Still Here, Just Busy…

I got an e-mail from a concerned reader who saw that I had not posted in a while so I thought I better take a moment to jot down a few notes, lest the remaining handful of you think something is wrong.  Honestly, I’ve just been busy – lots of work, lots of activity and that just equates to less time posting pictures of lunch and the cute deer that wander around here. But thanks for asking.

In no particular order, the following are a bunch of different things I’ve been doing to keep myself entertained.

When we first moved out here, I had made up my mind that I would not wait a long time before getting to know neighbors or participating in our HOA activities.  And in fact, we know all of our immediate neighbors, have phone numbers, e-mails and are friends on FaceBook, which really allows everyone to keep up on one another.  It is funny how if there is a strange vehicle driving slowly by (which happens a lot since people are looking to buy land), the whole street goes on alert. 

The other thing we did was start attending the association meetings each month.  Disappointing in that, we were usually the only ones to attend, though, who really goes to HOA meetings, anyway?  Well, long story short, after joining the board last year, I took over as president, not because I wanted to but because nobody else was willing to do it.  Believe me, there is nothing prestigious or exciting about it, and frankly, the people who are on the board with me are all wanting the same thing I want – maintain the property values of the neighborhood and avoid having to raise the fees every year.

When I was just a member of the board, there was very little to do.  There is only one meeting a month, and after that, really nothing.  Being the president changed everything.  As the point of contact for the property management company, I get e-mails almost daily, and sometimes, a dozen e-mails needing some sort of approval or wanting to address a problem.  Certainly not a full time job, but the pace is much closer to what it was when I was on the board in my old association. 

The real down side is the lack of communication from other members.  We live in an e-mail world, and honestly, between my cell phone and computer, I check my e-mail 10 times a day if not more.  But even then, if you only check your e-mail every few days, wouldn’t it make sense to respond to e-mails asking for your input?  So my new tactic is that I add words like, “No replies are assumed to be consent” and things like that.  Anyway, that’s one thing that has kept me busy.

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Have you seen that FB is really taking over for Craig’s List when it come to buying and selling stuff?  We’ve joined several online garage sale type groups local to the area.  We got rid of a treadmill, a grill, and a bunch of other little odds and ends that you might have a garage sale for, but with this, there is no sitting out in the hot sun to do it.  Eva has also purchased a few things and last week when she wanted to rent a bounce castle, we found a local person right away and that worked out well.

So this ties into a little project I’ve been working on.  As many of you know, I have had an ongoing project for about 7 years to scan in old photos.  Well, I also have these old home videos that I have been trying to get moved to the computer.  The VHS tapes I took care of buy buying one of those VCR’s that has the DVD recorder on it.  But, I also had two different types of video cameras, one a 8mm type and another in the MiniDV format.  The problem is, I don;t have those cheap cameras anymore but I still have the tapes!

A long while back, I purchased this piece of crap from a pawn shop for $35.  The reason is, people on E-Bay know that people are trying to find these and they want $75-$150 for something that you don’t know will work or not.  Well, my $35 was wasted and pawn shops never give you money back on electronics. 

Several weeks ago, I found this beauty in perfect condition.  It is a Sony AF8 system complete with case, manuals, 2 batteries and all the original parts.  And it works.  I paid $10 and it more than made up for the $35 I lost at the pawn shop.  Bottom line, I’ve got my 8mm tapes taken care of and hell, I may just sell this baby for $100.  Or I may keep it because I love it.

My next dilemma:  The MiniDV which look like this.  I put an add on some of the local FB garage sale pages and basically, the people who have these don’t want to sell them, but instead want me to help them convert their videos! 

 A lady who lives nearby is looking to see if we can work a trade where I use her camera to convert my tapes, then I lend her my Dazzle (which lets you connect the AV cables to your USB) so she can do hers.  We’ll see how that works out.

Oh, and speaking of those online groups, there is one called La Pulga de San Antonio which is actually really funny.   I suspect a lot of the items for sale are stolen, which is not funny, but some of the comments that people leave just crack me up.  One lady created much drama when she accused a person who came to her house to get free clothing items of stealing her husband Air Jordans from the back porch.  It got really West Side rather quickly when the accused lady jumped in and started defending herself.  Eventually, the two ladies worked out their dispute, but not before much folly was made by the people leaving various comments and pictures and such.  Good times.

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Our air conditioning situation.  So with the completion of the Man Cave, we really hadn’t put it through its paces in terms of having more than Eva and I sitting out there watching a movie.  A week or two ago, we had a big party for my daughter and she invited quite a few folks over for a cookout, the aforementioned bounce castle, and such.  Well, naturally, some folks gravitated to the Man Cave to do some Karaoke. 

What I found as the afternoon dragged on was that, with the constant opening and closing of the door for people to go in, grab beers or sodas and leave, the air conditioner was just not keeping up.  I knew this would be a problem, to be honest.  What I really wanted was to have a company come in and install a small central unit, but that was cost prohibitive.  And, it just so happened that we had a window unit sitting in a box in the shed.

Well yesterday, we were at Lowe’s and based upon the recommendations of other folks who have them, we bought one of those roll around units.  And honestly, right now, we are thinking about taking it back.  All the reviews say that this thing can cool down a room really quickly, but last night we installed it and let it go for a few hours and it never got below 78, and really, stayed closer to 80.  That is unsatisfactory. 

We seriously insulated the hell out of the Man Cave, so it shouldn’t be that the room is too hot.  But who knows.  I’m open to suggestions.

Oh, and speaking of the party.  This was a birthday cake our friend Shannon made for the event.  Roxanne always loved the Little Mermaid, so this was a real treat for a 26 year-old.

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I should post something about food, right?  Yesterday we were out running errands and happened to be over on Bandera stopping in at a few garden centers there.  Anyway, we thought, we ought to go eat at Beef O’Brady’s since they opened one on Bandera, and we liked it when we went to ones in Brandon and Panama City Beach.

Well, I guess not.  Looks like the one here in San Antonio didn’t make it because it was gone.  The sign on the street is still there, but the restaurant was gone.

Instead, we slipped in to Babe’s in Helotes.  I wouldn’t say Babe’s is my favorite, but they certainly are a reliable choice every once in a while.  I like the basket of mixed onion rings and fries.

Eva had the chili cheeseburger and I had the bacon cheeseburger.  It hit the spot! 

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The other day I was mowing the yard, minding my own buisness, then the next thing you know…

This happens.  Yikes!  Turns out that I need to replace the bearings in the front wheels.  In the mean time, I put the wheel back on, got a new clip from the hardware store and was back in action before too long.

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 My son bought tickets for us to go see one of the Spurs playoff games against the Clippers at the AT&T center.  Since he paid for the tickets, I paid for parking, snacks and beer.  I’m not sure which of us got the better end of the deal.  Seriously, $9.50 for a beer?  

It really was a good time – the crowd is great and the energy that you just don’t see on TV is pretty exciting.  

But all in all, I think that basketball is a game much better viewed on TV in front of the big screen.  In fact, that’s our plan for tonight.  

Hopefully this catches you up if you were missing out on what’s happening out here.  More when I get a chance!

My Daily Deer: Cats, Deer, Beer…

Between the deer camera and my iPhone, I’ve got a handful of new deer pictures to show.

Like a morning a week or two ago when I pulled out of the drive-way to find several deer crossing the street.  I had to stop to get my phone ready to take a picture and only got one good shot before they decided it was time to run. 

Then this week, same thing, better picture.  Since I use my phone for podcast listening, I have to grab it, bring up the camera app and then try to quickly focus.  I guess this is why the deer camera gets better pictures.

Like when Little Kitty has been out prowling around and sneaks back into the yard.

She isn’t the only jumper.  I do like the photos of the deer jumping the fence.

And of course, once they are close to the camera they always seem curious about it.

It’s not just deer and cats caught in the act…  I think this was the day I was going around to all the trees chopping off little limbs that were starting to make Eva nervous.  The more of this I can do on my own, the longer we can hold off on hiring a tree company to come in and do the trees.  Granted, if we hire someone, they probably won’t come equipped with a machete in one hand and a beer in the other!

Trip Report: Big Bend and Thereabouts – Day 3, 4…

If you missed Day 2, take a look right here.

After enjoying the the part of the trip that was really for my benefit, we headed back east from Alpine, through Del Rio and down south to Eagle Pass where we spent the night at the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino.

By the time we got to Marathon, it was apparent that we could have figured out a way to go back down to Big Bend from Alpine, go through the national park and circle back to Marathon.  Maybe on our next trip we’ll go that route.

We did stop in Langtry again (hey – when you find nice restrooms, you take a mental note), and we took about twenty minutes to pull over at the viewing areas for the Pecos River.

On our way to Alpine, we drove across the Pecos River bridge and I slammed on the brakes so we could stop and grab a few pictures.  Heading back east, we knew there were viewing areas both on the westbound and eastbound sides of the bridge, so we stopped and got a few good pictures.

I think this picture gives you an idea of just how out in the middle of nowhere this bridge is.  If I have not said it before, Texas is huge and there is a whole lot of nothing stretching for miles and miles.

Have you ever wondered what is in Comstock?  Now you know.  Enjoy.

Eagle Pass is on the US side of the river with Piedras Negras on the Mexico side.  It seems like a fairly modern, nice looking place, though by the time we got there, we were less interested in sightseeing and more interested in getting to the casino, the part of the trip Eva was eagerly waiting for!

Unfortunately, by this time, we were also about pictured out.  I wish I had taken some pictures of the Lucky Eagle, or as our neighbor, a frequent visitor of the casino calls it, The Unlucky Buzzard,  just to show how nice the place is.  As you approach down a long, probably 2 mile drive which is no doubt destined for lots of construction in years to come, there is a sense that Eagle Pass is long gone and you are once again out in the middle of nowhere.  Then, in the middle of the desert is the 5 or 6 story casino with nice landscaping and all the amenities of a high end hotel in San Antonio.  I hesitate to compare it to Vegas since there were no visible hookers or people passing out fliers for strip clubs.

Inside, we found our room to be very nice, comfortable and a complete escape from the desert that surrounds the place.   Eva has been wanting to go to the Luck Eagle for years and my hesitation has always been the idea of a smoke filled  place full of senior citizens with oxygen tanks lighting up new cigarettes with the butt of the previous, gambling away their social security checks.  In fact, the casino clearly is utilizing high tech air circulation systems and, though you can’t completely avoid smoke from a person sitting nearby with a huge stogie, it really wasn’t as bad as I expected.

And yes, during the day, they do bring in bus loads of people wanting to gamble, but by early evening, the crowd changed from busloads of tourists to people staying in the hotel like us, and probably a lot of locals.

After dropping our stuff off at the room, we were extremely hungry and went down to one of the several restaurants in the casino.  For a total of $29.00 (for both of us), we hit the buffet which was very good.  Again, sorry, no pictures.  There was a huge salad bar, a huge meat bar – prime rib, brisket, chicken, all the essentials, a huge dessert bar (none for me, thanks) and people coming by to refill the iced tea which was really good.  I stuffed myself then went back to the room and promptly passed out for at least an hour or so.

I did get a picture of something that made me giggle at the time.  

So Eva and I have two different ideas on gambling.  We both think it is cool to set a specific amount, then blow it with no expectation of even breaking even.  In my mind, you can have even more fun if you put $20 in the machine and walk away with $40.  In fact, I think at one point, Eva cashed out with an $80 ticket and in my mind, it was time for us to quit.

But on the other hand…  with $3.00 Dos X’s (okay, $4.00 since I always give a tip), I was fine with sitting back and watching Eva win just enough to play a little longer before losing it all.  And this is how our evening went.

We do enjoy those Wheel of Fortune style slots and the “lucky” one Eva found was located by one of the large bar areas.  It just so happened that they were doing Karaoke and very horribly.  There was an attractive lady singing Selena songs and her screechy, off key voice was horrific, yet the polite crowd cheered her on.  Nice people.

In the end, this pretty much says everything you need to know about our gambling experience.    

The one negative that I have regarding the Kickapoo was that, against Eva’s advice, I ordered room service breakfast for the morning.  Our breakfast consisted of some eggs and bacon, some potatoes, some toast, the worst tasting coffee ever, and some juice.  After gratuity etc, it came out to close to $35.00.  Keep in mind, we had stuffed our faces for $29.00 at the buffet, but I get it, it’s room service.  Anyway, it was absolutely horrible. I did eat the bacon and the cold eggs, oh, and the juice.  If you go, skip the breakfast and head right back to the buffet.

Our drive back home on Friday morning was actually a very beautiful trip through lots of farm land along Highway 57 from Eagle Pass to Moore, a small town just south west of Natalia.  There are quite a few small towns and big farms growing all sorts of stuff.  Our only delay was about a 10 minute wait through one of the Border Patrol inspection stations which frankly, if I had to deal with on a daily basis would begin to piss me off.

All good things come to an end and this trip was both relaxing and interesting.  I do suspect now that we have been to the casino in Eagle Pass, we’ll make a return trip.  Big Bend is a bit further and with so many other places we want to go (St. Augustine immediately comes to mind), it may be a while before we get back there.

For those that need more pictures, I do have a Tumblr that I will be posting the Big Bend pictures on, so feel free to check it out, here.

Trip Report: Big Bend and Thereabouts – Day 2

If you missed Day 1 of our trip, you can read and see it here.

Our plan for Day 2 was a simple route starting in Alpine, taking the highway down to Terlingua, then driving through Big Bend Ranch State Park to Lajitas and Presidio back up north to Marfa, and back to Alpine.

After a fine breakfast at the Hampton Inn, we drove over to Sul Ross University and the Museum of the Big Bend.  Not that it wasn’t both free and entertaining, with these pictures you’ve pretty much seen the whole of it.  The lady working the counter was very helpful offering us suggestion for our trip down to the Terlingua area, and it was nice to look at a large interactive map of the area, so if you find yourself in Alpine, it is worth a brief visit.

I had mentioned previously that pictures simply don’t do the drive and the views along the way justice.  As we departed Alpine on Highway 118 it was interesting to see the number of homes built into the mountainside.  And then, nothing for miles and miles.  There are quite a few fenced ranch areas with names of the entities and individuals who own them along with trespass warnings.  It may be wide open and out in the middle of nowhere, but someone owns it all.

 Interestingly, it was really hazy during our drive.  According to a lady we chatted with, it was just the dust.  They were in need of rain to calm things down and as luck would have it, they’d get it the following day.

As we were pulling into Terlingua proper, Eva just kept asking, Why?  Why would anyone want to come here?  My only responses seemed weak; things like beer drinking goats, chili cook-offs, getting away from it all. And when we got actual eyes-on glimpses of some of the “rustic” hotels we considered staying in, we were so very glad we chose Alpine.  We stopped in a convenience store/diner to grab a coffee and ask if there is anything we shouldn’t miss.  The nice lady looked at me and just smiled.  She pointed to Terlingua Ghost Town just down the road.

 If we took the road further to the south east, we’d be at Study Butte which is the entrance to the National Park.  We had been told that there were lots of great things to see and even a nice restaurant deep in the park.  Instead, we headed west to Terlingua Ghost Town, really, my one must see place.

 We spent a good 30 minutes wandering through the Terlingua Trading Company, picking up a few souvenirs to take with us.

 The church and these other landmarks are all part of a short walking (or driving) tour around the small little area.

Of course, the first week in November is when the chili cook-off takes place, so I can imagine the place gets filled with all sorts of interesting characters, but for our visit, just a few minor oddities of interest.  When you look out at where they hold the cook-off and you see the sparse environment around, you realize this isn’t an event for the faint of heart.  Even then, I bet it is a good time for those that attend.  FYI:  Several blogs I have followed, and specifically, Ms. Belinda at Terlingua Dreams, have written about what to expect.  If you ever feel the urge to go, don’t take my word for it, read some of the blogs from people who have attended.

From Terlingua Ghost Town, it was off to Lajitas and the place where they keep Clay Henry, the beer drinking goat and mayor.

 Love the cowboy handicap parking sign.

They have built a golf resort in Lajitas called  which could change your attitude about the place.  We walked through the section where they had a few high end shops (compared to in Terlingua) and got the feeling that we were a little out of our league.  Pardon me, can you pass the Grey Poupon?

Not far from there, we stopped in the Big Bend Ranch State Park station to buy a few trinkets then stop for lunch in the nice picnic area.  I haven’t mentioned the weather but it was actually perfect.  It was certainly breezy but for most the day, temps were between 68 and 70 degrees.  I was so glad we came when we did.

The road through the park is windy following the river and the mountains.  There are many times where you drive up the road and can only trust that when you get over the top, there is road on the otherside instead of a cliff.  Often,it was like a cool roller coaster, so keep that in mind if you suffer from motion sickness.  We did drive by numerous groups of motorcyclists and I can certainly see why they would enjoy the ride.

 Not far from Lajitas and the park station was a place called Contrabando Movie Set.  We stopped and took a few pictures but didn’t venture down to the actual buildings. 

Looking accros the road from the camp, you can see the view of the mountians they were looking for as a background to the camp.

Another cool sight to see were these balancing rocks along the river.  Of course, that’s me trying to balance myself on a protective fence.  The area we stopped to take pictures was a trailed head for hikers.  The park had these handy little boxes that allow those using the trails to pay the fees.  We weren’t in a hiking mood, but did see several folks heading down for a walk.

The parts of the river we could see from above looked like it would make for a cool canoe trip.  You can see lots of canyon walls and, just based on some of the spectacular images I’ve seen on the Internet, I’m just assuming that our vantage point didn’t even scratch the surface on the beauty.  I also suspect that timing is everything.  While beautiful, most everything was dry, desert-like and pretty much like seeing the same patch of landscape for miles with the occasional eye popping feature to catch your attention.  In a different month or season, this place probably looks way different.

We drove through the small patch of land called Redford and then on to Presidio.  Interestingly, our cellphones welcomed us abroad and asked us if we’d like to pay for the $19.00 data plan.  No, thanks.

 Presidio seemed like a huge city compared to everything we had seen that day but to be honest, not a single thing caught our eyes that would warrant a stop.  So, we took off on Highway 67 back toward Marfa, and on to Alpine.

The landscape changes tremendously heading north and it was a very pleasant drive.  Lots of cattle ranches but not a single buffalo in sight.  There are a few cool rock formations noted as you drive along.

First, Lincoln’s Profile.  Can you see it?  Wait, that’s me peeing on the side of the road.

 Now tilt your head to the right and look.  It really does look like Lincoln’s profile.

And then there is the Elephant rock near Shafter.   I think this one is much easier to catch.  You just know that some little kids 100 years ago were wandering around the landscape and with no video games to play, had to use their imaginations to notice these features.

That evening we were up in the air about dinner.  I made use of the Urban Spoon to rule out a few spots in Alpine and we had pretty much narrowed it down to a few places, one of which was a cool looking diner called Penny’s.  Making use of the helpful staff at the Hampton Inn, a front desk lady told Eva we should try Reata, given it was our anniversary and all.

There is no question, Reata has a nice feel to it.  We got the mistaken impression that it was an actual restaurant that stars from the movie Giant dined (not in the movie, but later), but according to the website, the name just came from the movie – no further connection.  Regardless, I called and asked for a reservation, and we were seated immediately when we came in.  Given the small size of the place, that has probably been a problem in the past (ahem, Urban Spoon, cough, cough).

Our waitress was fantastic.  She was really attentive but not overbearing, and she had no issue with helping us navigate the menu for something we wanted to eat.  For me, Chicken Fried Steak, for Eva, a burger.  I don’t want to take anything away from Reata.  We had a nice meal, though I took 3/4 of mine in a to go box, and the atmosphere was enjoyable, the staff wonderful in every way.  Our only parting shot was that we felt like we probably missed an opportunity at Penny’s Diner.

I did get to try a beer from the local Brewery, Big Bend Brewing Co.  It is their 22 Porter, darker than I ordinarily like, but it went very well with dinner.   Thanks to info from our waitress, we walked across the street to the grocery store and bought a few six-packs to bring home to the kids to try.

Day 2 of our Big Bend trip was great.  We got to enjoy the jacuzzi back at the hotel and even catch the end of the Spurs game.  Day 3 and 4 of the trip in the next installment.

Trip Report: Big Bend and Thereabouts – Day 1

Taking a road trip out to parts of west Texas and the Big Bend area is something that I have wanted to do for years.  We have numerous friends who’ve either gone on camping trips or attended the annual Chili cook-off in Terlingua, and the idea of being so close yet having never actually been was disturbing to me.  On the other hand, we had no intention of putting on hiking boots, packing a tent and some sleeping bags and heading out into the wilderness.  In fact, this little break from work (and, oh by the way,  our wedding anniversary) was intended to be one of those deals where we rarely exit the vehicle (and the air conditioning), and really, see what all the excitement is about from a distance through a bug splatted windshield.

 The first day of the trip was just to get there.  After a lot of research, we decided that our best bet was to use Alpine, TX as our base of operations.  Turns out for us, that was a good plan.  Alpine is small enough to be quaint, but large enough to have known hotel chains that, if a serial killer was managing it, surely someone would get word back to the corporate offices.  Honestly, if you saw some of the tiny little places we drove by, you’d take this into consideration.  Not to suggest that small equals serial killer haven, I’m just saying my idea of a good night’s sleep doesn’t entail that kid from Deliverance sitting out on the front porch pickin’ and grinnin’ on the banjo all night.

And as it turns out, when we actually saw some of the hotels I had looked up on the Internet in person, Eva informed me that she would have stabbed me in my sleep had I made reservations there.  The Hampton Inn in Alpine it is, my delight.

 As an adult, I had never been out Highway 90 west of Uvalde.  I have to say I was eager to find some of the roadside oddities that might sprinkle the landscape out there.  As it turns out, I was on the wrong highway for any of that.  No half-buried Cadillacs, no weird Tee Pee hotels or anything worth noting in the odd category.  But it doesn’t take long to recognize just how big and wide open Texas is.  Hell, we see that driving just 10 minutes outside of Devine, but the road from here to Del Rio and beyond is filled with a whole lot of nothing.  I don’t mean that in a bad, boring way, but in more of an appreciation for what early settlers had to deal with.  Long stretches without cellphone coverage, for instance.   

We did find civilization in Del Rio and interestingly, found a Rudy’s Bar BQ where we decided to grab a quick lunch and fill-up before heading on.  Just a quick note about that.  In San Antonio, people rave about Rudy’s.  I’ve never disliked the place, per se, but it’s not my favorite.  But both Eva and I were extremely pleased with the vittles we had at the Rudy’s in Del Rio.  The brisket and chicken were great with no need for the sauce.  The potato salad was outstanding.  I don’t want to get anyone in trouble, but the people in Del Rio are not following the company formula, and we liked it!  I hope this isn’t me reporting to Rudy’s management that they have a serial killer in their midst, but what they ought to do is get out to Del Rio, figure out what they are doing and move that staff to San Antonio and Leon Springs.

Just outside of Del Rio is Lake Amistad.  The water seemed really low.

More interesting to us was The Pecos River.  In fact, I ended up pulling over so we could get out and take a look.  More pictures when I post about the eastbound side on Day 3.

When we got to Langtry, our first real tourist stop, we were pleased to see how nice and clean the facilities there were.  The grounds are well kept and we enjoyed the short break from the road.  Of course, the reason you stop in Langtry is to see the Jersey Lilly where Judge Roy Bean held court.

 When you see how vast and wide-open Texas is, it seems unlikely that anyone would have found this tiny spot along the Rio Grande to have justice dispensed in the first place.  The entire bar is a lot smaller than our living room, so it seems even more of a mystery that such a legend was born of this place.  But it is cool, nevertheless.

We drove down to the location of a famous boxing match that Judge Bean, ever the entrepreneur managed to facilitate.  And the picture below the marker is the Mexico side of the border.  The obvious question is, why don’t people just walk across the border?  Well, I’m sure some do.  But the terrain is so rugged out there, your average person is not going to make all that risk and effort to get to the Judge Roy Bean tourist stop because, nothing, really nothing else is there. 

And as we learned, they have these random inspection stations up and down the highway.  I have recently seen several videos on the Internet where the perfectly legal American citizen exercises their right to not respond to the Border Patrol guys at these inspection stations.  Honestly, I wondered what I would do when I encountered my first one on the trip.  Make no mistake, I’ve been through these inspections years ago when we would make trips to Laredo, but now, thanks to my friends on the Internet, I wondered if my rights are being abridged in some way.  Screw all that.  In each case, we rolled up, the guy smiled with a How’s it going?  You guys US Citizens?  All right, have a good day. 

This is not to suggest that I am not opposed to check points, be they for random drug or DWI inspections, or any random thing.  I am.  In the case of these inspection stations, the only thing to be upset about is that they are a waste of tax dollars and a waste of time.  We laughed about the fact that all the illegals could jump out of a bus, run around the check point, then get back in the bus on the other side.  But, in terms of ruining my day?  Whatever. The Border Patrol guys we encountered were all friendly, though admittedly, I’m pretty US Citizen looking and come to think of it, so is Eva.

And then there is another sort of stop.  So there we were not even 20 miles from Alpine when I saw a State Trooper off in the distance coming towards me.  I checked my speed – cruise control set for about 80 – and hit the brakes.  When we got closer, I actually sped back up to 75, the posted speed limit and then as soon as we passed each other, he hit his brakes and pulled a u-turn.  Whatever.

I immediately pulled over to the shoulder, put on the flashers and pulled out my DL and lowered the windows.   When the trooper approached the passenger side window he asked if I was aware of my speed.  I mumbled something friendly about going between 70 and 75.   He smiled and said he had me clocked at 82.  There is no arguing when you know you are due a ticket and since, truth be told, I always speed, I mean always, this was coming.  When you are happy to accept a ticket just to make up for the fact that you haven’t had one that you deserve in years, I guess you come across as friendly.  

And the friendly trooper gave me a warning.  And when he turned to go the other direction, I sped away to Alpine.

We were please to find Alpine a small, clean, friendly college town.  Aside from the fact that most every shop we wanted to visit closed by 5 PM, the place has character.  Who knew Hoss went to Sul Ross? Not me.

After checking into our hotel, the Hampton Inn in Alpine (which we were very pleased with), we got back in the truck and headed down the road to Marfa.  To me, Marfa was the real disappointment of the trip.  In doing some basic Google research on Marfa, it was made out to be this hipster, artsy-fartsy place full of galleries and museums.  Well, perhaps it is all that, but not after 5 in the afternoon.  Granted, with a population of 2,121, there probably isn’t any expectation that the sidewalks shouldn’t roll-up at 4:59PM, but if you are planning on going to see the Marfa Lights, for instance, don’t expect to be entertained by the rest of Marfa while you wait.

Speaking of the lights.  There is an observation area about 5 miles outside of Marfa on the way back to Alpine.  They have restrooms, parking areas, telescopes and information about what to expect.  We didn’t see anything, which is always a possibility.

The other thing I wanted to see in Marfa was the big 3D controversial art display showing a Prada store front.  Well, turns out it isn’t in Marfa at all, and given our limited time, we weren’t feeling the urge to go find it.  For some reason, the Google maps app on my iPhone kept pointing us to an art gallery in Marfa (which was closed).  Maybe another time.

We decided to head north from Marfa up to the town of Ft. Davis.  In hindsight, it might have been better if we had gotten a room for the night there so we could have gone to the McDonald Observatory to see the star show.  Chatting later with some folks who went, it seemed like a great time.  Our issue was, we did not want to be navigating the roads in the middle of the desert late at night, so instead, we decided to eat dinner.

Ft. Davis is just a small little place, but it looks like they have their tourism act together.  We drove up to the base of the mountains to take a few cool pictures.

 We had dinner at the Ft Davis Drug Store that housed a small art gallery and a hotel all in the same building. 

 We decided on sandwiches and some of the best tasting tea either of us have had in a while. 

 Pictures just don’t do justice to the wide open views on the drive out in this part of west Texas.  There are rough looking small mountains where you just can’t imagine someone trying to farm or raise cattle, then wide open plateaus for as far as the eye can see.  Small towns consisting of one gas station, a closed down saloon and a few beat-up, abandoned shacks made us realize our small town out here is a regular tri-city metropolis complete with an HEB and soon, a WalMart.  And that’s about as small as we want to get.

Next – Day 2 and our trip to Terlingua Ghost Town.

Lunch Report: B&D Ice House in Southtown…

Over a month ago I saw an article in the SA Express-News (online) food section talking about the latest  Jason Dady food place, this one in the Southtown district of San Antonio.  I immediately fired off an e-mail to our fellow foody friends from the old neighborhood and after triangulating our calendars, the date was set.

You can read the background on how B&D Ice House went from being a place to get a cold beer on a hot day to a place filled with the delicious aroma of Texas BBQ and grilled jalapeno poppers on their web page, but the gist of it is, the folks from The Friendly Spot (just across the street) teamed with the Dady brothers and transformed the place into some seriously good eats.

The first thing to know about this entire area is that, parking is very limited.  We found parking in a residential area down the street and couldn’t help but wonder how irritating it might be for the people who live around there to constantly have cars up and down the street.  I guess that comes with living down town, but I can just imagine the commotion in the evenings.  Anyway, after a very short walk up Cedar Street, we walked met our friends inside the air conditioned seating area.  Outside, there are plenty of picnic tables and such, but the sun was out and it was already 90 degrees.

Behind the bar, there were a larger selection of beers on tap than most places, 6 or 8 anyway.  The menu is pretty simple and I like that.  You have your basic meats sold by the pound, some sides sold by the portion, you order at the window and in no time at all, the food is there.  Our wait from the time I ordered to the time I picked it up was easily less than 5 minutes.

Here is the big surprise:  Except for my daughter, everyone at our table felt that the brisket at B&D was hands down superior to, and I can’t believe I’m even writing this, Augie’s Barbed Wire. Yes, in my opinion, we experienced the best brisket in San Antonio at B&D.  Not too smokey, the right amount of caramelization, and just melt in your mouth tender.  Order the brisket and you will be very pleased.

The chicken was interesting.  The skin had to be removed – it was simply too tough to even bite through, but the brilliance was, it locked in all the delicious, juicy flavor and everyone agreed it was outstanding.  I love chicken and this was wonderful.  I even enjoyed the sausage.  I usually skip the sausage links at most places but this was easy to cut and it had a great taste.

Do not under any circumstances put the sauce on any of your meats.  I know, some people say you should never use sauce anyway, but in this case, the real downer for our experience was the BBQ sauce.  It was simply awful.  Maybe that was on purpose – to force us to appreciate the delicious meats on their own.  If so, well done.

The beans were crappy too.  I’m sure they took pinto beans and just mixed in some of the ugly BBQ sauce.  Not a good choice.

Most of us enjoyed the potato salad, and everyone thought the mac & cheese was excellent.

One real winner:  The Jalapeno poppers wrapped in bacon.  Just how I make them and wonderful.

Not into meats laid out on a paper towel?  B&D has several Sammie options.  Tyler got The Bruno which is chopped brisket with mac & cheese and Cole slaw.  Wow!  It was fantastic.  The bread was nice and soft, that mixture of the meat with the slaw worked very nicely and I could see making this a nice messy lunch time meal.

B&D is my new favorite for BBQ downtown.  If you even think that you like BBQ, you need to go in and give it a shot.  The price was very reasonable (you’ll pay the same at Rudy’s or Grady’s) and the atmosphere is great.  Skip the sauce and lubricate your lunch with a draft Shiner.  I promise, your in for a Tasty Treat!

Big League Weekend…

Okay – this isn’t very timely at all given that Big League Weekend was last weekend. But, we make time where we can.

So you may recall that last year, San Antonio hosted a Major League Baseball game in the Alamodome – I wrote about it here.  My big complaint wasn’t the short field or the lack of actual MLB players in the game, it was really the lack of an atmosphere.  We’ve been to the local San Antonio Missions farm league games (years ago) and they do it all up with music and little side attractions.  You’d think that they would just transfer all that stuff into the Alamodome and recreate that enjoyable atmosphere.  Nope.  Didn’t last year and didn’t do it again this time around.

The frustrating thing is, the UTSA football games at the Alamodome are so well done.  Even if the game is slow or our team is losing, the atmosphere created by all the music, the announcing and the little extras really keeps things moving.  At the most recent game, we found more entertainment in the conversations going on around us in the stands than we did in what was going on the field.

 In the category of you learn something new every day…  For our UTSA football games, we sit down in the lower section because, well, we want to be close to the field.  For this game, we got seats on the club level which is where the expensive box seats are.  This shouldn’t be important, but it is if you purchase a large Shiner Bock in the lower level before walking up to the Club level.  You cannot bring in any beer up to the Club level.  WTH?  So, my son and I had to stand in what we deemed the chug zone like all the other people unaware of this policy and gulp it all down before we could go to our seats.

It was frustrating to say the least, but we didn’t get nearly as upset as this one guy who was really, really mad.  I jokingly said, Welcome to the Chug Zone and that just set him off on a torrent of expletives (between sips of beer, of course) about how stupid Texas is.  Are you kidding me?  They enforce bringing beer I purchased at this place into the next level?  This is Texas, it is illegal for people to (I’ll leave this to your imagination) but they don’t enforce that!   My son and I just looked at each other and busted out laughing.  The poor guy was beside himself and his wife just kept trying to calm him down (between sips of beer, of course).

I will tell you that the opening of the game was well done.  First off, Texas country signer Jack Ingram came out and did the National Anthem with great style.  Then, the commander of Ft Sam Houston  threw out the first pitch.  He was very well received by fans, unlike last year when the mayor threw the first pitch and was booed!  Purro San Antonio.

Before the first pitch though, members from Ft Sam’s repeal team (including our son-in-law, Tyler) came down from the rafters to deliver the baseball and it was pretty cool.  Lots of cheers.  Afterwards, two MLB Hall of Famer’s, Gaylord Perry and Ferguson Jenkins signed baseballs for the guys. 

The game itself was really not that exciting – see comments about the lack of anything to distract us from the boring game.  But there were lots of home runs and at least one grand slam.  Eva found a little excitement.  When she went out to use the restroom, she found Jack Ingram out in the hall way and he gladly stopped to chat and take a picture with her.

After the game, we went down on the field and watched the concert.  The cool think was, feeling the really nice Astroturf.  This isn’t the same stuff they use during the football games, and it actually felt nice and soft.  Like, if you took a tumble, it wouldn’t be like landing on concrete. 

The concert lasted about 30 minutes or so and of the crowd who stayed, Mr. Ingram really got people energized.  Where was all this during the game?

Anyway, I think it is great that HEB and other sponsors brought this event to the Alamodome.  I have several friends who attended and everybody agreed that the game was boring but with the proper amount of beer and hot dogs and peanuts, it was fun.  I’m just imploring whoever decide to do this next year, please learn something from the farm leagues.

Day Trip Report: The Texas State Capitol…

On Thursday, I played hooky from work to celebrate Eva’s birthday.  What do you get the gal who has everything?  A trip to see the Texas state capitol in Austin, that’s what!

Make no mistake, none of the pictures I took can come close to this outstanding virtual tour put together by the Texas State Preservation Board, so take a few minutes to listen to Matthew McConaughey.

From down here in Natalia, it takes just about 2 hours to make the drive to Austin, all very much dependent upon the traffic.  We waited until after rush hour, plus we stopped at Buccee’s to grab some pecans, so we didn’t actually get to the capitol until noon’ish.  And of course, once you actually get into Austin, traffic is pretty much just crawling along.  But, we got to our exit and quickly found a parking spot on the north side of the capitol grounds.

Eva’s first reaction was to say that she thought the capitol was white.  Not so. 

I was not aware of the vast underground complex that was built in the 1990’s to house the ever expanding government.  One big clue was this interesting and beautiful hole in the ground that contained doors to the interior hallways.  Is this some sort of smoking area?

Later when we were inside, we realized that these skylights were hidden by landscaping along the walkway to the entrance of the building. And this is the view of that pit from the inside.

As we walked up through the grounds, I really was expecting that we would take a few pictures then head off to find the museum located nearby.  Instead, Eva wanted to go inside, so we did.  After a brief discussion of my knees with the capitol security and the hardware that set the metal detector off, we made our way into the rotunda part of the building.  

 The first thing we noticed was just how old and awesome the place is.  Granted, there isn’t anything in these parts that is “old” like in Europe, but still, I really appreciate when I see things that are from the late 1800’s that are in really good shape and still look new.

The rotunda itself is simply magnificent.  Looking up to the top you can see the star with Texas spelled around it.  Below, the seals of the countries that have reined over Texas. There are four levels above ground and for the most part, you can go anywhere you want.

 We saw people participating in guided tours and others, like us, just wandering around.  And you can take all the pictures you want.

 It was interesting to see the floor of the state senate.  One of the themes we found in the main part of the capitol building was that everything has been left the way it was.  They still use the original high quality furniture today.  Taxpayers have gotten their money’s worth.  And the paintings all over the place are simply wonderful.

Some of the architectural details are really interesting if you are in to that sort of thing.  I certainly am.  The hinges, the doorknobs, the stairs, everything is done just right.

And I can only assume the elevators were added later, but even they were adorned with really nice Texas symbols. 

We walked into the legislative library and there were people actually researching things.  I just assumed everyone uses Google these days.  But there were a lot of interesting artifacts.

This is what the Texas Supreme Courtroom looks like, though according to the video, they apparently hold sessions somewhere else these days. 

Overall, it was a great visit and we already have decided that we want to go again and spend more time looking around and probably taking time to visit the museum.

Outdoors, the grounds are an open park for visitors to enjoy.  There are statues and such of various historical things.

And of course, Eva makes friends with everyone.  This lady was named Peace, and she told Eva she had beautiful teeth.  I don;t think she was protesting anything in particular, but on the flip side of her “we the people” sign, I noticed that it was a bumper sticker with the Texas state flag and the word Secede.  So there ya go.

After our visit to the capitol we had to grab some lunch.  Without much of an idea of where to go, I used the Urban Spoon app to locate a place on Congress called Wholly Cow.

It was a small little place with lots of your standard hipsters and UT students grabbing lunch.  Eva had a cheeseburger and I went with a Reuben.  Not bad at all.

The weather was good, the visit was very enjoyable and we had a great time and will definitely go back again.  I’m pretty sire our next trip will be an overnighter so we can really take some time to walk around and really see the place.  If you live within driving distance, at least see the capitol – it was well worth the drive.

Busy Weekend: Bluebonnets and Touristy Things…

We had a really enjoyable visit this past weekend from my oldest brother, Dennis and his wife Denise, in town for the Basic Training graduation of their son-in-law.  It was nice to see everyone and it gave us a reason to eat some barbecue (catered by Grady’s) and take them out to see some of the local sights.

The bluebonnets are in full bloom here, so on Saturday we had our granddaughter, our nephew’s kids and my my brother’s grandson out here playing and enjoying the great weather.  This photo of Isabella and Jonah really says it all!  Someone on Facebook told Eva that these two looked like that scene from Ferris Beuller where the parking attendants take off in the classic Ferrari.

The two best months out here are October and March; October because we are done with 100 degree days and March, because it isn’t 100 degrees yet and the Bluebonnets are beautiful.  I’ve done my usual trick of mowing areas that don’t have the pretty flowers and I’m sure when it is time to more the rest of it down, it’ll be quite a chore, but we’ll appreciate the floweres while we have them.

On Sunday, we took Dennis and Denise to see some of the old standbys.  Bussey’s flea market was a hit with them, even though the wind picked up and the temperature dropped.  Lots of good stuff to dig through, and best of all, it put us in reasonable proximity to New Braunfels which meant the obligatory trip to Buc-cees and a mandatory visit to Clear Springs Restaurant off Hiway 46.

I relayed the story of how our grandfather found Clear Springs during a visit in the 1990’s and that we had been going there ever sense.  I think it is rare that you find a place that can remain so consistently good for so long.  

Later, we took a quick tour of The Alamo, The Menger Hotel and of course a quick circuit along the river walk. San Antonio (and the surrounding area) is truly a destination that requires more than a few days, and I think this little taste was enough to make them contemplate return visits fairly soon.

Congratulations to A1C Jonathon Rosa who was selected as a BMT Honor Graduate and moves on to tech school training at Ft Sam today.

TV Report: True Detective…

This happens all the time with us.  Everybody and their brother knows about the latest TV series and somehow it isn’t even a blip on my radar.  That’s how it was with True Detective, the HBO series with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.  Eva started recording it from HBO Video on Demand and every time she would bring up wanting to watch it, I just sort of pushed it off in favor of the every growing queue of crap like Ax Men and Swamp People.  Not to say that those shows are crap, but compared to what I could have been watching…

Meanwhile on the Internet, apparently everybody but us is just raving about this show.  Even Eva didn’t know how good it was; her interest was something completely different than the incredible buzz about McConaughey and Harrelson as two detectives on the case of a serial killer.  When she was little, Eva’s mom and uncles in Chicago used to mail issues of the magazine, True Detective back and forth.  It was a regular staple around their house and so when she saw that there was a series on TV, why not watch it?  And let’s face it, we love shows like “The First 48” on A&E where cameras follow detectives trying to figure out who killed someone or track down a missing person.

We downloaded all 8 episodes and got some snacks, settled into the ManCave and started with the first episode.  The title sequence was enough to hook me.  This is going to sound crazy, but in the frequent discussions about wanting to watch the show, Eva never mentioned that it had McConaughey and Harrelson.  I mean, that little detail just seemed to never make it into the conversation.

I am a huge fan of the use of flashbacks to tell the story, and for the first several episodes, police officers in modern day are interviewing former detectives Hart (Harrelson) and Cohle (McConaughey) separately, trying to understand a case that took place in the 90’s.  As the modern day detectives talk about the search for a serial killer, we flash back to 1995 and watch things unfold.  Beyond the story and all the dark characters brilliantly played by some actors you will recognize (The Sheriff from Boardwalk Empire, The bumbling brother from My Name is Earl), was some of the best cinematography I have seen in years. 

We’ve always been intrigued by the swamps and bayous of Louisiana, driving across the state on I-10 gives you a moment to consider what lies down below the interstate and who travels through the gator filled waters in a John boat.  You hope if you get lost out there, it is Troy Landry.  But the mind wanders and it might be someone bad.  Ever since I saw the movie Southern Comfort, I’ve had a nervous feeling about driving across the Atchafalaya Swamp even though I’m sure my fears are misplaced.  In True Detective, the mystery is interwoven with incredible photography allowing viewers to take the time to let the story take a hold of you as you gaze at the beauty of Louisiana, intermixed with the reality of refineries and some really sick bastards.

Hart and Cohle are two completely different personalities.  With Hart, you see your standard by the book detective, married with kids, church on Sunday and a younger version of his wife on the side.  He can’t see his own hypocrisy when he is disgusted by Cohle’s honest contempt for organized religion, ideas about who we as a human race are, and propensity for telling it like it is to their superiors.  Hart is a company man, Cohle is not.  At one point he tells Hart, “What I have in my head is not something that ever gets better.”  This tension makes for good TV right up to the last episode, and at times, you want Hart to kick Cohle’s ass and at times, you want Cohle to kick Hart right in the nut-sack.

As we get to about episode 6 or 7, the interviews are over and these two former detectives are back on the case as private investigators, working for themselves and for the victims.  In my mind, it is not a huge leap to see how corrupt government officials can cover things up and that little tidbit adds to the horror of the story.  You are watching the story unfold and you are thinking to yourself – yes, this could happen.

As the credits rolled on the final episode we both agreed that this was one of the best series we had seen in a while.  Of course, when you watch an entire season in a compressed timeline (my preferred method), you are not subjected to the Internet buzz and speculation of what will happen next.  This morning, I read several reviews complaining about the ending.  I totally agree that there could have been more.  Where the end of Dexter was a huge letdown,  and the end of The Sopranos, though brilliant left some wanting more, I think the end to this first season was enough for closure.

Like American Horror Story, I think that True Detective is supposed to take on a whole new unrelated storyline next season.  Doubt we’ll see Hart and Cohle, but we’ll definitely watch.