Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico

We did that with one overnight stop, leaving Cotter and overnighting in Chandler, Oklahoma, which is a beautiful rural area on old Route 66, with some original buildings in the small town itself. There is a crossroads with a little stadium and a sign that says "Denver," but just seemed to be a car wash and a couple of other buildings, I guess there is a school there somewhere. They are proud of their team, with large bright orange Denver Bulldogs logo painted on the buildings. The Walmart about 10 miles away actually sold two styles of T-shirts with their logos, as well as Oklahoma state stuff, which I thought was kind of cool for a big company to do that.

We travelled through Tulsa and Oklahoma City, noting that the dirt is a rich bright orange/red color in this state, then stopped at a rest area right over the Texas line that was a storm shelter built into a hill. It had free BBQs to use that are shaped like the state!

Then we stayed overnight in Amarillo and tried Famous Dave's BBQ, which was pretty good. The thing I love about down here is that they are quick with slamming down another soda or ice tea when your previous one is about 2/3 or less gone. Then they ask if you want to take more soda or fries home with you, no charge. When we were ready to go I still had 2/3 of my ice tea left so I asked for something so I could take it home. He came back and set a big take-home styro cup with lid, already filled with ice tea, on the table! 

Made it to Roswell Sunday afternoon, about 95 degrees F and sunny. Each day's trip was about 5 hours. We are staying here for a week to enjoy the nice weather.

Above:  Lots of big farms in Oklahoma

Above:  In Oklahoma just before Texas state line, a little wind damage

Above:  Inside the storm-shelter rest area

Above:  Through the backroads of the Ozarks in Arkansas

Above:  Bright red dirt common in Western Arkansas and lots of Oklahoma

Above:  Chander, Oklahoma, on old Route 66

Above:  Gigantic Texas-shaped BBQs at the storm-shelter rest area

Above:  Texas rest area storm shelter near Oklahoma state line

Above:  Old place near Roswell, NM

JFK

We had to get a new GPS unit when the old one started malfunctioning around Luckenback, Texas.  It has since made somewhat of a recovery, but meanwhile we took off into downtown Dallas to check out the old book depository building where JFK was assassinated.  We took some crazy three-lane changes off the freeway and I thought for sure we were in the wrong place when a sign suddenly sprung up that said the book depository museum was only 2 blocks away.  We even found a good spot to parallel park right on the street, fed a bunch of quarters into the meter for 2 hours, and proceeded down the street. 

As we got to a corner, I started feeling huge energy and tingling on my arms and head.  I didn't say anything about it, but my companion remarked a few minutes later about the same thing and a weird feeling.  Once we got down to the actual building and area where the assassination had taken place, the feeling had left. 

There are two Xs on the road where the first and second shots hit the president.  I risked life and limb to dodge traffice and stand over each X and take a photo of the book depository from those spots (below).

The building's sixth floor is a self-guided museum (meaning headphones and recorded info on each exhibit).  Photos were not permitted inside.  There was a huge amount of info which would have required many hours to ingest, and as the crowds were growing after the first hour, we decided to leave. 

Standing on this corner getting our first glimpse of the book depository.  The window of importance is the 7th from the left, on the sixth floor on the left face of the building in the photo.  Funny that the other windows in that row have rounded tops, but that window is square.  

Above: Taken while standing directly over X in road marking spot where first shot hit the president

Above: Taken while standing directly over X in road marking spot where second shot hit the president

Above: What the sixth floor looked like on the day of assassination. looking down towards the windows facing the street

Above: The Red Museum, an unbelievably fabulous building that seems rather out of place in the worn-out downtown area of the book depository

Goin to Luckenbach, Texas

Actually, we already went! What a cool place. No wonder Waylon and Willie and the boys all go there. Out in the middle of nowhere, an old dancehall and a saloon, chickens running around, anyone can come with their guitar and sit around under the trees and jam. It has been around 18 to 25 C here on the plus side, real nice winter in the Texas hill country!

Above:  Heavy's BBQ in Hondo, TX, the BEST ever!

Above:  A place to put your guitar and/or case while hanging out at Luckenback

Walk on the Wild Side

We went up to Fredericksburg today, about 30 minutes NE of here. They have a big flea market the third weekend of every month. It was very wet, rainy, and muddy outside the ramshackle buildings, most of which were like old drafty barns filled with stalls of the various vendors. Lots of junk, home-made salsas and preserves, cottage crafts from clothing to placemats, guns, knives, girl guide cookies -- but the award has to go to a really weird semi-covered area overseen by a Cajun Santeria priestess whose theme seemed to be New Orleans shortly after the flooding. Check out the photos below. She has an old travel trailer out back crammed full of more treasures. I went back there to ask her a price on the lion head shown in one of the photos. I was warned by my friend "go ask her but DON'T go in!" and I went alone, coward!

The market was not a total bust, though, as I scored a pair of bling flip flops that are so popular with the Texan women down here. Encrusted with huge rhinestones, 50% off, and even had my size! Love it!

Yezzem

Got my first yezzem down in the little town of Bandera yesterday while browsing in an antique/junk store. It is the equivalent to the Canadian shopkeeper's "yeah," when asked a question that requires an affirmative answer. Also got another hat-doffing introduction to a cowboy here yesterday, too. Really do like the manners down here.

We were in Bandera for Mardi Gras. The town has a population of 902 and the parade was huge, complete with a live Zydeco band that was awesome. They have old saloons here that you go downstairs to get to, in basements, and they really do have sawdust on the floors. Got a sack of Mardi Gras beads, too, from all the parade floats flinging them out by the thousands.

Postscript to Pig Hunt

When the guys got back to town with their trophy pig, they were fixin to drop it off at the local butcher's. It was around 10:00 pm and closed, so they called the after-hours phone number on the door, and, only in Texas, the guy told them where to find the hidden key to the shop, told them to drop the pig off inside, and then make sure to lock up and put the key back where they found it. Ha!

Texas Waffles

We went to a breakfast buffet at a university here on Sunday, and you could make your own waffles AND the griddles were shaped like the state of Texas! See photo of my Texas waffle below.

We got ourselves one of the big round iron cauldrons that the park provides for campfires, and we are getting a half-pickup full of dry live oak for 40 bucks so we can have us some fires at night. There is a real saloon here in the park and it has a nice big old fire pit on the patio about 3 feet high. It is round and made out of the local stone slabs, which are kind of a chalky creamy-white and brownish color.

Some of the boys in the park went out wild pig hunting yesterday. The pigs are a real problem down here and are destroying the land, so there are private properties that offer pig hunting. The one they went to is free, and you pay the owner $75 if you get a pig. I guess the guys just go sit in blinds alone for hours on end, even into the night, and the pigs come in for mash that is thrown out for them. Sounds kind of boring, but they did get one pig anyway.

There are some really weird place names around here

Surfboards and Shrimp, Exit Stage Left

Bye, Bye, Beach

Heading out from Mustang Island tomorrow. Been here 3 weeks in 95% tropical humidity (latitude is the same as the bottom third of the Baja). We were here later last year and the humidity was not a problem. We're going back to Kerrville, Texas, so we can dry out! Gonna miss the nice 25-degree days, though!

Above:  Helloooo?

Above:  That's what I'M talkin' about!

Above:  This one's for Dave

Above: My future retirement home

Kingsville, Texas

Day trip south to the King Ranch, halfway between here and Matamoros, Mexico, about 1.5 hours driving time. It was hot, windy, and humid. We signed up for the ranch bus tour, which proved to be uneventful and even a little boring; an hour and a half in a bus the size of a handy dart packed with people and featuring a poor air conditioning system, with windows that didn't open but threatened to rattle loose and fall out while bouncing over some of the ranch roads.

The driver liked to stop at every herd of cattle we came across, but motored quickly past the ranch mansion and other buildings that were photo worthy. The friends we were with had taken the tour a few years ago and said they got off the bus at a few interesting spots and got to see all kinds of stuff that we didn't today. Bummer.

So after the tour we decided to check out a seafood restaurant recommended by some people in the park here, Kings Inn in Riviera, TX, right on the bay and 20 minutes south of Kingsville. We started to get lost when our friend's GPS decided to go stupid once we got off the main highway, so I got my iPhone Google Map out, we got our own GPS out, and the backseat people were using smart phone apps, and also tried to call them on a cell phone, all to no avail. We ended up turning around and trying to find our way back to the highway when we suddenly got back on track and found the place.

It was a semi-dilapidated old beach kind of place with real linen on the tables. First order of business for the waitress was to tell us it was a house rule, men had to remove hats. Okayyyyy......

Second weird thing, they had no menus. They served everything "family style," meaning it comes on plates that you serve yourself from, and everything was sold by the pound. The waitress rattled off what they had, oysters, shrimp, scallops, and drum, that French fries came with everything, and they also had an avocado salad and onion rings you could order.

I had to go up to the front to find out prices per pound and what options you had for how the food was prepared, which turned out to be fried only, except the shrimp could also be ordered cold. I forgot that "fried" down here means battered and thrown in an oil fryer, so we ended up with deep-fried shrimp, oysters, and scallops.

The avocado salad was the best thing there, followed by the shrimp. Never had deep-fried oysters or scallops before and probably never will again.

On a good note, when we got back to the park, I bought a 10-pound bag of fresh huge prawns from a family who has shrimp boats out of Palacio, about 2 hours north of here. Stay tuned for photos of shrimp on the barbie tomorrow!

Above:  Just try to get a photo of anything at the King Ranch from the handi-dart bus piloted by a weird senior citizen.  This is a doorway into the huge mansion on the ranch.  Striking photo, huh?

Above:  Spaghetti night at the park.  Actually tasted okay...

Above:  Best thing at the King Ranch:  Alamo Crackers.  Really. 

The ranch was established pre-Civil War, and the owner was friends with Robert E. Lee and helped run cotton through Mexican-registered ships through the North's embargo...

Above:  Why do most of the major streets in Texas have at least 2 or 3 names their titles?  Like Major Tom Brown Boulevard, or John Paul Harvey Road?  Weird.

Above:  REAL happy campers

Above:  Far-away pic of the King Ranch Mansion (The driver had stopped the bus yet again for some more blasted cows that she seems entranced with)