[universol]

Well where do I start....

Before the rumors start flying, I will say this, it was a great weekend, other than the issues with new park rangers, and new protocols. We had a great time and great weather, great tunes, and great people. Thanks to all that made it out, and endured the wrath of the park nazis!

The quick rundown, from my perspective.

Arrive late wednesday night, set up camp, weather, water, scenery, perfect.

Thursday morning, wake up, and set up sound, commence to drinking, grilling, swimming, and playing some tunes. Great group to start off the day, and got to play for hours and hours which was nice. We also have tons of recordings to post once we have gone through it. Usual patrol of park rangers were present, everything was fine. At one point a park ranger came up and said Hi, just checking on you guys, and informed us that Quiet time at park is between 10 to 6am. We obliged, and later at night, close to ten, we toned it down, and just played some chill out/ambient/dub, with some of the speakers unplugged. No problems for the rest of the night, turned sound off roughly when austin and I finally passed out around 4am or so.

Friday, woke up, Jello, Josh, and fellow crew, were already at it! Droppin beats, drinking beer, swimming, dun ate breakfast, etc... More and more people started trickling in, and by sundown, we had party on our hands. I was playing at sunset, when an officer walked up, super nice guy, had talked to him the year before, and was super accommodating. At time i had music chilled out, volume acceptable, and he asked "who do I need to speak to if we need you guys to turn it down later" I said I would be one of the ones, and if he had any probs. then I would happily take care of it, and acknowledged I knew the curfew was around 10pm. "He followed up by saying, he had no complaints, and that due to where we were located, he didn't see any problems in going a lil past ten, cuz we were at end of the road, and no one was around." By this time Jp had showed up and set up the other sound up the way, was playing stuff like pink Floyd, reggae, ya know ur regular lake party type tunes. Well up to this point Ive been swimming, cruisin back and forth to the stages, hanging out, eating tacos, burgers, hot dogs, snacks, cracking jokes, horsin around, etc... Well all of a sudden at around 11:30 pm I hear that Alberto is getting a ticket for playing music after 10pm. So I go and see what is up, and albert was dealing with park rangers. I informed them, about the conversation with the officer, and said I would happily turn it off, no need for ticket, they said "well your friend has been drinking, and has quite the mouth on him." We told you guys, Quiet time is 10pm-6am, AT 6AM you can blast it as loud as you want!" I said, he didn't know it was late, and were under impression that it was ok.

Although I will say Albert was rocking it hard to some good house tunes at time they showed up, not the down beats I had promised. But what do you do? It's albert playing good soulful tunes, and peeps were into it. Well ticket was written, about $120, I helped pay for part of it, music was off, no worries. Everyone just camped, and had great time all night long. Anticipating the 6am wake up call!

Saturday Morning Right at 5:57 am, I am asleep in my tent and hear Jello yell, alright people it's 6am and on comes the bumpin acid house/breaks music. I smiled from my sleeping arrangement, and heard cheers come from the camp area. And went back to sleep. Woke up around 10 or 11 am, ate, started drinking Margaritas, and eating breakfast tacos. People were everywhere, having a great time! Then all of a sudden somewhere between 2 or 4pm I hear that someone at the other sound is getting a ticket. I am like WTF? We have been here for almost 3 full days, 9 years, and never had any Problems. Then all of a sudden up walks The Barney Fife of Park Rangers with his Rules and Regulations booklet for parks, and informs me that they have larger staff of Rangers to help keep parks under control, and they are enforcing all policies of the park. He states that all tents, MUST be within 40 ft of pavillions. And all cars must have at least two tires on road, and no PA's in a Park? I am like WTF? So everyone is trying to please this rule nazi, and drag their fucking tents and cars within the confines of this one guys finger pointing. I have seen at least 5 park rangers and 1 sherriff at this point and NONE of them said shit about any of that! And this is Saturday/Fathers day weekend. Which the lake is always crowded on holiday weekends! At this point I am fed up with trying to play music, over tickets, and want these people to go away! So I pack up my stuff, which I was planning on staying longer, but then he came back to inspect us and make sure that we all complied, only to find out then that my tent and the tent next to me were off by only a few feet. Which the guy had no tape measure, just personal observation. At this point I just packed that shit up too, and was thankful I was there early enuf to enjoy the basswaves shooting across the lake. And hear some great sets.

At first I thought the park ranger harassment was against US, but later had heard from another local that they did same shit last weekend too, to even other local campers!

To my surprise, most people endured all the B.S, and even without music, stayed, had good time, camped in a beautiful spot, swam, and enjoyed each others company, and many are still there now! I appreciate all that came out, I know many got other tickets driving, etc... Which I am sure many of you will hear about. I apologize for any inconveniences that it may have caused, but as for me and the Lake Whitney endeavor, I love that place, it has been great to us for 9 years, even most of the local rangers and officers have been great, but unless people want to get together some money and actually pay for appropriate rental of private fascilities, which are available, then that will be it for me in regards to free events at the park. They are starting to regulate one of the last free local spots, and as sad as that is, it is time to move on! I will be happy to go back, with family and friends, and camp the way they intend on it being from this point on, and the way it was in the beginning. It is a great place, short commute, and hope that others continue to find themselves there to get away from city life from time to time. As for me, I am looking to bigger and better things, I hope you are too!