Made another trip to Fredericksburg last Saturday.

The little woman wanted to do some Christmas shopping and I wanted to check out another brewery/restaurant there on the main drag. First off though, lets talk about last Friday for a sec.

I left here to go get dad early on Friday so I could make a stop down in Salado along the way and check out the selection at a nice little cigar store there. I know, I just got a shipment of fat little torpedoes in the mail, but who's countin'? Variety is the spice of life, right? The thing about goin' to the store is you can buy one of this and one of that, and try out things before you go online and buy in bulk. I ended up blowin' about $70 (about $7.50 a piece averaged out - some were more expensive than others). OK, so it's kind of pricey to experiment like this, but what the hall? It's only money. Here's what I got.

From left to right, you're lookin' at an A.V.O. maduro, a Carlos Turano Vertuoso, a La Gloria Cubana maduro, a Rocky Patel Sun Grown, a Hoya De Monterrey Excalibur, another Rocky Patel (this time with a Connecticut wrapper), a Punch Gran Puro, and a few little A Fuente Gran Reservas. They threw in a free cutter with all of these, even though I told them I didn't need it. So guess what. The first time I tried to use the cheap piece of crap it broke on me. Didn't even make one cut successfully.

I smoked one of the little nippers on the far right while Denise made her way from one little shop to another on Saturday. It was a good one, with a nice strong but smooth flavor. I'll have to look for those when the specials come out.

Anyway, now's the time you might want to go get that plastic sheeting so you don't slobber all over your keyboard. I'm gonna show ya pictures of food again.

We set off at about 10:30 AM and got to Fredericksburg in a few hours. It was expected to be warm, so I dressed accordingly; short sleeves and wide brimmed hat to keep the sun off. Sure enough, it got to be about 81 as we strolled the sidewalks and did our shopping.

The first thing we did was to head to the Brewhouse. I'd walked past this place a number of times, and seeing the brewing vats through the front window always intrigued me.

Turns out it's a brewery that goes back a long time, and is very popular hereabouts. They produce their own versions of several brews, and I tried three of them. We took a number and went back to the biergarten to drink and check out the menu while we waited for our number to come up. Denise was amazed to find a Scotch Egg on the appetizer list. Apparently these are BIG over in her neck of the woods. It's a hard boiled egg that's been rolled in sausage, breaded, and then deep fried. I'd never heard of it, but it sounded good so we ordered it.

It came on a bed of coleslaw, with spicy mustard to dip it in and a few plates for us to use to share all this goodness. I was a little put off by the fact that they only gave us one egg, but it turned out to be a perfect starter. Not too filling and really tasting good. I cut it in half and we split it. It amounted to about two or three bites a piece. Denise said the sausage was spicier than what you'd get in England, but then I reminded her where she was. We live for the mouth burn here in Texas. Stuff doesn't feel right if it doesn't make your head sweat. Tejano influence I guess.

I avoided the German fare, but Denise jumped at the Jagerschnitzel. She said it was excellent. I had a bite and loved it. Her mashed potatoes were good too. Before I could offer her one she was stabbin' at one of my onion rings. I had to give her a talk.

I went for the 1/2 pound burger (big shock), with cheese and bacon added, and the aforementioned, partially purloined onion rings.

Don't it look purdy? Tasty too, and the onion rings were excellent.

Along with lunch we drank a few of their local brews. I started out in the biergarten with an Enchanted Rock Red Ale, and then switched to the Peace Pipe Pale Ale (above) with my meal. Denise had a Not So Dumb Blond Ale (I swear to God) and ended up mixin' it with Sprite. She's just got a huge jones for those shandy things. I take a swig and all I can taste is the syrup from the soda. What the fuck is the point? To each their own.

I liked the place a lot. We both did. nice atmosphere and good vittles. It was all good, but I'm not sure it was as good as the foreign beer and burger at the Auslander. I know I was missin' those fried shrooms. Oh well, I want to try everything down there, so we can't have that stuff every time we come. After all I have a reading public to take care of. It's a huge burden, but I'll rise to the challenge.

We walked around for a few hours after that meal and did some shoppin'. Among other things we got an Ice cram cone, a few more bottles of locally made and bottled Muscat Canelli wine, and another big bag of pecans (this years crop). By 4:30 PM I was done. We needed to head back so we could make it to a party at the home of a friend of hers from work.

The party was OK, but forgettable. Nether of us really knew anyone there, but she seemed to be enjoying herself, so I grazed at the snack table for a bit and then disappeared. Hell, I know I'd be better off if I mingled and introduced myself, but a life on the outside of the social scene leaves one with certain well honed instincts. That wasn't my crowd, and I'd rather just go out on the patio with a brew and smoke another cigar anyway. Gives me a chance to sit back and watch everyone. When I saw Denise looking for me I knew it was time and we hit the road. There was much more fun to be had at my place anyway. We'd picked up a bottle of Spatlese at a store in Fredericksburg, and it was chillin' in the fridge.

Well, the rest is history, as is this post. You try not to slobber all over the keyboard lookin' at those food and beer pictures, and we'll do this again soon. Cheers.

Just uploaded those pictures from Ft. Martin Scott.

You can go here and check them out. Meanwhile, here's a taste.



I just don't think they made beds big enough for the FHB back in the old days. And on another level, how the hell did normal sized folks like me engage in, you know, normal adult behaviors, ridin' the hobby horse, without breakin' the bed? It's a mystery. I guess beds were just for sleepin in back then.



Dave was in the slammer so we could get a shot showing how small the cells were. He got nervous when I closed the door. There's no trust in this relationship.



And here's the tent set up by one of the rendezvous participants. Notice the double bed (two cots pushed together), the wood burning stove keeping the place toasty, and the little dog who perked up when I stuck my head in to take the shot. This dude knows how to camp. Huge envy.

Anyway, I'm headin' over to eat Thanksgiving leftovers at Mom's, so you guys stay warm and have a great Saturday night. Later.

Saturday was busy, but fun.

The trip to Fredericksburg Friday turned out to be a lot of fun. Dave and I got to town by about 11:30, found a parking place and headed to the Auslander for lunch. It was cold, in the low 40s, and there was a persistent wind blowing, so this time we avoided the outdoor tables and took seats inside the beergarten. I'm sittin' there, waitin' for the waitress to bring me my brew and take our order, I look up and guess what I see?



I knew she'd lived in Germany when she was younger, but I didn't know Denise had ever worked in a beergarten. Son of a bitch! We'll need to have a talk when she gets back Sunday night. She's got some esplainin' to do.



My drink of choice, despite the weather, was a Belgian Sunshine Wheat in a frozen mug. Good stuff. Goes great with the beer battered, fried mushrooms, and the same fat bacon cheeseburger I had last time I was here. They were all just as good as before. Dave chose the chicken fried steak and tea. We were both happy. After lunch we both had ice cream cones at the place next door (I know, it was cold, and people were in heavy coats, but when in Rome for Christ's sake), and then we headed over to the book signing.

I got in line behind this burly farmer/rancher type who was just gushing with praise for Mr. Kelton. He had a typed list of all the books he'd read and was tryin' to see if the store had any others. I enjoyed the hell out of meetin' him, and seein' how an author can influence the lives of people. It's a thing that has touched my own life, including the stuff I read on your blogs. You know who you are. "People don't realize how a man's life can be changed by one book". Malcom X said that. Pure wisdom. For me it was a book on Daniel Boone that I read when I was about 12. Never saw anything the same after that.

The line moved fast, and before you knew it I was shaking hands with the man himself. He was sitting in the back of a little book store with his wife, accepting the comments of admirers as he signed their books with whatever inscription they asked for. When I got there I handed him the two books I had and as he signed them I told him that I really appreciated him, that I loved his work, and that I hoped he would be able to keep doing what he was doing for a long time to come (He's at least in his mid-70s). He thanked me, smiled up at me and we shook hands again, a little tighter the second time, and then Dave and I were off.

Dave wanted to go to the East side of town and check out an old frontier fort, Fort Martin Scott, which was a big deal around here from the 1840s to the 1850s. It just so happened there was a rendezvous going on there, with reenactors having a good time portraying frontier life in the 1840s.



Now this is the kind of reenacting I could get into. One of these days I'll have a tipi.



There were all sorts of crafts and gear on display, and people selling cool stuff. We walked around for a while and I took pictures, and then we headed up to Enchanted Rock.



Dave had never climbed the rock, so I had the fun of taking him up the first time. The weather was chilly, but the exercise warmed us, and we made it in no time. Along the way, I took some nice shots and a lot of them came out.



I even took a few that I was able to merge later here at the house. This is a shot of Little Rock, which sits to the south of Enchanted Rock. The shots were taken from about 3/4ths the way up the big dome.



We made it up there, took a few pictures, made few phone calls, and then it was time to head out. I needed to get home in time to go get dad and take him to eat our traditional Friday fare.



This shot's for Bruno. Dude, it was Soooo good. Finger lickin' good. Look at those big juicy shrimp. I know. Never mind.

Anyway, many of the shots I took are already up at FlickR, so go check them out. A lot of them came out good, if I do say so myself.

I'll be up early Saturday. Dave and I are driving to Dallas to walk through a big gun show at Market Hall. I'll tote that new Garand around and see if I can get a sling and bayonet for it. It'll be fun. You guys have fun this weekend too. I'll see ya later. Cheers.

Postscript: Never mind. I ain't goin' anywhere today. It's pissin' down rain and about 40 degrees both here and in Dallas, and there'll be another gun show in a while. Meanwhile, that big bed of mine is warm and comfy. I'm out. Peace.

A few Fridays ago...

I took my dad to eat Chinese food and then we went out to Academy and we watched the Bees play their last game of the year. It was a blowout.



The Bees were playing Troy, another little town from up North a bit, off I-35. The Trojans were also playing their last game of the year. They came out like gangbusters, and started intercepting passes and running for touchdowns, and before we knew it poor little Academy was down by almost 30 points to nothing.

Dad can't handle too many stairs, so we have to take seats right there in front. People are walking to and fro and kids are always messin' around. Kind of a pain in the ass. There are usually all these little kids hangin' on the railing and gettin' yelled at by their folks for doin' it.



This one kid was just screamin' for me to take his picture.

I'm always amazed at how obvious it is, with these kids getting this early education about the games, and the social life surrounding the games, that kids in these little towns grow up the way they do. The girls gather in front of the cheerleaders, looking on in wonder, while the boys are focused on the games, learning everything they can, and looking to avoid their parents and have a good time. It's a window into the world that I missed out on somehow. Who knows why. It doesn't matter any more. Now I get to be here and take part, and enjoy it with dad. I love to watch it all go on in front of me, like a passion play. It fascinates me.



It's like readin' one of Mushy's old posts about growin' up in Harriman in the '50s. Only it's happenin' right here in front of me. It makes me wonder about the world these kids are gonna have to live in when they get to be my age. Scares me a little, but then I think every generation thinks that.



Anyway, Academy played like they'd already given up, and the Trojans were just too much for them. By half-time, the score was 40 to 0, with the Bees humbled on their own field. The teams ran off to the field house at the half, and the school bands came out. It turned out that they put on a better show than the football players.



The band from Troy came out first, and they put on an amazing show. The cheerleaders formed a line at one point and started doin' the... Well, what the hell do you call it? Watch this and you'll see. There's no sound, so don't hurt yourself tryin' to turn your speakers up.



After that the Academy band came out and put on a great show of their own. At one point they brought out The Freshmen and Sophomore band members to stand with the Juniors and graduating Seniors, and they all played together. It was cool.



Dad and I had a good time. The weather was warm, so dad didn't get too chilled.



We stayed until a little bit past half-time, and watched the Bees come running out again to try to get something started in the second half. But it was to no avail. I think they ended up loosing by something like 64 to nothing. Sad. Well, maybe next year.

Dad and I will head out to eat Chinese again tonight, even though the fridge is busting with Turkey Day leftovers. Tradition dammit! The Chinese food last Friday night was in rare form... Really good, so I'm lookin' forward to it. There are still high school playoff football games going on, but I'm not sure who or where. Also, we've had a "Blue Norther" blow in for Thanksgiving, so I doubt I'll be takin' the old dude out anyway. Hell, I don't want to be sittin' out there in the cold ether.

Meanwhile, my Friday is gonna start early. I'm headin' out this mornin' to take a day trip back down to Fredericksburg with my buddy Dave (Civil War reenactor dude in the earlier post). A local author of western novels named Elmer Kelton is going to be down there today signing books at one of the cooler book stores. He wrote one a while back that was made into a TNT movie starring Tommy Lee Jones, Sissy Spacek, and a slew of other great actors. It's called "The Good Old Boys". Maybe you've seen it? Anyway, it's great, and he's great, and I'm gonna get him to sign my copy of that book.

Dave and I will have lunch somewhere before the book signing. I might even get him to help me eat some more of those beer battered, fried mushrooms while I try another foreign beer at the Auslander. Then, after everything is done, I'm gonna take my buddy for his first trip to Enchanted Rock. He teaches Geology up here, and he knows all about the place, but he's never been up on the dome. We'll climb it, but we're not stayin'. I'll drive back up here in the afternon, go get dad, and we'll go over and work that buffet at Dynasty. It'll be a long day, but it'll be fun.

Well, you guys enjoy your Fridays off and your leftovers (always better the second time around), and I'll see ya over the weekend. There's a big gun show in Dallas this weekend, but I may just decide to lay around and vegetate. We'll see. And there's a blogger from Tennessee driving through this area this weekend on his way South. We may hook up, if everything works out. I'll tell ya all about it, whatever happens. Cheers.

Finally finished with the Terlingua shots.

They've been uploaded to FlickR in a set, so you can click here and go see them all laid out in order. There's like 330 shots, so enjoy. The shots from Enchanted Rock and a few others may be up there tomorrow. We'll see. Meanwhile, here are some shots from Yesterdays trip to Fredericksburg, taking Denise and a friend of hers down there to shop and see the sights.



Here's a winery where we tasted a few local brands and I ended up buying a few bottles.



Here's a nice pond outside one fancy restaurant.



Here's the beer on display at one German restaurant we ate at called the Auslander. Of course, we ate well, and I drank heavily (not really). I even busted out an Ashton while the ladies were going through one more shop where they sell frilly smelling women's crap. I found myself on the sidewalk with a lot of bored husbands. I think I caught a few of them lookin' up at me, thinkin' "Damn, I wish I'd brung a ceegar." Don't get me wrong, I can window shop with the best of them, and I had a great time. I'm going back this Friday to get a book signed by Elmer Kelton, who'se gonna be there sellin' his latest book. He's a genious, so it'll be a hoot to meet him. I'll get him to sign my coppy of "The Good Old Boys".



That first one was already gone by the time I thought to start takin' pictures. Let's say I was thirsty, and it didn't last long. That tall one is a Paulaner Hefe-Weiss. The earlier one was a Belgian Sunshine Wheat. They both tasted good. Check out their beer list here.



Our appetizer was a plate of beer battered fried mushrooms dipped in ranch dressing. Damn, they were good.



And this is the business end of my bacon cheeseburger. No, I'm not into German food. I bussed tables at a German restaurant when I was a kid, and that cured me of any desire.

Anyway, I'm off to Gatesvile to puck up my new Garand and do some plinkin'. See ya.

Friday stuff, and some cool pictures.

Takin' a little break from the series of Terlingua posts to talk about what's been goin' on this week, and then some normal Friday crud.

The last three Terlingua posts covered gettin' there and settin' up camp, so the next one will probably deal with drinkin' and eatin', the live bands each night, and goin' to see DOM. Eventually there'll be another one dealin' with my brief visit to the other chili cook-off down the road, and seein' the hoochie mamas. Guys, hold it together. It won't be long now. Thing is, I haven't had time to cull out and fix all those pictures yet, so it'll have to wait a bit. Plus, I've got Chinese food with Dad, Friday night football, and then two days and nights at Enchanted Rock and Fredericksburg this weekend to take pictures of. God knows when we'll get a chance to go over those pictures, but you'll see them too. Next week some time, I promise you.

First off, last Tuesday night I wrapped up the lectures and reviewed both my 4:45 and 7:30 evening Government classes for their first exams, which they took Thursday night. I took the opportunity of the exams to try to ketch up on a few blogs. I've found that the way this semester is going, as ridiculously busy as I am, I have more time there at work to read blogs and post things than I do at home. I went home Thursday for the hour that I have between my afternoon classes and these evening classes and just had enough time to fix a few pictures and upload them so I could later ad this text on the computer in class. Rat race, I wanna tell ya.

Here's a picture from the Razor of my desk last Tuesday night when my 7:30 class was getting their review. Those folks didn't want to miss anything. Cracked me up, so I took a picture. I tell ya, I should get a cut from the PX or Best Buy for all the recorders I've sold in the last thirteen years.

I've never had an issue with students recording my lecture. I know some teachers do, but I couldn't care a less. Whatever the kids need to do to succeed, without cheating, is cool with me. Hell, people have been recording me for so long now, there should be sets of tapes out there for sale. you can see a few older mini cassette recorders there, but now these little digital recorders hold something like two hundred hours worth of recordings, which is more than a semesters worth of class time. The newest thing is for students to bring their laptops in and take notes that way. I had a soldier bring one in once, pull up the screen, flip it over and down like a notebook and start writing notes on the screen with a stylus. The technology mazes me. Had a girl video record me once with her laptop. I told her if any of it ended up on YouTube she'd be in trouble. Hell, I'd a laughed my ass off if it had. It'd be hilarious. Anyway, I thought the picture was funny. You could smell the panic in the air.

I was zippin' down 195 Wednesday morning to get to my morning classes in Florence, wolfin' down what's become my regular breakfast these days (two corn dogs and a diet Mtn. Dew), when I pulled over and got a few cool sunrise shots. The weather has been cool and cloudy this week, so it made for interesting effects. They turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself.

This one is probably my favorite. Wednesday night was pool night. Denise and I met up after work at about 7pm and headed over to the hall, but along the way me made a few stops. I had to gas up the wheels at Wall Mart, and I wanted to stop at a cool liquor store near there to see if they had any of that German Vodka I told you about maybe three posts ago. They didn't, but they took down my number and said they'd see if they could order it. I'll go over to the Class-Six on base Friday afternoon and see if they have it. I'll hunt it down one way or the other. Shit was GOOD.

I lost to a better player Wednesday night, but had a good time and enjoyed myself anyway. I've developed an "I don't really give a shit" attitude about it all, refusing to care if I win or lose, and just enjoying the company, the relaxing time, a good cigar or two, and a few mugs of good spirits. It's a nice break in the middle of the week. I had a good time. Hell, lets face it, I got soused. I hadn't eaten anything that day (that is, after the two corn dogs at the butt crack of dawn), so those three big mugs of Amber Bock went strait to my head. I gave my keys to Denise and she drove us home. Of course, she'd had three or four Seven & Seven's, so I don't really know who was more loaded. After we got to my place I nuked some leftover Shepherd's Pie that she'd cooked the night before, and the buzz went away in no time. Good to go.

Here's a similar sunset view from Thursday morning, also heading South on 195. It's not as spectacular, but I like it. Denise woke me up that morning with cards and a few presents, surprisin' the hell out of me. Thursday was our birthday. We share the same day, eight years apart. Cool eh? Handy as hell too. After classes in Florence I went home in a hurry and cooked her some of the little treats I like to make, baking ham and cheese and hot honey mustard in rolled up garlic croissants. She loves 'em. I went to the local grocery store and got cards, flowers and some chocolate truffles, and took it all over to her office on the way to my lunch time classes. She liked it. I got to the base and was about 5 minutes late to class, but it was well worth it to see the look on her face. She makes me feel good, almost like a real grownup for the first time in my life, and has enriched my life in ways that I once thought I'd never be able to experience. Happy birthday baby.

When I was zippin', and I do mean zippin', over to the campus on base after seein' Denise, I rolled up on a really cool birthday surprise. I had to stop and get a few pictures, even if it meant I was gonna be even later to work.

This is the "tank" version of the Stryker armored vehicle. I've seen pictures of these things on the web, but I'd never seen one in real life. It was chained down to a flat bed and was there by the side of the road, in a part of the base where vehicles are prepped for transport by train or truck. It has the body of the Stryker armored car, which some of you have probably seen in pictures from Iraq, and a turret with a 105 mm gun. It's supposed to provide us with the capacity to inject rapid deployment forces into a hot spot somewhere with enough firepower to go up against the sort of armor you see the average local 3rd world forces toting around... You know, like a T-55. It doesn't have the armor to go up against a T-55 head on, but it's supposed to hold the ground till they can plink the fuzzies with smart bombs or fly in some M-1s. Anyway, that was the last idea I heard. Hell, so far as I know, they may have canned it and be sending it here to set it up in one of the museums. I'll keep ya posted.

So, after my 7:30 class finished their exam, I called Denise and we headed out to a nice dinner at the Texas Roadhouse. When we got there, Denise asked me if I'd gotten the same card on purpose. I was surprised and puzzled. It turns out she'd gotten my birthday card at Wal Mart last Monday. When she woke me up at about 6:30 and shoved presents and cards at me, I'd given the card a cursory look in the fog of waking up. Four hours later, when I went to HEB in a mad dash to find something good but not too sappy, I managed to find the exact same card. What the hell are the odds of that? We had a good laugh about it. The burgers and rolls were great. I had two tall Killian's, and Denise had a Lager Shandy. We laughed a lot, and had a great time.

After dinner, we went to a local book store to browse magazines and ended up wandering into the isle filled with sex manuals. I was leafin' through them and thinkin' out loud, sayin' things like, "Baby, all these people are skinny. Where the hell are the sex books for fat old bastards?" She almost wet herself. After that we went to the grocery store for batteries and booze, and then we went back over to my place and shared the aforementioned booze and a slice of chocolate cake. Mom had picked up the cake and dropped it and a few cards off at my house in afternoon, while I was in class. It was a fun evening.

Today I taught my five regular daily classes and then visited with some friends for a bit. After that I went to the Class-Six on base, but they didn't have that brand of Vodka. I put in a request to see if they can order it. We'll see. Now I'm relaxing for a few hours at home before I head over to get dad and take him to do our normal Friday stuff. He missed it when I was in Terlingua last week, so he's really rarin' to go. It'll be fun to hang with him again tonight.

Saturday morning, Denise and I will head South to camp out for two nights at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, near the beautiful town of Fredericksburg. I have some friends who go there every year at about this time. It's always fun, and a bit more civilized than Terlingua. They have showers and all the amenities of modern life right there on site. Denise should have a much easier time. I'll be right at home. This time she won't have to wear my floppy hat to hide her morning hair. It's a strange experience, waking up and seeing Rod Stewart's '70s perm on the pillow next to me. Unsettling.

Anyway, they have showers, flush toilets, and electric outlets for the curling iron right across the road from the camp sites, so she should be set up nicely. We'll probably drive down to eat in Fredericksburg at least one night, and stroll the main street there. It's very pretty little German town, with a Lutheran cathedral and lots of cool shops and places to enjoy adult beverages. I'll take pictures, but then you knew that, didn't you?

Well, take care and enjoy your weekend. I know I'll enjoy mine. Cheers.