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May 2006 Newsletter
Howdy to all...
This email serves as an update on the Sesquicentennial Camel Drive and the month in review.
First order of business: This weekend, event co-organizers Jim Hale, Gil Hernandez and I took two days to scout our route. After looking at it closely, the dates for the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the US Army’s camel importation have been determined to be May 20-June 3. The original projection was 3 weeks, but after clocking off the 200-plus miles we realized that we will be able to do the entire stretch in 15 days.
Over the past month, many phone calls had been made and voluminous emails had been sent out to get in touch with county judges, historical commissions, chambers of commerce and sheriff’s departments- all to gain clearance for the Camel Drive. We had the pleasure of meeting with many of these folks this weekend along our route. All seem truly excited about the event coming through their areas.
I’ve also been in touch with Texas Education Region Service Center Directors statewide and most have committed to putting the information in Texas History and Social Studies classrooms, so students can follow the Drive’s progress online. Hopefully we’ll get lots of questions from the kids, which we’ll be answering and posting daily on the web site. We also plan to visit a number of school campuses for free education programs.
Within days of the Camel Drive announcement, I was most honored to receive the following monetary donations:
$300 from John H. of Houston, Texas.
$200 from D’Ann H. Of Inez, Texas
$100 from Doug B. of Dripping Springs, Texas
$100 from David and Barbara B. of Fort Worth, Texas
$50 from Joan D. of Long Island, New York. (Joan said it was for hay for Gobi, but that he could share if he wanted!)
$25 from Lari Y. of Corpus Christi, Texas.
I’m beyond honored that these folks would put their faith in this event and send money. The other gentlemen and I do not take these gestures for granted. As I’ve told each person who has sent a donation, "This money will go toward fuel for camels, vehicles or people." I’m looking forward to sharing the trail again with John and D’Ann, both former trekkers in the Big Bend area who will be joining us on the Drive, and I’ve received inquiries from 6 other folks who want to join up for a few days along the way!
It’s not too late to join up either. For $50/day you can come along and be a part of this historic event. Call or email for more info.
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In April, I kept the activity to a minimum so that I could focus on the bureaucracy of the Camel Drive (ick!), so the only real After Action Report is on my monthly trip to Arizona working with VisionQuest (www.vq.com). They got their money’s worth out of me this time! I worked with all three programs on that property, two boys’ programs and the one for girls.
I did a day of "orientation" with some of the newer boys in VQ, explaining that as they progress through the program (and if they behaved), as a reward they’d be allowed to begin barn curriculum. One of the more advanced young men, Thomas H. helped me saddle a camel and I allowed one of the "new" kids to take a short ride. Hopefully this incentive will be something that motivates them to maintain good behavior and become more involved in the activities available to them on camp.
I took 5 or 6 girls out for a day ride and they all seemed to enjoy their time with the camels. Girls come at the camels from such a different perspective than guys. Vanessa D., Alex. S. and the others were a real pleasure to spend time with and were among the girls I’ve instructed over the last few months, so their camel skills are really sharpening.
I spent the majority of the time with some of the more advanced boys in the program and ended up taking 8 of them out on an overnight pack trip with 4 camels. One of the other staff, RJ Gutierrez, was along as well and was a super hand with kids and camels.
Some of the boys had experience with camels, but most were novices. RJ, though, has the best story to tell. The camels were all wearing Somali pack saddles which extend out past the width of their bodies quite a bit, so great care must be taken not to get any two camels too close to one another lest their packs collide and reloading becomes necessary. RJ’s camel, Chewy, brushed another camel, Sam, side-swiping and pulling off both’s packs. The rope that runs underneath the belly of the camel was now around the back feet of Sam, Sam now running around in a circle like he’d been attacked by a hyena. RJ did his very best human fence post impression, held on to the lead rope while Sam circled and ultimately the camel stepped out of the rope that had slipped down and around his back legs. All the kids thought that RJ was pretty cool for hanging on and waiting out the storm! Practically speaking, it showed the youth in the program that sometimes things don’t go as you plan, but that it doesn’t have to be the end of the world. I couldn’t have paid RJ (or Sam!) to provide a better lesson for the kids!
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May takes me back out to work with VQ where we’ve got a parade planned for May 13th in the nearby town of Elfrida. Most of my time will be spent preparing the kids and camels for that event.
Of course, much energy and time is being spent behind the scenes so that the Camel Drive can get underway. I’ll update mid- month, before we actually head out.
Thanks as always for your interest in my camels. I look forward to hearing from you.
Doug
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