritime forests [1|2|3|4|5] we came to the sand dunes [1|2|3|4]. Once we passed through the protected sand dunes on the boardwalk [1|2|3|4], we walked out to the beach. A mile and a half walk south along the beach brought us to one of the marshes. A short walk north on the opposite Dungenessside of the island brought us to the part of the island where the ruins of the Dungeness lie. There are several run down buildings on the island, but the Dungeness [1|2|3|4] tops them all. All around the island there is amazing wildlife; from armadillos [1|2] to wild horses [1|2|3|4|5] you don’t know what you’ll run into.

We ended up hiking around 5-6 miles the first day, so we hit the tent with the sunset. The next day was spent exploring more. There’s so much to do. We only covered a tenth of the island in our three days. On the last day we watched the sunrise on the beach. We also built a sand castle [1|2|3|4] and saw a dead jelly fish.

I had gotten a cold on the second day, so I wasn’t feeling so great on the way back. Michelle drove, I tried to sleep, but I ended up staying awake the whole time. I did take one picture on the way back of the trucks that were in front of us.


Kent got in on the 8th from Iraq. He was supposed to be there are 7:20 AM, but ended up showing up around 1:00. Since I didn’t know the flight he was on, or what country he was coming in from, I just hung around the airport until he got there. He’s been getting over his jetlag and having fun here since then. I’m taking him to the airport tomorrow so he can go visit with his family. He’ll get back on the 22nd, only to fly back to Iraq on the 24th.

Myspace, Spring Break & Mountain Bikes

Friday, March 3rd, 2006

I’ve never liked Myspace. There is nothing about it that is appealing, except for the ability to have a free “website.” Offering such a large free service means that there are ads… tons of ads. Also, many users have incredibly bad taste when it comes to customizing their page. Most end up with a layout that is so obnoxious that you can neither read the text or navigate. I wouldn’t have a Myspace account if is wasn’t for the fact that a lot of my friends have them. Without an account of your own you can’t look at posted pictures or leave a message. I’ve had an account for three years now, and have only posted two blogs. The first one was a link to this website; the second, posted today, told of my hatred of Myspace along with another link to this site.

Spring break officially started for me Wednesday night, due to my lack of Tuesday, Thursday or Friday classes. Since I have an interview with the police department at the end of next week, Michelle and I are going away for a few days starting Sunday. We’ll be spending some quality time at Cumberland Island. It’s a great place to get away from everything. The ferry runs twice a day, and besides the Ranger’s Station, wild horses, armadillos, beavers, and other wild animals there’s really nothing else on the island. It’ll be awesome.

I bought Brian’s old mountain bike that he was no longer using. I love it! I’ve ridden several times every day this week; whether to class or just around the apartment complex (which is much larger than I originally thought). For some reason I’m able to ride around the perimeter of the apartments, which takes me about 30 minutes off the road, and go uphill all of the way. I start off going uphill, and when I get back around to my apartment, I’m still going uphill. It’s like M.C. Escher’s “Ascending Descending”[Click here for more of his amazing creations.] I hope riding so much will help me get into shape. I haven’t done any real exercise since high school, and I found out about a month ago, that I am very out of shape.

Interview Jitters

Wednesday, March 1st, 2006

I wish there was more in my life to write about. Unfortunately, I have a very repetitive life.

I’m so nervous about my interview with the police department next week. I have an idea about how it will go, but I’m still incredibly nervous. Not to mention, this will be the first real interview I’ve ever had. At Zyng Asian Grill, the manager and I talked politics and sports, and at Chapter 11* Books, the “interview” was me listening to George talking about his favorite books and how great he was. Mystic Mountain and Papa’s didn’t actually require an interview.

Kent is coming back from Baghdad next week for some rest and relaxation. I’m not sure how long he’ll be back, but I’m sure it’ll be a nice break from looking for bombs to unearth.

Interview Jitters

Wednesday, March 1st, 2006

I wish there was more in my life to write about. Unfortunately, I have a very repetitive life.

I’m so nervous about my interview with the police department next week. I have an idea about how it will go, but I’m still incredibly nervous. Not to mention, this will be the first real interview I’ve ever had. At Zyng Asian Grill, the manager and I talked politics and sports, and at Chapter 11* Books, the “interview” was me listening to George talking about his favorite books and how great he was. Mystic Mountain and Papa’s didn’t actually require an interview.

Kent is coming back from Baghdad next week for some rest and relaxation. I’m not sure how long he’ll be back, but I’m sure it’ll be a nice break from looking for bombs to unearth.