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[Joan]

Week 9: Ending January 12, 2003

Monday:
The KOA is beautiful: a pine-filled, serene refuge from the neon blare of Myrtle Beach. We sign up another evening and take Jake in the Tahoe to meet Sampson.
Sampson is a four-year old Rescue OES who has been loved by Bud & Sharon for the past year. He still acts like a puppy and has the energy and limberness of a pup, also! What a joy!

Tuesday:
We drive back in Happie Camper to deliver the promised pinch collar for Sampson. Ron gives some quick lessons in its use in training the exhuberant Sampson. Sampson seems to like having a job to do (walking without pulling or get pinched by the collar). We wish everyone well and depart.
Unfortunately, sleep overcomes Ron soon into the trip. We pull into a WalMart SuperCenter in and a call it a day.


Wednesday, Thursday, Friday:
Driving, driving, driving… keep those wheels moving. We traverse I-20 through S. Carolina into Georgia into Alabama into Mississippi into Louisiana into Texas.. We pull into the All Seasons RV Park in Arlington, TX, between Dallas and Fort Worth, around 6PM.. The cold weather seems to have followed us again. It is the 40s. After Jake is settled in for the night, we go out for a good Texas steak dinner. We are surrounded by retail chain stores and restaurants galore. We asked the campground for a local suggestion, not a national chain. She recommends Saltgrass Texas Steakhouse. It is a Texas chain which serves only Certified Angus Choice Beef. Certified Angus Choice Beef is very good. We are Happie Diners.

Saturday:
A primary reason for stopping en route to Arizona was so that Ron could call in and participate in the NEOESR Board of Directors’ meeting on Saturday morning. Friday night we were informed via email that a conference call could not be arranged. We decide to stay another night and Ron gets to sleep late
Joan asks the resourceful mgt staff for more dining & entertainment suggestions. They heartily recommend a drive to Fort Worth’s Stockyards for both. Excellent directions are provided for the navigation-disabled Joan and we are off. Cattlemen’s is our first stop, recommended by both the campground mgt and Eating Across the USA. The interior is reminiscent of Hilltop Steakhouse inn Saugus, MA, with lots of life-size photos of prize-winning steer. Our waitress was originally from Massachusetts also. She inform us that Cattlemen’s usually buys the top award-winning steer at the Cattle Show, which was going on as we spoke, and for the next month. Last year, however, the top steer went for $100,000 and was bought to stud other prize-winning cattle.
Dinner was great, we both ordered the 18 oz. Texas (NY) Strip steak, done to perfection. Joan could not finish her portion (she had planned on leftovers for Jake and Ron to share), so into a doggie bag they go. Pat recommends strolling about the Stockyard shops, although most of them were closed. She also recommends a visit to Billy Bob’s, the world’s largest honky-tonk.
Billy Bob’s is interesting, more so if you are into country-western music and drinking. A cover is charged for live music which doesn’t start until after 9 pm. (It is not even 8 pm yet.) We stand in line for the 9 pm bull-riding show. It is interesting also. There is definitely a different attitude in Texas which is instilled at an early age. This was quite evident at the bull-riding show. Joan is definitely not into spurs and crops. The rodeo clowns do some serious dancing at times to distract the bulls from fallen cowboys. In 20 minutes, the show is over. We peruse the honky-tonk walls filled with handprints of stars such as Tammy Wynette, Ringo Starr, Willie Nelson, photos of Reba and others we cannot remember and bid adios.

Sunday:
It sleeted overnight and turned to hard rain. After Jake’s walk, we start closing up the motorhome to depart. When we opened the blinds, we were greeted with about an inch of SNOW on Ron’s Tahoe and on the ground!!! We thought we left this stuff back home in New England!

Check out the Texas Hospitality HERE!

We had complained about the cold temps to our waitress Pat and she explained that every year during the Fort Worth Stock Show the area gets hit with ice and sleet storms for the four-week length of the show. She didn’t say anything about SNOW! We thought we had finally shaken the cold weather jinx once we arrived in Key West. Guess again! We drive westward and the snow finally leaves us. We reach Pecos, Texas and pull into a WalMart at 8 pm. It is not a SuperCenter and has closed an hour earlier. We get to sleep early.