SHARK!

Acutally it was a dolphin! I was out on one if the piers near my apartment taking pictures of the kennedy space center across the "river" and i heard a strange sound. I looked around and didnt see anything. then i heard it again and then saw a grey fin dip below the surface! I grabbed my camera and started scaning the water and then saw it again. i got off a shot and then realized that it was a dolphin! it was about 20 feet away from me. i watched it for a little while and realized that it was looking for food. it would swim straight for a little bit then would start turning really fast doing cirlcles.
I didn't get a chance to check out the space center today. gonna do it tomorrow.
take care
cj
ps. dont go swimming in the river!

I Made it!

Sorry for not updating but ive been pretty busy the last couple days. So lets catch you up! I left Lafayette on monday morning and drove down to New Iberia to check out the helicopter companies down there. Both Lafayette and New Iberia are beautiful cities. From what i could see Louisiana is a big marshland, especially close to the gulf. There were huge stretches of highway that were on bridges that spanned over the marshes/bayous. I drove through New Orleans and for the first part of it i couldn't see much damage but on the east side of the city I pased through a area roughly the same area as from herndon to shepherd and from blackstone to first. it might have been bigger than that but that is all i could see. it was completely devastated. walmarts were all boarded up and abandoned, i saw abandoned/destroyed houses and apartment buildings. it was pretty sad.
On a lighter note, the drive from lafayette across lousiana, mississippi, alabama (mobile is a beautiful city,) and florida was awesome. It reminded me of driving in oregon and washington but with more rivers and with a warmer temperature.
Downtown Jacksonville reminded me of Darling Harbour in australia. Lots of lights and pretty buildings surrounding the water. Titusville is a sleepy little town of about 30,000. Not much to do, but it is near the kennedy space center and 45 min from orlando.
I was offered a spot in the october class and i took it so i will begin training on monday. I got my first book and have been reading it. I will try to finish it this weekend. Im gonna go see the kennedy space center tomorrow so i will be sure to take some pictures for you all.
Take care.
Cj

Texas is German for Endless Miles!!!!

First off I have a word of advice... NEVER stay at the Econo Lodge in Fort Stockton, TX!!!!!! NEVER!!!!! Ok now for the story. I rolled into town around 7pm and the first 5 hotels I hit were full or crazy $$$$ so when I rounded the corner and saw vacancy at the econo lodge I thought to my self, "Hey! That looks ok. Ill stay there tonight." The first thing I notice is a man wearing a cowboy hat standing in the planters. It kinda took me off guard until I realized that it was just a statue, like the ones at bad buds. Then I get to the room.... It smelled like rotten pine sol (if that is possible,) there were little black bugs on the wall, and to top it off, I found a syringe sitting on top of the vanity lights in the bathroom. And guess what, I stayed anyway! Yeah yeah I know, I should have just gotten my money back and found a different one but by the time I saw the syringe it was 10pm and i was already unpacked. I slept on top of the bed comforter and used my own blanket. I didn't even want to guess what was on the bed sheets. I woke up at 515am on my own and decided to get the heck out of there.
I drove all day, saw some cool stuff, saw lots of open land, discovered that Houston is a pretty city and that Louisiana reminds me of Australia. BTW Cajun food is amazing!!!!! I had this for dinner Catfish Catahoula: Fresh filet, stuffed with shrimp, crawfish & crab. Baked & served in crawfish & Tasso cream sauce. Served with dirty rice and corn macque choux.
It was amazing! Well Im tired. Got a long drive tomorrow.
cj

Cross Country!

Well... Two days and 1,259 miles down. I left on Friday around 830.
Saying good bye to family was tough. I have to say that my family is the best in the world!
But other then missing my family, things are going well! I went from Fresno to Phoneix. Took me about 10 hours or so. Sleept well and got up early to get moivng.
Now Im in small city in Texas called Fort Stockdale. It is a medium sized town about the size of madera. Being a saturday night, all the young adults were on the town, and being a small town there isnt much to do. The "In" thing it seems to be bumping your gangsta rap or your mariachi music from your 4x4 while cruzing the "strip" ie. making circles around the sonic parking lot and the darie queen. Lol! I got a good laugh at that. Well its late and I gotta get up early.
cj
Ps. The first picture is of the sunrise in pheonix and the second is of the sunset in texas.