What to write about

Well I've been getting some requests for another "Law in Iraq" story and cannot really decide what to write about. So I've narrowed it down to two different stories. The trip to FOB MON or Forward Operating Base Middle Of Nowhere aka COP Rawah and the story about the donkey from abu dabi aka the Golden Mule. I'll tell them in a linear order so because the Golden Mule happened first I'll tell it now.

"BoBoBoBoBOBOBooom" Spat the .50 "Thats the sound of my gat when it goes brraaat" I mimicked some rapper that my roommate had been spouting off for the past week. The fifty cal was wound up tight and had a great test fire. Rattled off twenty rounds of API and APIT in a matter of 2 to 4 seconds. I was the rear .50 gunner today escorting a convoy of fuel tankers. Normally I don't gun, but Everything got switched around today, I decided I would gun. Nothing new I had done it a handful of times before. The convoy took off and started out fine. For the first few hours everything was going great. It was a beautiful day (for Iraq) and the convoy was going fast. Then. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM. A huge explosion erupted about ten meters behind the truck with me facing right at it. The sudden shock wave hit me a knocked me back against the armored wall of the turret. Ping ping ping all sorts of stuff was hitting the turret, pieces of shrapnel and rocks and all sorts of stuff. Ziiinnnngg I heard something fly past my head probably missing me by a foot or so. The fifty cal jerked at a crazy angle upward and the rest of the vehicle was peppered by debris. Upon later inspection a couple large pieces of shrapnel where lodged in the bed of the truck and a couple of pieces blew up 2 vehicles ahead of us. The rear of the cab of my truck had all sorts of pock marks and other crap. All this was irrelevant at the moment though. I immediately started scanning the area looking for the trigger man. He had better be praying to Allah that I didn't see him or I was going to tear him to pieces. Luckily for him he was hiding pretty well. Good for me too, because the barrel of the fifty cal had taken a hit and was all jacked up. Shooting it probably would have caused it to blow up. Any way in the midst of all this we where still driving on. A donkey came in to view standing on the right side of the road not more than fifty meters away from where the IED blew up. It was looking up, with a kind of bewildered expression, like what the fuck just happened. I was amazed it was still there, just not alive but in one piece. As we passed by it the donkey looked around once more and started wandering off the road. By surviving a terrible blast with no injury at all or anything worse for wear, the donkey has earned the title the Golden Mule. I am still amazed that nothing had happened to it, when everything around it had been blown to pieces and even a armored vehicle like mine had taken damage. This little donkey must of been blessed or something because it should have been in a thousand pieces. So don't mess with donkeys because they can a lickin and keep on tickin.

Carbonate Mountain Trail

If living in a beautiful place like Idaho isn’t enough, try taking in the area from above. This is a view of the Wood River Valley from the top of Carbonate Peak in Hailey. Amie and I like to do this hike at least once a week. It is only 3 minutes from our offices, and a great work out. Not to mention the incredible view!

Sawtooths & Little Basin Creek Trail

Wow. I've been on a lot of Mountain Bike rides, but this one is definitely a keeper. The 14.5 Mile Single Track loop is among the best I've ridden so far, and definitely one of the most tiring! Amie, myself, and our friends Terry & Heather (soon to be contributors of IdahoRocks Blog), took part in this adventure this weekend. The first 2.5 miles are a grinder, but after that, expect 10 miles of both smooth rolling downhill, and technical downhill. After that, another 2.5 miles of gradual uphill. We had a blast! Of course, no great bike ride is complete without a dip in the nearby lake (Stanley Lake in this case)!

Sorry, no pictures this time. We took the camera with us, but as usual, the batteries died before we got any good shots. :-( Next time folks!

South Fork of the Boise River

This is a picture of me (Still fat, but losing weight!) from last weekend on the South Fork of the Boise River behind my house. I LOVE it back there. This is on the way down to Baumgartner Swimming hole & HotSprings.

Fairfield Sunset

This is not rare where I live. Every night we get something similar. Too bad there are four houses being built behind me.. :-(

Still Rockin!

I haven't been very good about putting pictures up here. This site is dedicated to the beatuy of Idaho, and since I'm not a poet, I'd better put some darn pictures up to prove it!

The picture to the left is from two days ago. Amie and I go on a hike (almost) every day after work. This is from Quigley Peak, and Hailey, ID is in the background.

Yesterday's Post & My "Other" Blog

In case you wanted to read yesterday's post, and are wondering what happened to it, I decided that this blog (Idaho Rocks) was not the proper place. You can find that post on my other blog, titled: "A Closed Mind is a Wonderful Thing to Lose".

Click Here to Go there

Great Thought for the Day

"If you only believe what you see, then you are limited to what's on the surface. If you only believe what you see, then why do you pay your electric bill?"

- Dr. Wayne Dyer

Boardman Peak Trail

If I woke up every morning and crossed this bridge to start my day, I would be a very happy man. This is a picture of my "back yard". If you don't already know, my backyard is the Sawtooth National Forest, and is one of the coolest places I know.