How I spent my weekend...

[SWITAWI]

EDIT: I'll be updating and adding more weekends as time passes...

I was inspired to post simply because elsewhere my thread was moved to the 'completed expeditions' section, lol...

Friday was a blur of pack up, head out, meet Wes in Beeville, wish my beautiful girlfriend a belated in-person Happy Birthday in Mathis, get a smooch :wings: , get new fishing license at Academy in Corpus Christi, and end up at Kirby's house in Flour Bluff. Matt & Jeff managed to finally join our beer session around 10pm. Suckers had to work a full day or something...

Saturday morning we headed out to the Padre Island National Seashore. Passed a couple of obvious FJ Forum members (snorkels are a dead giveaway) on the way out. Drove down about 10-15mi before we put a line in the water and wouldn't you know it...

First cast, first bait, less than 5min. We should have known this to be the harbinger of fishing doom simply because the first one was too easy and it was Jeff that caught it. And, sure enough, after not catching anything else at that spot after a good while we headed on down the beach.

We found another good-looking spot so Kirby dropped a line in and... BAM! FISH ON!

But then nothing. A couple of whiting that we chopped up for bait, but we got nothing else 'cept some empty hooks. So we carried on further.

Obligatory Beach Posing so Kirby could show off his new redneck pole carrier. Hey, it did work. In all we got 3 reds that were 2ft or better, but it wasn't a rousing success as far as fishing trips go. It was more about the quality time together... (Awwww).

Along the way Lee, Phil, and Roger (don't quote me 'cause I'm pushing the limits of my name recalling powers) from the FJ Forum managed to drive by and I finally got to meet some online aquaintances in person. Turned out they were the 3 FJs we passed that morning. They were just day-tripping down the beach so they moved on. A while later a silver FJ also came by and introduced himself, but I can't remember his name. I did like his rig, though. Nicely done the ARB way.

 

[SWITAWI]

At our last fishing spot we decided it was a fine place to camp and started to settle in. Kirby & Jeff headed back 'cause Kirb's cover band had a gig that night. He has to do something for excitement I guess since his day job is so boring... He's currently the interim Chief of the CCISD police force, natch. As Wes, Matt, and I were getting cozy by the fire I spied some telltale headlights coming up the beach.

After the FJ convoy passed on by we got cozy by the fire with our bottle of Crown. It's best to say that one should never ask two brothers the best way to build a fire after some adult beverages have been consumed.

 

[SWITAWI]

The wind died down to a whisper and we had a real good time discussing how fix the world's problems. One horse we were particularly interested in beating to death was the sheer amount of trash on the beach. It was astonishing for someone who had not been more than 10mi down PINS in over 12yrs. Back when I was growing up (and we won't talk about how looong ago that was) the big problem was glass containers. Well of course all glass containers have been banned for years, so now all the trash is plastic instead. One of the really odd things were that 90% of all the plastic water bottles we saw had their lids screwed back on. Does everybody put the lid back on their bottle before they throw it away?.. I guess so. Since Matt works with heavy machinery we discussed what it would take to re-purpose a combine (somebody call Clarkson/Hammond/May) to sift the top 12in of sand for all the small detritus before grinding it and shooting it off to a haul truck. There's a lot of details, but it's an idea with merit, I think.

After being overcast for most of the day and night before I was pleasantly surprised to wake up to a clear sky at 5am populated by more stars than you could count and a crescent moon beaming across the water. My crappy camera was not going to do any justice to that majestic scene, so you'll just have to take my word that it was even more awesome before the sun came up.

Apologies for the trash in the pic. I tried.

 

[SWITAWI]

After the 5am riser we cooked breakfast out of eggs and whatever we grilled the night before. Then we headed out for Kirby's place. Long story short(er), we dropped off stuff at Kirby's, sprayed off the Cruisers, got lunch, headed north to New Braunfels, showered, loaded up, and drove to Oklahoma. We got to Lawton, OK around 12:30-1:00am Monday morning. Even though I had the luxury of nodding off several times, that was a rough drive.

Some surprising things that we discovered were that in Oklahoma they do speak our language and also accept our currency... :lol:. Just kidding. Even Matt's 8yr-old daughter thought I was full of it. What can I say? It was that time of night and I hadn't had anything to drink in 24hrs.

So why did we go to Oklahoma in the first place?..

Matt bought an M101A3 at auction through GovLiquidation.com and this thing is in ridiculously good condition. In fact I wouldn't even describe it as "like new" because the damn thing really is NEW, period. The Goodyear Wrangler M/T 37x12.50s even had the little rubber 'feelers' on the center row of tread blocks. There was also the original Army purchase sticker still on it with the original purchase price.

And of course, my favorite 'shown for scale' picture...

We got a lot of strange looks with that GIANT trailer making the Ford Explorer look like a half-scale tow vehicle. And I can honestly say there was a lot of trailer envy in our wake coming down Hwy 281. Anybody with a 4x4 or full-size pickup was checking out this thing.

 

[SWITAWI]

In all it was a great weekend, if a bit long-winded. Here's few more pics Matt wanted to add to the pile.

Of course he had to request I post this last picture of me, and if I don't he will anyway. If anyone I that sent a link to for this thread doesn't know what the tall tent-thingy is, I won't spoil it for you. Let's just say I was very 'relieved' to have it around. :lol:

SO... Was it an expedition? I didn't really think so, but at times it felt more like a forced march, lol. Hope everyone else out there had a good weekend as well.

 

[mangus7175]

now that's beach camping!

Nice trailer BTW

 

[tacoma_AL]

Looks like yall had a great trip. I love seeing fishing trips, and those were some great pictures. Anyone go for a swim lol Looks a little cold

 

[SWITAWI]

Looks like yall had a great trip. I love seeing fishing trips, and those were some great pictures. Anyone go for a swim lol Looks a little cold

No swimming!! Water was reportedly 64deg. Getting your feet wet was no biggie after the initial 'WOO-HOO' moment, but once you went past the knees it was a whole other reality. Some serious shrinkage goin' on... :Wow1:

 

[JeepTreeHouse]

Great idea for the trash combine... Top Gear should definitly test it out haha

 

[Rot Box]

Looks like a ton of fun! :Wow1: Great pics thanks for sharing.

 

[SWITAWI]

Another weekend, a new post...

Long time, no followup...

Matt finished building his new tactical toy last week and we both wanted to a chance to try it out...

So, we hitched up his tactical trailer and loaded up his tactical daughter :ylsmoke: and off we went...

That girl has quite the fashion sense, let me tell you. :elkgrin: We hadn't been out there in several months, and we were appalled by how badly burnt everything looked. The small tank (pond) on the property is completely dried up and the ground looks like mid-winter already. The trees aren't dying in wholesale fashion yet, but if we don't start getting some rain soon there won't even be any dead grass left to hold onto the topsoil when the wind comes busting through. I can't even imagine how bad it must be for anyone trying to farm or keep livestock alive right now.

We took the EZ-Up pop-up awning, but it was just too damn hot to stay out there for more than a couple of hours. Still, we found the new rifle worked extremely well until rounds started catching on the lip of the left feed ramp going into the barrel and causing jamming. Nothing that can't be fixed with a little dremel-smithing. The 6.8mm Cartridge is a very nice round to shoot from the AR-type platform. And that sometimes a little girl's arms are too short when the t.p. falls out of the bathroom...

 

[SWITAWI]

Garrison Brothers Distillery - http://www.garrisonbros.com/garrison_brothers_sit_and_sip_tours.html

I went there yesterday morning with my friends Vickie & Jeff. We just missed the 10am tour, so we hung around. The entry to the property has an old 1-room house that's been set up as a staging area for the tours. When we got there we found a cooler with beer and water along with money jar for paying (on the honor system) and an invitation to go inside and use the bathroom if needed. The house is refinished in cedar on the outside and there's a really cool sitting area. We sat there trying figure out how to haul away that awesome fire pit with Vickie's Acura TSX.

Others came and went while we sat around 'cause they didn't want to wait another hour, but we persevered. When the 10am tour came back I think there were 3 people in it. At one point a big Dodge pickup drove in and went straight to the gate. The driver got out, came over and introduced himself as Dan Garrison, owner and proprietor of the operation. He thanked us for coming and repeated the invitation to use the facilities and make ourselves at home before heading on into the property. Shortly before noon more folks starting coming down the driveway, and we had about 20 people total when our tour guide showed up, named Stephanie. So off we went...

 

[SWITAWI]

Stephanie loaded us all onto a open trailer with wooden benches behind a big Polaris UTV and took us up to the facility. Not sure what we were expecting, but for some people the operation was bigger than imagined, and others thought it was smaller. One thing that got everybody's attention was that the whole on-site operation involves just a few people on a daily basis. They really are just getting started still (no pun intended).

Stephanie, J.D. (one of their brewers), and Dan himself were all part of it and they were all very forthcoming about what it has taken to get this far. We also got to taste the product at every stage, which was rather enlightening.

This is J.D. telling us about the cooking process, You can't see it from here but the switches on the wall behind him are all labeled, and the ones for the agitators inside the cooking pots say 'Boatmotor'. I asked him if that label was something significant from bourbon-making history and he just laughed. He told me that when they first started they had just the one 100gal cooking pot and they used a wooden paddle to take turns stirring the cooking mash for 6hrs. Later on they upgraded to a battery-powered trolling motor (just like on a bass boat), and they went through several of those. When they got the two new 500gal pots they have stirring agitators built onto them but it just seemed right to keep calling them the boat motor. They still have the paddle right there, though.

Dan told us stories about spending time in Kentucky and learning the business and the art of bourbon from icons of the industry, including Beam family members. He has a real love of the history of American bourbon. We got to sample the 'white dog' stage of the process here, which is the clear product before it is aged in barrels. It's 124-proof at this stage and will clear your sinuses, make no mistake.

Here is where they do the actual bottling, right behind the stills. Because they are such a small operation anyone over the age of 21 can volunteer to go out and help bottle a batch. Every bottle has the date/batch #/bottle #/etc hand-written on it by whoever bottled it. I plan to go hang out sometime and help do some bottling and a little tasting on the side.
:coffeedrink:

After that we all went over to the barrel barn for a taste of their 1yr-old bourbon. I liked it, though it definitely had a not-quite-aged bite to it. Maybe I'm just a big wuss anymore. Here we paid for our tour, visited with Dan some more, and they have t-shirts and other dry goods for sale.

After we left there Vickie, Jeff, and I drove over to Fredericksburg. First we stopped and bought a bottle of Garrison Bros (imagine that). Then we had lunch at the Auslander while it started pouring rain outside. THAT was an especially wonderful way to wind up our little day trip. This year the sound of rain falling on a roof is sweet music to any Texan's ears. There's just something about the impact of precipitation on corrugated tin that just makes you stop and smile while the worries wash away for a short time...

If you happen to be in Central Texas for any reason and want to take a little drive in the country I highly recommend visiting the Garrison Bros Distillery. Very friendly people, an informal tour, and an appreciation for something steeped in American history. It's definitely not your normal touristic destination.

:wavey:

 

[raven1911]

Awesome man! Love threads with lots of pics! How did those fish taste??

 

[SWITAWI]

They were great. Fresher is always better in regards to fish, right? There's just something about cooking up filets you caught two hours ago that no restaurant can match. That part of the thread was actually way back in February. That was a good trip. Looking forward to doing it again soon.