A Low-Flying Helicopter in Texas

I’ve been in Texas for a few days and have been thrilled to see lots of wildlife. I even saw a black-tailed jackrabbit. I take that back, I saw TWO black-tailed jackrabbits. Those things were huge!

They were hanging around with some deer. Maybe those two species get along well?

But it was while I was traveling between campgrounds that I saw a low-flying helicopter. It was so low that I thought something was wrong because first of all, how many times does a helicopter get this close to a road? Secondly, why? Why would these people get close enough to make it appear as if something is going wrong? Here’s the dashcam video…

What’s up with that? As I approached, my mind went immediately to every action movie I’ve ever seen. The helicopter is there to cut off someone trying to get away in a car. The chopper spins around and unloads a round of shots towards the vehicle, but the people in the car somehow narrowly escape! Well, the crazy thing is that as soon as I got close to the helicopter, it began to rotate around so the side opening was facing me. I thought, “This is how I’m going to die?? Gunfire from a low-flying helicopter!!?”

Who do they think I am, Daniel Craig?

I narrowly escaped, as any hero would. I have no idea what was going on, but it was strange. After I passed them, I glanced back a few times through the mirrors to see if they flew uncontrollably into the cable lines. But I didn’t seen any crashes or explosions.

Weird, right? Have you seen anything like this that seemed out of the ordinary?

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

Mother Neff State Park Recap – Small Snakes, Big Rabbits!

Texas has SO MANY ranches. On my way to Mother Neff State Park, I should’ve counted all the ranches. There had to be at least 50 just on the one stretch of road where I spent most of the trip. Highway 7, I think it was? These pastures and hillsides were grand and spread out. I kept wanting to stop to get pictures but when you’re pulling a trailer, there isn’t much space to just pull over beside the road.

From all my camping this year (recaps and photos here), this park had the best campsite. Nice paved pull-through with shade and full hook-ups. It was luxurious! I still haven’t been lucky enough to get a good photo of an armadillo, so I felt like someone was teasing me as I turned into the campsite. Part of the playground included a HUGE armadillo for kids to play on. How rude.

But still, here are a few of my favorite pictures…

Texas coral snake
a clump of daddy long-leg spiders

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 – Woman Folds and Joins the Flip Side

Is it one of those things where consumers are demanding a foldable phone, or are the phone makers telling us we want a foldable phone? I guess that’s sort of the question that’s always on the forefront of marketing, especially in the tech world. Whatever the answer, Samsung is pushing hard for consumers to adopt a phone that is set apart from boring tech like the iPhone. Take a look at their latest “horrific” commercial.

It’s like a mini horror movie. I love it! Also, is this not what happens to us when we’re shopping for something specific? Let’s say I need a new pair of shoes and I like Brooks. Then everywhere I go, all I see are people wearing Brooks. I think it happens with car shopping, too. Last year I became obsessed with the Jeep Gladiator. Once it was stuck in my mind, I started seeing these Jeeps everywhere I went. To look at it in a more sinister way, especially with how “big tech” is nowadays, if I were to search for Brooks shoes online, I’d start getting Brooks ads in my Facebook timeline or Instagram feed.

What we want becomes all we see.

This is definitely the case with this woman in the commercial. It’s a nice burn of the Apple iPhone, too. Truth be told, most smartphones do what we need them to do for us (email, social, YouTube, etc). But Samsung is offering us variety in a major way. Instead of the next slightly different and newer version of the iPhone, why not pick up something that is truly unique and solves problems we encounter with phones (taking a group shot, for example)?

Consumers will determine whether the flip-style phone catches on… again. But if we’ve learned anything from this ad, it’s that there’s a lot more out there than the iPhone. 😉

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

Village Creek, Texas – Deer, Mosquitoes, and a Giant Spider

Texas doesn’t seem so far away from Florida, but I *think* that’s because I’ve been stopping to camp along the way. Recaps of my trips can be found on the Camping Stories page. Check it out! OK, so I spent 3 days in Village Creek State Park.

The plan was to kayak, bike, and well I guess that’s my plan at every state park. Am I really that simple?

*stars into the abyss contemplating the meaning of life*

Snap out of it! Ok, I’m back. Village Creek is a small state park in Lumberton, Texas, with only around 20 campsites for RVs/trailers. It was easy to figure out the lay of the land because there’s one road in and it’s basically a straight shot to the creek access, and that’s where the road ends. Either you put a canoe or kayak in, or you turn around and go think about what your purpose in life is.

I decided to kayak.

I paddled one way, then paddled back. The current wasn’t too bad. I came up on a family swimming. I swore if I heard a banjo, I’d paddle faster and never look back. “Deliverance” jokes aside, it was enjoyable. The biggest downside was the distance from the campsite to the boat launch area… about half a mile. Not too bad, I guess.

The second day I was calling a day of photography. So I walked back towards the creek (camera batter fullyl charged!). That’s a reference to this story of a deer swimming across the creek and my battery almost dying. I walked on some of the designated trails and snapped a few photos between mosquito bites. Seriously, I need to be more consistent with bug spray, especially in early September when it’s still hot. You know when you go to Golden Corral and you eat from the buffet? On this hike, I WAS THE BUFFET. So many mosquitoes. But here are a few pics.

Overall, I enjoyed the park. The creek was the highlight. I didn’t hike all of the trails, so I might have missed out on more wildlife. With that said, the deer crossing the creek is something I won’t forget and for that alone, I’m glad I stopped here. If you go, definitely explore the creek area but don’t forget your bug spray!

-Out of the Wilderness

The First Time I’ve Seen a Deer Do This!

I’ll write more about my 3 days at Village Creek State Park in Lumberton, Texas but there’s one really cool story that needs to be told on its own. Hello, I’m Ben and I write daily here at Out of the Wilderness. I’ve been living in a camper and traveling around the southeast. I’ve got quite a few stories (for camping recaps, click here) but here at Village Creek, there was another “first.”

One morning I decided to spend time doing a photo adventure around the park. How the campground is situated is that the only road in the camp leads you to the campgrounds then down to the river where the it dead-ends. Therefore, I would walk down to the creek taking photos on the way and way back. It was around 830am so I was hoping to catch whatever critters were waking up and perhaps just starting their morning routines. The biggest hiccup happened just a few minutes into the adventure. Does anyone else procrastinate, then forget what they were supposed to do entirely? That was me this morning. I forgot to charge the camera! So there I am trying to capture nature at its finest with a camera that has 3% battery left. Lord, how do you put up with me sometimes!?

I’d like to say I was deliberate and efficient with the use of the dwindling battery power, but the truth is that most of the pictures I took felt rushed. This is because I’d see something to photograph, turn the camera on to quickly snap a photo, then switch it off. That’s not the best way, and it might be the worst way, to enjoy a photo tour around a state park. It led to shots like this…

Rushed. If I had plenty of battery, I might not have missed that osprey gliding over the creek. I managed to spend a little extra time on these shots below, thinking they might be all I get before the battery dies.

The battery was down to 1% now but as I tried for more photos, the warning indicator started flashing. The end was near. Very near. My battery about to die…

Heaven GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

At least I made it to the creek, I thought to myself. For what, though? Just to have anxiety about the battery? Then all of the sudden, movement on the shoreline. I glance over to see a doe dipping her head low for a sip of water. Oh my goodness! I quickly turned the camera on, knowing full well it could shut off at any second. Wait, what’s she doing!?

She’s not drinking water, she’s crossing the creek! I’m halfway panicking that the camera’s about to power off but I just zoom and click like it’s 1999. Panic gives way to admiration. In what felt like an instant, I decided to simply enjoy the moment and if all I have are memories, that’s cool, too. But honestly, I’d be pretty ticked off if the battery went dead. Just being real 😉 Thank you Jesus, there was enough juice to stay on for the photos I got below…

It was a close call but this experience with the deer DIDN’T turn out like my brother’s college graduation or that time my brother-in-law caught a huge nurse shark. Do you have those kind of moments where you thought you hit ‘record’ on the video camera but you didn’t? Yeah. Not my best moments.

But this deer crossing will be one of my favorite camping moments for a long, long time.

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness