Stories from Big Bend, part 2

It didn't take us long to get into Big Bend, find our campsite, and settle in. We had eaten so well for so many meals in a row, that we skipped lunch without even realizing it and took a 1.6 mile hike in the Chisos Mt. valley. The view out of the valley, called The Window, is one of the most beautiful views I've ever seen. A spaghetti dinner filled our bellies that night.

In the morning, as we were cleaning up after breakfast, our campground was visited by a group of whitetail does. The littlest one was picked on by the others, and they all looked young. In the photo, you can see the roughhousing going on in the back right. The deer in Big Bend, like the javelinas and roadrunners, have no fear of people. I got to within 20 feet of them and sat watching them for several minutes, and they didn't care at all.

That afternoon, we went to the Santa Elena Canyon. The short 1.6 mile hike took us over the rocks on the right and down into the cool, moist canyon. Except for being scared out of my wits when Jo and David jumped out from behind the reeds as Jonathan and I straggled behind, I had a fantastic time!

Dinner that night was a great beef stew followed by ice cream (and some cobbler!) at the restaurant in the Chisos Valley. Then it was early to bed to rest up for another day's adventures!

Stories from Big Bend, part 1

On Saturday morning, March 7th, Jo, Jonathan, David, and I headed west from Waco. The trip was great and was highlighted by pancakes, sausage, brisket, and multiplication tables. Jonathan is getting good at his times tables!

We spent the first night of the trip in Marathon. It's a tiny little town, but it's full of great surprises! Most people who have heard of Marathon know about the little town because of the famous Gage Hotel, and it's great, no denying, but if you walk north for a block, you'll find yourself in Eden.

Eve's Garden, an Organic Bed and Breakfast, is a fantastic hideaway. The owners have added multiple rooms and an enormous garden. They build with papercrete, a lightweight, heavily insular, really green product, kind of like adobe.

For dinner, we walked to The Famous Burro and I had grilled chicken with chocolate ganache. Yes, you read correctly, chocolate chicken. Ooh it was good.

Then, for breakfast, our hosts fixed an incredible feast. I ate a flower, along with eggs, bacon, home-grown tiny tomatoes, and baked pears.

After breakfast, we headed out again. This time, it was Big Bend or bust.

Back from Big Bend

What a trip! I have never had that much fun camping! I will be detailing the trip in further posts, but for now, let me just say that Big Bend is as close to a must-do-several-times-over as I've ever seen. It was on my list of things to do asap, and I suppose that it will stay on that list no matter how many times I go there.

Tomorrow I head from Waco to Houston for Phase 2 of my NASA screening. More details on that later, too. For now, I must reintroduce myself to my mattress.

Change of plans

Attention Space Monkey followers! A call from NASA today has bumped up all previous levels of excitement and anticipation! Phase 2 has been rescheduled from the 16-18th to the 12-13th (cutting out one day of camping at Big Bend - rats).

In addition, a tentative start date for the program has been set for MARCH 18TH!

More news as it becomes available.

(Woo hoo!)

A date for Galveston

I got a call from NASA today. We've set a date for phase 2. I'm heading down on Sunday March 15th and will be in Galveston until probably Wednesday of that week. I got asked today about my shoe size, which leaves me with many questions, but other than that, it seemed innocent enough.

So, it's off to Big Bend for a week and then to Galveston for a few more days. I'll be in and out a lot, so catch me when you can!

Shorter program

I called NASA today to ask about when I might be expecting to hear from the Flight Analog team, and got some interesting news. Nurse Kathy said that they were still waiting on the final drug screen, and that I should hear something immediately after that, but she also said that the program is likely going to be 84 days instead of 114 days. They apparently are moving from a 90 day bed rest to a 60 day, as it was a the beginning of this most recent set of studies. (I recently read an article about a man in the 60s who was in bed for 210+ days!)

I'm a little sad about the corresponding financial downsizing, but it's still going to be a long and exciting journey! Plus, this will probably get me out of bed in time for a wedding! (not mine) And, there will be 30 fewer days of muscle atrophy and bone density loss and needle poking! So, friends, stay tuned. There should be more info soon.

Oh, and in an effort to soak in sunshine and stretch my legs and be vertical, I'm heading to Big Bend National Park on Saturday with my dear friends, the Pendletons, for a long camping trip! I'll be back on Thursday, so don't be alarmed if I don't post for a while.

Medical tests

Friends,

Several of you have asked questions about the medical tests that I will undergo during the NASA study. As a healthy young person, I haven't spent much time with doctors and nurses in my life, but considering that I'll be moving into a hospital for four months, I figured it would do me some good to figure out a little bit of what is coming.

Pillownaut, the young lady from Texas who did the study last year, has a great site of her own that includes just about everything you could want to know about the program. I've already linked the menu from her site to mine, and now, for your education and entertainment, I'll link up the descriptions of the medical tests. (Warning: Some of the descriptions are so detailed you might start to sweat.)

It's sobering to think about putting nitroglycerin into a healthy body, inserting catheters into foot and hand veins, and being strapped to a bed to prevent motion during painful procedures, but hey, you're only young once!

On a serious note, the doctors and nurses are some of the finest in the country. I'm already going to be at the hospital in case anything should go wrong, and what kind of story will this make if they just feed me jello and let me watch movies?

I don't think that Nietzsche is totally correct about things that don't kill us automatically making us stronger, since I'm expected to lose bone density and muscle mass. But when I'm finished with NASA, there's not going to be much of anything I won't be able to overcome.

Add that mental victory to the relationships I start and foster, the boost in the bank account, and the physical gratification of getting back what I lose, and I see this as the adventure of a lifetime!

P.S. You may think I'm nuts, but remember, I've already passed the psychological tests!