Sunday in Austin.

Took my "Wowman" to her first gun show Sunday. We rolled around till about 10, and then she cooked an amazing breakfast. Taters and an amazing ham and cheese omelet. We headed down to Austin at around noon. I took the Enfield, thinking I'd find a bayonet for it. I'd seen a few at the show in Ft. Worth last weekend, but wasn't sure which one went with my rifle. I found the right kind in Austin, but they weren't as nice as the ones I'd seen In Ft. Worth, so I didn't get one. I can wait till I see the right one. It's not a big deal.



I found my knife guy at the show, and finally got the parts to make another bowie. Picked up the Damascus blade (same as the last one I used), a few different handle options, and a brass guard. The handle piece on the right is mountain goat horn. Those always polish out nice. If I don't use them on this one, I will on something else one of these days. Lookin' at them here, I think it'd be REALLY cool to have these set up as grips for a 1911. Ooooh, there's an idea. The grip material on the left is a piece of 12,000 year old petrified walrus penis bone. Yep, that's what I said. How cool would it be to have a big mean bowie knife with petrified penis bone grips? Somehow, it feels really natural, gripping it tightly in my hand. I'm just sayin'...

Denise really enjoyed the show. She was amazed at the variety of people you see there, and all the stuff other than guns to be found. It's a real slice of life. She's not a gun person, but she was looking at all the cool toys for sale, and asking me all sorts of questions about getting a concealed handgun permit. She was particularly fascinated by this little tazer that one dude was demonstrating. I wouldn't want to get jabbed with that thing, fer sure.

Then it was off to Papsito's for an early dinner. This time she had the "Top Shelf" strawberry margarita. My pictures of this stuff didn't come out, so I'll show you a few old ones to make up the difference.

Our selections were the same as last time. She had the chicken enchiladas...

And I had the combination; one chicken and one beef enchilada.

We had the spicy ground beef queso dip again, and this time they gave us the three dip choices with our endless chips, just like they did when I took the guys to the place in Ft. Worth. The one with the lid and spoon was the hot stuff. I'd put some of that on a chip and then spoon on some cheese dip, and chase it with Shiner. Nice combo.

The big difference this time was that I remembered to order six brochette shrimp on the side. These are jumbo shrimp, split and stuffed with a slice of bell pepper and cheese, wrapped in bacon, slathered in butter sauce and grilled. Here they are, on a sizzling platter, with one that I've already dunked in the butter/garlic/white wine sauce, getting it ready to go.

Here's the procedure; take the shrimp by the tail, having covered it in the dip sauce...

Place it in your mouth, slowly, so that all the flavors combine to knock your friggin' socks off. Notice the eyes. They tell the tale. Note also the gun show stamp on my right hand. Damn, those shrimp are good. You hungry yet?

After dinner, we drove up to the west side and walked through the R.E.I. store. I fondled the canoe paddles, and the canoes, and the backpacking equipment, while Denise checked out the clothes and camping gear. She's going to Terlingua with us this year, and is sweating out her first camping experience. I told her I'd hook her up. It'll be plush.

Then we walked over to the marble slab ice cream place, down the way from the R.E.I. store. I had my usual; cheese cake ice cream with heath bar crunchies mixed in, in a heath bar cone. Mmmm, now I bet you're hungry.

After that, we drove down town and into west Austin, to look at the cool houses and scenery, and then south to Bee Caves, to get on 71 west. We drove west to 281, and then north, driving home by the scenic rout. This drive takes you out through the Hill Country, which is some of the prettiest country in the state. We went north on 281 through Marble Falls and Burnet, to Lampasas, and then East to Killeen. We found a radio station that was broadcasting the Cowboy game, so the win really put a sweet cap on everything.

Well, I'm exhausted just tellin' you about it all. It was a great time. I hope all your teams won, and that your weekend was as fun as ours. Cheers.