New Drinking Guidlines

I'm sorry for some of the confusion on a few topics. A new development about consumption of alcohol. As I mentioned in my previous blogs, I stated that you could only drink alcohol indoors while at Inks Lake(your tent,rv,or cabin). This also applies to Longhorn Caverns. Originally I said you could not drink in the cave. I was trying to protect the interior of the cave from possible carelessness with drinks. As it turns out, the park superintendent has said we can ONLY drink in the cave and NOT in the outdoor areas. It goes back to the public consumption of alcohol concept. While this law doesn't seem to favor the protection of the cave, it is nevertheless the law and we must obey it. Now the alcohol checkin bar will be moved into the cave to obey this law. Remember that you can ONLY drink in the cave and NOT outside the cave. Look for the recycling stations that should be about every 150 feet in the cave. DO NOT leave your cans or plastic bottles anywhere but in a recycling bin. Smokers must remember to smoke ONLY outdoors and use the asstrays for your cigarette butts or recycle your butts by using an altoids type tin or simply put them in your pocket. If you have had too much to drink, catch the shuttle bus back to the campground and go into your tent. If you are outside your tent in an obviously intoxicated state, you might be arrested for public intoxication. I have been informed that law enforcement will be watching us closely. Don't give the law a reason to arrest you. As for drug use, well, I think everybody knows the answer to that one. DON'T be stupid and you should be fine. Taking chances are NOT worth the risk of having to defend yourself in a court of law. Your packets that you pick up at checkin at Inks Lake will go over all the things from my blogs. They will also have your tickets, armbands, and cooler check tags. All of the topics will be discussed at Inks Lake on Friday between DJ sets. Even if you don't like a particular DJ's music, plan to attend the breaks for info updates. I will also try to do one or two more blog entries onsite if possible. Lets get ready to have a fun,safe, and law abiding time. Matt Man out.

Tesla Coils And Music At Inks On Friday

After talking with the superintendent of the park on Wednesday, he expressed a concern about loud music in our camping area. His main concern was the disruption of the peace for the campers at the other side of the park as well as the people that live across the lake and most importantly the tranquility of some endangered nesting birds in our area. He was not telling me we couldn't play music before the quiet hour of 10pm struck. This man and other law enforcment officers could have stopped everything we had planned, but they have not done that. Because of my diligence in trying to abide by all of the rules and regulations, they have bent over backwards to help us with the execution of our event. All of law enforcement has gone out of their way to be cooperative and for this reason we must be on our best behaviour to show them that we are both responsible and the that we care about the wildlife and the ability of other campers to enjoy the park in its natural setting. For these reasons I have cancelled the Tesla Coils for Friday night. Why? Simply because the coils can be very loud and we do not want to establish a bad start before the real event at Longhorn Caverns. We can still have our sound system, but we must manage it in a way that the park staff does not have to come and visit us with complaints of loud sound. Originally we were scheduled to go quiet at 10pm. I have told the superintendent that we will turn off all music by 9pm and if we are lucky, maybe he will give us permission to go to 10pm. But don't count on it. When the quiet time comes, we can still stay up and look at the stars, listen to the owls, meditate, or visit will our friends camping with us. Time to go to bed. Matt Man out.

Alcohol Consumption At Inks Lake Campground

I'm afraid I may not have been clear on the consumption of alcohol at Inks Lake State Park. The general rule is that there can be NO PUBLIC consumption of alcohol anywhere in Inks Lake State Park. You may ask, does that mean I can't drink a beer or maybe a glass of wine? No that is not what it means. By public consumption, the park rules mean you must be inside of your tent,RV, or cabin to drink alcohol. Anytime you step out of the place in which you are sleeping, you are not allowed to be consuming alcohol inside the park. While this may seem restrictive, but remember it is the rule of the park and it is not a hard one to live by. If you pour your beer, wine, etc. into a cup and walk outside of your sleeping domain, you will be breaking the law and you will be subject to whatever penalty any park or state law enforcement decides to issue to you. If you do this and get caught you could be tickected, fined or arrested. Lets not test these officers. They are serious about making sure all laws are observed in order to protect the peace and tranquility that all other campers and all of the wildlife deserve. This does not mean you can erect a party tent for a gathering of friends to party in. While this may seem restrictive, it is not a hard rule to live by, and it does allow you to imbibe in the place in which you sleep. Matt Man out.

Precautions

Unfortunately enjoying nature is not always totally safe. Not paying attention to where you are walking or where you are placing your hands can sometimes be painful. Mother Nature can bite you if you are not careful. The ground that you will be walking on in both parks can suddenly become uneven and could result in a sprained ankle or make you fall and bust your you know what. Remember from my previous blog about the land bridges over the top of the cavern. They are OFF LIMITS for the simple reason that is too easy to slip, fall, and get seriously hurt. Our Fireman/EMS want to have as good of a time as you do. Please make sure they do by not getting hurt. If you do get hurt, have someone get them for you. Do not move until they determine your injury was not serious. Both parks have plants, bugs, and animals that are not always friendly. Dangerous plants would include all types of poison ivy, oak, and sumac. There are also patches of Prickly Pear cactus in the parks. Having a good pair of tweezers is a good idea. Rattlesnakes inhabit this park system too. Although it is unlikely you will encounter any snakes in February, unseasonably warm weather could end their hibernation prematurely. If you hear a rattlesnake, do not panic. Stand still until you can determine how close it actually is to you. In general, a snake can only strike as far as half its body length. If you see one several feet away from you, you are generally in no real danger. Simply back up slowly and give the snake its space. This is the snakes home, not yours. And contrary to popular belief, they will not chase you. Scorpions are another possible danger. Be careful where you put your hands when they come into contact with the ground. Scorpions can hide themselves right in front of you and they like to roam for food at night. Wearing shoes at all times is wise. This tip comes from a dedicated barefoot person who wears shoes in parks. Ticks are also in both parks and can carry diseases such as Lyme disease. The best way to avoid ticks is to not walk in tall grasses and if you do, you should be wearing long pants(some people put rubber bands around their ankles) and shoes. When you go to sleep at night, many people leave their shoes outside of their tent. Very bad idea. Don't think that only scorpions hide in shoes. Ticks love your stinky shoes too. I found out this the hard way in Belize when I discovered a black cloud moving up my leg one morning. I spent the next hour in a resturaunt sitting in my underware while four people frantically removed thousands of them from my leg. Very creepy. Keep you shoes in your tent at night. Mosquitos should not be a problem this time of year, but it never hurts to bring insect repellent. The water in the lake is very cold this time of year. A six pack or two in your belly will not keep you warm in the water. You could become hypothermic if you decide to swim. Camping is sometimes alot of work, but with proper planning and remembering these safety tips, it is always a beautiful experience. Matt Man signing off.

Boundary Lines

This will be a short blog entry, but still very important. Boundary Lines. Everybody hates them, but they are ther for a reason, which in this case is for your safety, your enjoyment of this event, and for the safety and enjoyment of the other people around you. I will talk here about boundary lines of the parks and those of peoples personal space. Boundary lines concerning this event at both parks can be seen in the sections called "Grotto Layout" and "General Location Info". Longhorn Caverns is actually a much bigger space than what we are using for this event. We ask that you only travel in areas that are clearly part of this event. These spaces are labeled at Longhorn as The Cave, The Cavern, The Upper Area, The Picnic Area and Gift Shop, The Museum., and The Parking Lot. Directly over the cavern in the center of the Upper Area, there are land bridges. This zone is totally off limits. The possibility of falling off a land bridge makes this zone a NO TOLERANCE ZONE. There are also trails that lead into the woods and we HAVE NOT contracted with the park staff to use the trail system. Those that decide to sneak off to these trail systems MIGHT find park staff and/or law enforcement waiting for them. Don't be stupid on this one. At Inks Lake campground we have the whole left side of the park to ourselves. I have reserved this area so that only attendess of Grotto will be able to occupy this space. You can view this area by clicking on the link called General Location Info. You ARE NOT confined to just this part of the park though. You may enjoy the whole park if you would like to do so and we encourage you to see as much of Inks Lake State Park as possible. There is a really good general store on the other side of the park as well as a boat ramp and places to rent boats of various types. Feel free to partake in all the amenities the park has to offer. But remember, just as we have reserved the left side of the park for our private camping, other people that are not coming to our event have reserved spaces to camp on the other side of the park. Come nightime, DO NOT venture into the camping spaces of the other side of the park and those people will not venture into our area. That does not mean you can't go to that side of the park at night though. There are places that are not camping zones there and you are free to enjoy those other non camping areas. Just remember to respect the camping areas of those people that are not part of our event and obey all posted park rules. For the Friday lineup/Tesla Coil show at Inks you WILL NOT be allowed to approach the coils under any circumstances. This could be very dangerous. They will be roped off for your safety and viewing pleasure. Crossing this boundary line could very well subject you to expulsion from the event or you could also be arrested. Remember this is for your safety. When this show is over and you go back to your camp spot, you do not have to go to sleep if you don't want to. You may stay up, meet new friends, enjoy the night sky, etc. We will not allow people to crank up car stereos at this time because they want to here more music. This will be a time for sleep, meeting new friends that are enjoying the nighttime serenity, or for viewing the heavens. Look for our Astronomer Todd Hargis if you want to see constellations, planets, comets(yes, there is a comet in the sky if you know where to find it) or other celestrial objects. Bring your binoculars. Star gazing will be good at Inks this coming weekend due to low light in the area and the fact that the moon will barely be visible(if we have a clear sky) And as far as peoples personal boundary lines, when someone says NO, they mean it. NO means NO! Oops. I promised a short blog entry. Matt Man signing out.

What Things Could Possibly Get Me Arrested

This is a blog entry I do not like to have to write, but it is as vital to your good time and the protection of the environment of these two parks. Public consumption or the display of drugs or the sale of narcotics is against the law. Remember in my previous blog I said there will be law enforcement at our event for both your protection and that of the parks. If they see, hear of, or smell you cosuming, displaying, or selling illegal substances, YOU WILL BE ARRESTED. DON'T BE STUPID. Do NOT think for any reason that this is a rave or any similar event where such activity is a cool place to do your drugs. This is an alternative art event that is designed to engage your mind with unusual art pieces and to practice the environmental concepts of LEAVE NO TRACE. Our planet is slowly dying because the human race has become ignorant of its actions. This is a very sad thing. It is one of my life long objectives to help people see that keeping Mother Earth clean is not a hard task. Now, back to more that can get you arrested. Total staggering drunkeness will not be allowed and will get you arrested. If you feel this starting to happen to you, go immediately to the shuttle bus and take a ride back to Inks Lake and go to sleep at your camping spot. If you drove to Inks from a hotel, we will be happy to call a taxi cab to take you back to your hotel. Your car will have no problem sleeping at the lake while you are sleeping it off at your hotel. NO DRINKING AND DRIVING! When you feel the urge to use the bathroom, go use the bathroom. The gift shop will be open and they have very nice facilities for both men and women. There will also be porta potties on the upper area that will be easy to see. Urinating in the cave will get you arrested and permanently banned from any event we produce in the future. Urinating in the cavern (the cavern and the cave are seperate and different places)and the upper areas will get you arrested. No PUBLIC URINATION! Ditto for doing a # 2. I know this is close to Mardi Gras time, but this is not Mardi Gras. Disrespecting security, police, fireman, park staff, or event staff will subject you to being removed or arrested from the event. Graffiti artists BEWARE! You will be arrested as will any other person that participates in ANY type of destruction of public or private property. This includes property belonging to the artists at this event. They are here for your entertainment. Please be respectful of their art and the many hours it took for them to produce their art. Please do not feel that we are trying to hinder you from having a good time. Quite the opposite. By obeying these simple rules of which all are really no brainers, we feel that you will enhance the atmosphere of this event by your presence. Lets all respect each other and this environment and enjoy what will be a most majical experience. Matt Matt out.

Cosumption Of Alcohol And Beverages

Man has it ever been a long hard week. Todays task is to catch up on my blogs, which will be at least 4 in total. This blog will discuss consumption of alcoholic beveages and other drinks and of course, the need to recycle. Most of our attendees are probably unaware of the fact that Burnet County is a dry county in many areas. The area of Longhorn Caverns and Inks Lake being one of those areas. What does this mean you ask? It means that buying beer, etc. will not be as easy as in a big city. How will this affect the event? You will have to B.Y.O.B. We WILL NOT be selling ANY alcoholic beverages. You will have to bring your own beer, wine, Coca Cola, etc. and in doing so, it is absolutely mandatory that you obey a few very simple rules. These rules are ZERO TOLERANCE rules. Number 1. Any beverage you bring to the Longhorn Caverns will have to be in either an aluminun can or a #1 or #2 plastic bottle. No exceptions. I don't care if your favorite beverage comes only in a glass bottle. DO NOT bring glass. It will be confiscated. Bring your second favorite if you have to. We will have recycling areas for both aluminun and #1 and #2 plastic. Like I said in my second blog, if you can't see them, look for them, if you can't then find them, ask someone like our security where they are. This is a LEAVE NO TRACE event. Rule # 2. You must check all coolers, six packs, etc. at our Bar/check in station. The station will have an attendent that will give your cooler(NO STYROFOAM COOLERS), etc. a number tag and you will get an identical tag yourself so that when you need a drink from your cooler, the attendent will know that it truely is yours. Dragging coolers everywhere or walking around with a six pack in your hand WILL NOT be allowed. No exceptions on rule # 2. One other EXTREMELY important thing. You CANNOT tip the attendee at the bar/check in station. Tipping is against T.A.B.C. rules and they will be there to make sure we comply. Tipping as defined in the T.A.B.C. rulebook is considered selling alcohol. There will be NO TIP JAR. Not obeying any of the above conditions is grounds to have you removed from the event. If you become beligerent about any of this, you might be arrested. We will have police at this event for both your protection and the protection of Longhorn Caverns. Please do not feel that we are trying to keep you from having a good time. By doing these simple things we feel it will enhance your enjoyment of the event, keep you and us in compliance with the law, and it will be the morally correct thing to do in order to protect this beautiful environment. Now lets drink responsibly, recycle approprietly and have a good time. Matt Man out.