Date: 2009-07-26
From: 100 mile wilderness

To: 100 mile wilderness
Miles today: 0.0

Report of the Day: Burly Girl and Bugsy and day hiking in the 100 mile wilderness. They saw that Tic, TNT, and ETC signed in and camped at Wadleigh Stream Lean-to the night of July 25. QOD: Where do you get water? The maps have a spring ¢squiggly¢ symbol designating a water source. This could be a dried mud hole, a basin of water, a pipe sticking out of the ground (ranging from no water to mini-fire hose of water] and a seasonal stream. I carry a 3-liter bladder and a 1 liter nalgene, which I try to keep in reserve until I hear/see a water source or have confirmation from other hiker(s) about future water availability. The amount of water I actually carry will depend on the distance between sources, temperature and degree of difficulty of hike. Keeping hydrated is one of the most important aspects of the hike, as well as most other athletic endeavors.POD:   I am going to use this section in the following entries to identify person or persons who had some impact on my life. Some of the early memories are somewhat vague and are subject to correction/modification; and I ¢m open to any inputsI was born in Bay City (Texas) and raised in Old Ocean. Don¢t know how these places got their names; Bay City is a long way from the Gulf of Mexico and Old Ocean must denote a pre-historic period.Anyway, Old Ocean is a very small town, but quite big in the oil bidness. The oil field was originally developed by J.S. Abercrombie Oil Company, owned by James S ¢Mr. Jim¢ Abercrombie. Mr. Jim sold his company to the US government for $1.00 during WW II, which produced 100 octane jet fuel. The government returned the company back to Mr. Jim after the war ¢ can anyone imagine something like this happening today!!   Mr. Jim sold his business in two parts a short time later. One part, the gas business went to Stanolind and after many other mergers/acquisitions is now today BP Amoco. The oil refining part went to Phillips 66, now Conoco Phillips, which pretty much dominates all of Old Ocean. Texas Highway 35 is the major thruway. Along one side was Nash¢s barbershop, Amalie Motor Speedway gas station run shortly by my grandfather, Dunham¢s Grocery, the Old Ocean Baptist Church and the Phillips Recreation Center. On the other side of Hwy 35 was Huston¢s Hardware Store. [Digression about Mr. Huston. He liked to fish the Gulf surf, along with my grandfather and Mr. Cox, who I¢ll identify tomorrow. In my opinion, Mr. Huston died the perfect death. His body was found at the surf, an apparent heart attack victim, laid out in his chaise lounger, under a big wide canopy umbrella, with a stringer attached and a big bull red at its end in the surf. If the Lord is reading this, I wouldn¢t mind leaving this Earth in some similar fashion, at some time in the distant future.]. Next was the post office. Our mail box was number 157, and the combination was 1 ¢ 5.5-1.5 ¢ don¢t ask me why I remember these things ¢ I am my Father¢s son. Next was a Phillips 66 Service Station, where Leo Finley was the mechanic extraordinaire. Then Buls Grocery store. I don¢t remember any other businesses.There were 4 camps in Old Ocean proper. The yellow brick houses were the closest to the refinery. Next was the slate houses, where I lived and will discuss tomorrow, and then Phillips Camp 1 and Camp 2. There were other ¢camps¢ which technically were probably part of Old Ocean. On the other side of the tank farm was a small area where the Kemps, Walkers (Larry, Sue, Sue Ellen) and Pettigrews lived. Across the FM road was the one-room schoolhouse which closed the year I would have started, a Scout Hut and another camp street where the Bailey¢s lived. And the person of the day is Ray Nash. The Nash brothers were barbers with shops in Sweeny, Bay City and Old. Mr. Ray Nash gave B2 and me our first barbershop haircuts in Old Ocean.. If it were a slow day, e.g., any Mon, Tue or Wed, it would take Mr. Nash the better part of an hour to cut your hair. If it was a busy Fri pm or Saturday, Mr. Nash could cut your hair in just a couple of minutes.The Sweeny High school boy¢s basketball team went to the state finals just after we moved to Old Ocean. Mr. Nash cut the teams hair so that all that remained was a big ¢S¢ on the player¢s head. The coach went to Nash to give him ¢what for¢. Mr. Nash told the coach for him to worry about coaching and he, Nash would worry about the barbering. It must have worked, as the boys won the first state championship for the school.