Sorry, I couldn't resist.


My bed Sunday night, a secluded sandbar along the banks of the San Jacinto River.

To make you feel better, right after taking this picture a SWARM of Texas-sized horseflies attacked me. I'm talking a thick cloud of them! I thought I had stepped in a hive of killer bees! I spent twenty minutes submerged in the river breathing through my hat hoping they'd leave. They didn't.

I ended up making a dash back to my sleeping pad (luckily under mosquito netting) and spent the night soaking wet and covered in sand. 75F is cold when you are wet. In the morning I woke up with the dull throb of an ear infection. I guess I picked it up while submerged.

Still, I count it as a wonderful weekend (even without the very friendly, uh, "European-style" sunbathers that I chatted with several miles downriver).

-Blast, who was let loose for a weekend but is now back in chains