Had a great time in Ft. Worth.

We got out of town about an hour late. Too much piddlin' around on the computer, downloadin' good tunes and burnin' a CD for the road. The band didn't start playin' till 10:30, so I wasn't too worried about missin' anything. We got to Ft. Worth by about 7:30, and headed right for Pappasito's.



We ordered the usual - the queso dip with spicy ground beef mixed in.



She had the Chicken Enchiladas...



And I had the combination, with the Brochette shrimp on the side. Damn, those things are good, but we've talked. I won't tease you any further.

After eating, we went east on I-30 and then north on I-35 to NE28th street, got off and headed west to the stockyards and found Billy Bob's. It's supposedly the worlds largest honky tonk, and a perennial Ft. Worth tourist stop. It's got a few massive bars and a dance hall and pool tables. You name it. They even have bull riding indoors there every weekend. It's wonderful.

I hadn't been there in 20 years or so, and Denise had never been. She'd heard about the concert on the radio last week, and I'd bought tickets over the phone. All we had to do was pick them up at the Will Call window. She'd heard about the place and wanted to check it out. I tell ya, she was workin' that accent and those blue eyes. She had guys hittin' on her almost from the start. If the rodeo had been in town and the real cowboys had been fillin' the place, in stead of these "Rexall Rangers", she might have ditched me for some starched jeans and a big hat and belt buckle.



Peter Frampton rocked his little ass off, I wanna tell ya. It was kinda funny, seein' this old dude up there, lookin' like someones granddaddy, but the sounds he made with that guitar were amazing. I'd recommend seein' him if he comes by your town. He played all the classic tunes, and even a few contemporary covers.

He played a killer version "Black Hole Sun" about mid way through the night, and then a great cover of "My Guitar Gently Weeps" as a final encore. The sound was great in the small venue, and they played for two hours, without a break. The place erupted in applause as he and the band finished, and then Denise and I headed out to find a hotel room.

The next morning, we headed over to a friends house for breakfast. Jim and Terry are the folks I rafted the Grand Canyon with in 03 and 05. He's been my best buddy since about 1989 or so, when we met on a canoe trip.

We had breakfast burritos, and then headed up to Alliance Airport to watch the air show. As we drove up, the F-117 was taking off to do it's fly around. By the time we got situated it was over, so no pictures. Maybe next year. The big draw today was a flying demonstration by the Blue Angels. I've seen them many times before (growin' up on air bases, you see a lot of air shows), but their show is always worth seeing, no matter what.



If you look closely here, over the throngs of people, you can see the Blue Angels, their F-18s, lined up and ready to go. When I got the chance to walk around, I found some cool stuff.



This was my first close-up look at a V-22 Osprey. These things have had a trouble history, and have just been deployed for the first time. The Marines love them, so we'll see. Looks cool enough, fer sure.



Always love seein' the A-10s at these shows. This one had some nose art...



And a nice little illustration on the side of the fuselage. Didn't know they'd begin to let the troops express themselves like this again. Love it.



Here's a NASA F-18, the same plane the Blue Angels fly. Very cool.



When the Angels got going, I took a lot of pictures, and this one probably turned out the best. I'll post the rest of these air show shots over at FlickR later this week, when I have time.

Well, I hope your weekends were fun. Cheers.