luling, camping, etc.

i took this past monday off from work and went with sue and the potts kids to city market in luling. if you’ve never been, you’re doing yourself a disservice. their brisket and sausage are both top notch (i don’t like ribs much so i never eat them). seriously, you should go there. i mean, like right now.
saturday i took the pickup and got it inspected. i had to get new wiper blades, but beyond that it all went well. that leaves my motorcycle as the lone lawbreaker. i’m just waiting for my new plate to arrive at the tax office. (i called thursday, but it hadn’t arrived yet.)
even though it was the only vehicle not legit, saturday afternoon i hopped on the bike and took 290 up to jellystone park (yes, they apparently licensed it) and lone star camping (near waller and prairie view). it was for jackson’s birthday. jack and the kids had gone up friday, but sue was picking up jackson’s friends and arriving on saturday, so i went up saturday afternoon as well. plus i had to buy things on friday…like a tent and a sleeping bag.
friday after work i went by academy and bought a one person tent and a mummy style sleeping bag. the tent is basically about big enough for one person laying down. the sleeping bag is a thermolite lined bag, so it is rated at 32 degrees but only weighs about 2 pounds and squeezes down to the size of somewhere between a football and a one gallon can of paint. then on saturday i went by rei and picked up a sleeping mat. i was originally thinking i’d get a blanket or bedroll, but it appears they’ve pretty well been replaced by self-inflating mats.
i was able to strap the mat and tent across the handlebars of the bike. which meant i only took a day bag, no saddle bags or backpack or anything. the camping was…interesting. i’d never used a mummy bag or a one person tent. i’ve never really thought of myself as particularly claustrophobic, but the combination of the sleeping bag and the tent kind of messed with me. i knew the feet were tight on a mummy bag, but it was actually the tight knees where it bothered me. i unzipped it and just sort of had it around me, then eventually i ended up using it as a blanket. (fortunately it wasn’t actually cold or anything.) beyond that, laying in the tent i felt like i couldn’t move even though i knew i could. i even had the rain fly pulled back, which meant i could see the sky and stars through the netting above most of me. but i still felt squeezed, so a few times i had to open the top netting (it has a zipper) and sit up and look around. i know it was purely psychological, but i felt like i could breathe better and easier. it was kind of weird knowing how i felt didn’t really make sense, but feeling that way anyway. i think i’m also used to sleeping in positions that don’t work well when camping. and being overweight exacerbates it. but once i got tired enough, i did eventually get a fair amount of sleep. i think i may be looking for a regular rectangular sleeping bag and a two person tent for the future though.
also on friday, i went by border’s and i picked up downtown owl by chuck klosterman. it’s a fictional story about small town life and was compared to the last picture show and friday night lights, plus the very small blurb i read about it sounded intriguing.
tonight i watched million dollar baby. the gravity of the plot twist is kind of unexpected. (yes, i’d managed to keep from finding out what happens in the movie all this time. i’m glad i had.) i was kind of annoyed by the two-dimensional nature of a few characters and setups — particularly her trashy family, which felt like pretty much a toss-away excuse to feel for her i thought — but overall i liked the movie quite a bit. swank and eastwood and freemen were good.