Backroads and Weddings Part II

This past weekend it took me 17 hours to drive from Amarillo to Rockport. I had to stop along the way to pick up my canoe and some flies from my friend Jason. He is a great friend. I mentioned to him that I would be doing some fishing on the coast and he tied me up about 15-20 flies for saltwater fishing. I then traveled on down to Austin to pick up Kevin, stopped in New Braunfels to pick up a few things from my brother's house, dropped off Marie's Grandma in SA, picked up Kevin's brother Brandon on the other side of SA, drove to Pleasonton to pick up Josh, then finally drove down to Rockport. The whole trip was for a suprise bachelor party for Josh who will be getting married to his long-time girlfriend, Valerie this coming Saturday. Marie and I will be making another long road trip to SA on Thursday.

We kind of ruined the surprise when Brandon and Kevin where with me. It was just supposed to be me and one other friend of Josh's going to the coast, but about 15 of his close friends and relatives were able to make it down there. We had a great time fishing...even though we didn't catch a damn thing worth mentioning. I will mention the fish I caught anyway. On Friday night we were catching little croaker off of the Vestal's private 600 foot pier that juts out from their 6000 square foot beach house...lucky, rich punks.

After my 17 hour drive, I stayed up until 4:30 drinking and catching up with friends. We woke up at 6:30 Saturday and fished for 7-8 hours. While fishing on Saturday I caught one hard head catfish and one ladyfish, both of which aren't worth eating and went right back in the water. One thing that happens when you hang out with Josh and his dad is that drinking beer begins with breakfast. Running on two hours sleep and a days worth of beer, I was out by 10 pm on Saturday trying to sleep through 5 or 6 more hours of bachelor party shenanigans. There was only one toe injury so the party didn't get too crazy. Apparently Josh was dared to jump into the water and he cut his big toe on a barnacle or oyster shell. During the following drunken first aid attempts, Brandon kept pouring vodka on his toe, which apparently Josh did not appreciate. While trying to sleep I also overheard an unsuccessful attempt to get strippers to come over...apparently there were none to be had. I was sad to have slept through the party, but glad the next day when I woke up refreshed and everyone else was hungover.

On Sunday we slept in until 8:30, a very late morning for a fishing trip, and didn't make it out on the water until noon. We fished all over the place and again only caught little dinks. I caught two more ladyfish, but not a single game fish. I also was unable to catch a thing on my flies that Jason tied for me. I was really looking forward to catching some new species on my fly rod, but that will have to wait until another time.

Kevin, Brandon, and I left Rockport Sunday night around 9:30. We dropped Brandon off in SA by 1 and got to Kevin's house in Austin at 3. I woke up at 8:30 and was back on the road again by 9. It took me 8 1/2 more hours to get home from Austin, but arrived safely yesterday at 5:30. There weren't as many backroads on this bachelor party trip, but I certainly had a lot of fun. I am completely exhausted and have spent the afternoon napping. I feel sorry for my friends who are working today after that long weekend and I am looking forward to seeing them all again in a few days. We will also get to spend some time with my Mom and her husband Marcus, my sister, and My brother and his family. I love road trips!