Gettin' back to something like a normal routine.

For those of you who know me and have been comin' by here for a while, you know what that means. It means, among other things, goin' over to Temple and takin' mom out to eat on Friday nights.

But this last Friday, mom indicated that she really didn't want to go out. Turns out she'd gone to the grocery store earlier that day and walked up and down the isles, wearin' herself out... Yea, after spendin' $350 at the commissary the week before. But she says her local grocery store has better steaks and hamburger patties than the base.

She freezes the patties and then takes one out at a time to make herself some tacos, or a bowl of chili. So, after all that activity, mom was pooped when the time came to join us for dinner. We told her in stead that we'd go and eat, and then we'd bring her dinner to the house. With that, Denise and I decided to try out a Chinese buffet in Belton called Jake's.

Denise had heard from someone out at work that Jake's had great food, including great steaks. Well, it turned out that Jake's was a passable Chinese food place at best, and the steaks were nothing to write home about. Many years ago, when Dad was still alive and he and I were doing this Friday night ritual, we'd tried out Jake's, only to decide that it wasn't worth going back to.

That's when he and I started going to Dynasty every Friday night. I told Denise about this, but told her that that had been many years ago, and maybe they'd gotten new cooks and spiced things up. So we gave it a try. Denise said later that she was gonna have to have a talk with those folks out at work who told her how good it was. Set 'em straight.

In the end, rather than take mom a plate of Chinese food, she decided she really wanted a banana split from Dairy Queen. I can't tell you how often I've driven up 31st street and procured one of these delights for my mother. She loves them to death, but for whatever reason, hadn't had one in a long time.

We sat down and watched TV with her while she ate, and then Denise and I drove on home. Saturday afternoon, Denise and I were scheduled to drive up to Ft. Worth and attend a surprise birthday party for a very good friend of mine.

Ronda Stewart, the wife of my old canoeing coach from junior college, Paul Stewart, from like 30 years ago, just turned 70. Yea, he was my canoeing coach.

In my second semester in college, in the spring of 1980, I signed up for an inter-mural PE class called Camping and Canoeing. That class changed my life. I can say that unequivocally. I'd never been camping before, though something about it had always intrigued me. I'd played at it as a kid, but had never spent the night in a tent before. Anyway, I enjoyed the class so much I just kept comin' back, like a bad penny I guess.

In time, as the classes changed from a mix of guys and gals to smaller groups of mostly guys, I guess I got tired of the seemingly endless prick measuring contests that went on during the trips. The endless one-upsmanship always seemed to get in the way of my relaxation. Some dude, sitting in the front of my canoe, would be pissed at me because we weren't going fast enough down the river, racing the other guys. Shit man, I just wanted to enjoy the scenery and the water.

So, after the whole thing became a bit more tedious, I stopped going. I moved on, and got into grad school. That kept me pretty busy for a few years. But then, after getting my degree, I came back, and Paul let me go on a few trips. I was hooked again after that. The gals were back, and Paul couldn't shake me. I think he eventually had to retire just to get rid of me.

Not too long after that, in the spring of 1990, I was hired by the college I still work for to teach classes on deployed navy vessels. Between ships, so long as the schedule allowed, I'd tag along on a few canoe trips now and then. I also kept in touch with several friends that I'd met on those trips. Those folks became very close friends, and I still run around with them today. Then, when I stopped all that travelin' and started working here on Ft. Hood, I finally got a chance to get myself an appropriate vehicle.



Here's a shot from some time in 1995 or '96. We were runnin' the Blanco river, southeast of San Marcos. It was my first trip after buying my Jeep. I was so proud. I miss that car. That tent was cool too. A Timberline Vista. I got it cheap from L.L. Bean. I still have it, but all the seams are rotten and coming apart.



Later on, during the summer, Paul would occasionally invite me on his annual father-son trips. He'd get together with neighbors and folks from his church and they'd run the lower end of the Buffalo National River, in northwest Arkansas.



Those trips were always a blast, and it gave me a chance to meet up with Paul's brother, his nephew and some of his friends. A lot of those people were there at Ronda's birthday party Saturday night. We all enjoyed getting together again, and everyone voiced a desire to get back on the river.



I can't tell you how important this guy has been to my life. He introduced me to a world that became incredibly important in making me who I am today, and helped me grow up a lot. I went from being a scared, sheltered little putz, into, well, a much bigger putz with really cool camping skills and gear. What can say.

Denise and I drove back home after the party, and then slept in Sunday morning. Mom had alerted us earlier to the possibility that she was gonna cook some good food Sunday afternoon. She doesn't do that much cooking any more, so we didn't hesitate to join her.



Sure enough, she fried up some chicken, cooked some green peas, and tossed us a great salad with her special home made dressing. Denise provided potato salad, and my cousin Sue baked up some croissants that were slathered with garlic butter.



Denise also took charge, as usual, of the adult beverage production. Usually we have Strawberry Daiquiris, but this time mom chose Pina Coladas. Good stuff.



Yep, it was all good. I ended up bringin' home some left-over chicken, and had that, and some more tater salad for lunch/dinner yesterday afternoon. Good stuff.

Now, y'all try not to slobber too much on the keyboard, lookin' at these pictures. I know, that's just wrong. Cheers!

We had a good time in Dallas, and I picked up a new toy.

We went to see the King Tut Exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art Saturday. Denise and I slept in, got on the road by around noon, drove up to Big "D" and had a great time.

We'd reserved a room at the Hyatt Summerfield Suites on Harry Hines, near downtown, but we didn't have time to get into the room before the tour started. We got to the museum first, found a close place to park and then had to stand in line for about fifteen minutes to get in. The line was tedious, but what we had to deal with much better than what the other folks there had to deal with. We'd gotten our tickets ahead of time, through Ticketmaster. Most of the exhibit goers apparently didn't and so those poor folks had to spend hours in one of those back and forth, snake type lines that eventually let them into the exhibit.

They limited how many folks could go in at any one time, only letting so many in at a time so that there was less of a crowd as you made your way past the items on display. Truthfully, the whole thing was run pretty well, but I think I'd a been really pissed if I'd had to wait two hours in line to see this stuff. First, they don't have any of his famous masks on display (the ones that covered his mummy), or his coffin, or any of the big items that we associate with King Tut. Most of the items are not even directly associated with Tut, but with his relatives.

Don't get me wrong. The stuff is still cool to see. I loved going through the museum. But if I'd had to stand in line that long, in the heat of Dallas in Spring time, I'd a been pitchin' a fit. "What? You mean we came all this way and stood in line all that time and all we get to see is his Tiara?" Both Denise and I enjoyed the tour, but then we were both blown away by the commercialism of it all. The tour, after a few hours of going through the displays, lands you right in the middle of the souvenir shop. Among all the items for sale, you can buy a hat just like the one Zahi Hawass wears. Please, but since when has he become Indiana Jones?

I mean, I'm not against commercialism, per se, but they had all sorts of silly shit on sale, including some stuff I remember seeing, and buying the last time I was in Egypt. They had a beautiful box just like the one I picked up in Hurghada, back in about 1993. I pissed my sister off back then when I came back and gave it to mom. She's still got it. Has it on display in the house. We looked around and fingered a lot of stuff, but eventually decided that we'd get a magnet for the fridge. Denise liked this one...



But I took one look at it and said I'd be damned if I was gonna have Michael Jackson on my fridge door. No friggin' way. Not gonna happen. Nope. So we went with this image for our magnet (in this case, on the cover of a book).



I told Denise, this one's like the young Michael, before he became a gross, middle aged White pedophile. Anyway, check out the King Tut exhibit if you get the chance. They have a show going on in Atlanta too.

After that we headed over to the hotel and got our room. It was very nice. In fact, it was a better room than we've ever had anywhere else, with a king sized bed in a bedroom, a living room with a couch that turns into another bed, a small kitchen with a sink, fridge and burners, and covered gated parking, all for $108 and change. We were in shock for a bit, what with two nice flat screen TVs in the place, and are determined to head back there when we do this sort of thing again.

After freshening up, we headed out to a place I know about near there. A buddy of mine introduced me to Sal's Pizza, on Wycliff, after a gun show at Market Hall. They make great Strombolis there. We were both starving after spending all day on the road and in the museum. Denise ordered a Stromboli and I ordered Lasagna, with garlic bread and fried Calamari as an appetizer. After all that food, a glass of White Zinfandel for her, and a few beers off the tap for me, we were both very happy campers.

After dinner, I drove Denise around Dallas. We went around Turtle Creek and Downtown, looking at all the lights and sights. I drove her down Mockingbird and she spent some time going through Stein Mart while I perused a comic book store nearby. I needed to catch up on some Spawn and Daredevil, and see whatever else was available.

We'd talked about going to a movie, so I took her over to Mockingbird Station. We parked and wandered up to the Angelica, but the movie Denise wanted to see wasn't playing, so we decided to blow that off. I couldn't interest her in the cool Irish pub next door ether, so we turned and wandered back down and drowned our sorrows at the Marble Slab ice cream place down the street. After that it was back to the room, George Dickel, the comfy couch, the large flat screen TV and the cool cable channels that we don't have at home.

We woke up Sunday to the sound of my phone going off. My buddy Waters was already up and wondering if I'd bought anything at the Gun show. Having no life, he keeps farmers hours... up at friggin' dawn, no matter what, so callin' me at 10AM and findin' out that he'd woken us up was something of a shock to him.

He'd been up there and spent about 5 hours at the show Saturday, while we were going through the museum. He'd gotten himself a bayonet for his new AKM (a fun story yet to be told - wait for it), and had seen some British manufactured .303, but had passed on it. Now, having thought about it for 24 hours, he'd decided he wanted it. So he gave me instructions and told me where to find it at the show. I told him I'd pick it up if I could find it (never did). Then we went back to friggin' bed. I think we rolled out of there, bags in hand, just before noon.

Our next stop was Denny's, and the Moons Over My Hammy, with a big glass of milk. It's a great little breakfast sandwich, with sliced ham and scrambled eggs, Swiss and American cheese, grilled on sourdough bread, with a side of hash brown taters. I also had another side of bacon, just to make it extra healthy. Denise and I had the same thing, only she goes for coffee and OJ.

Then it was off to the Gun Show. The big Market Hall show is always a fun adventure, and this trip was no disappointment. The crowds have been extra thick since the last election, and the prices have been fun too. I'm just glad I got most of the stuff I want before this recent unpleasantness.

However, Waters has recently sparked an interest in me for getting an AR-15. He has one, but bought himself another one a few weeks ago, thinking it had a lower serial number than the one he already had. When he told me he was gonna bring his old one up here and sell it, I decided to buy it from him myself. Well, while I was walking through the show I saw a guy with two of these rifles, both priced under Waters gun.

I checked them out and called Waters to tell him about them, figurin' he'd say somethin' like "I guess I can take a few bucks off this one", but he didn't bite. In stead, he said something like "Well, what are you gonna do with two rifles?" So I walked around and though about it some more. I told myself that I'd probably be better off getting Waters' rifle, for a variety of reasons, including the fact that he's a good friend and we'd shaken hands on the deal. Then I walked back and looked at this other one again.



Yep, I ended up pickin' up a new toy. It's an AR-15 SP1, made back in the early 1970s. It looks just like the early Air Force rifle another buddy of mine used in Vietnam back in the mid-to-late 1960s.



There's ol' Mushy, back when he was a skinny kid, striking a fearsome pose with his very early production M-16. One reason why I was jazzed to have this model, rather than one of the new M-4 type rifles, is because it's just like the one my buddy used back in the day. But, of course, it's not the only reason I wanted one like this. I have my own connections to the Air Force. I grew up around it (my dad was in for 32 years and 9 months), and I've always wanted an AR-15 with these Vietnam era grips. you really don't see that very much any more.



The extra special thing about this one is the low serial number. if you can't make it out, it says 22033. For some reason, Waters wanted one with as low a serial number as he could get. Originally I didn't care one way or the other. But, you know, now that I have this one, I kinda like the fact that it's got such a low number... and I paid $200 less than he did. I guess I'm a prick like that.



Waters called me late Sunday, just as we were getting home and floated the idea that we could trade guns. I'd get his more recent (early 1980s) production rifle and he'd get this one. He paid $1500 for his, while I paid $1300. What do you guys think?



I'd already gone and bought an early production, three pronged muzzle break so I could put it on Waters' gun. That cost me $8, but I went back after getting this rifle and finding out that I wasn't going to need it. This rifle came with the right break already attached. They were cool about it and gave me my money back. Now I need to get a nice bayonet for it, and a few extra items.



Before leaving the show I stopped at one table and picked up a few mags to go with it. Here you can see the 20 rnd mag, and you can see the 30 rnd mag in a few of the other shots above. Of course, the 20 rnd mag is the one that really goes with this rifle, but I loves me a banana clip. You can take the AK guy away from the AK, but you can't... something or other.

Anyway, we drove home late Sunday, stopping for dinner at Las Casas in Temple. They serve sub standard, bland Mexican food, but they make one item we like, so we keep going there now and then. We both agreed after this latest trip, it'll be a long time before we go back.

We got home around 7PM and spent the rest of the day relaxing. We woke up today to heavy rain and the forecast for more of it this week. Maybe the drought is finally over. We'll see.

Well, you guys have a great week, and I'll fill you in on the drama between Waters and I later. Cheers!

Valentines weekend.

The little woman and I slept in last Saturday and then surprised one another with gifts. I had to dive for the floor at one point as I snuck into the bedroom with flowers and a big balloon. It looked like she was rollin' over and wakin' up. It was funny as hell. Made for a fun morning.

After that we drove down to Austin and had dinner at Pappasito's. It's a place we love, and consider a special treat. It was already crowded with valentines day revelers when we got there, so we had to sit outside under the space heaters for 45 minutes or so before we got a table.

When a table out there opened up we snagged it, and got started with the first rounds of drinks and chips-n-salsa. That's a Shiner Bock for me on the left and a Strawberry margarita on the right for Denise. She swears by their margaritas. Loves 'em.

When we got inside it was time for round two of everything, with the added pleasure of a bowl of their queso dip with the spicy ground beef added.

We both ordered enchiladas, and I got a side order of four Brochette Shrimp.

Denise ordered two chicken Enchiladas and I got the combination; one chicken and one beef.

Don't get me wrong. The enchiladas are wonderful, but it's always the shrimp I look forward to. They're split, stuffed with a wedge of bell pepper and cheese, wrapped in bacon and grilled. They pour this wonderful butter, garlic and white wine sauce over it when they grill it, and then give you more of the stuff to dip the shrimp in before you put it in your mouth. Mmmmmmm.

I know. I should just stop. Well hell, get down there and get yourself some!

OK, that was Saturday. After we left Pappasito's we went to Macy's for a bit, and then drove on to Fredericksburg. We had a reservation for Saturday night at the Sunday Inn, just up from the main strip there on the east side of town.

It turned out to be a bit old, but very comfortable and reasonably priced. And you can't beat the location for the price. You can easily walk to the Nimitz Museum and the rest of the strip from there.

The VERY first stop Sunday, after rollin' out of the hotel at noon, was the Auslander. Why, you may ask? Check out the beer selection there above. The lighting in these shots is a bit weird, the sun showing through the slats in the lattice over our heads. We were sitting out in the beergarten section.

Furthermore, check out the 34 oz. Paulaner Hefe Weizen I had for brunch! That's Denise's "Shandy" (Shiner Bock amixed with 7-Up) there on the left.

We kicked brunch off with and order of beer battered, deep fried 'shrooms. Denise loves the ranch dip but I prefer the honey mustard. I've found few things in my life so far that aren't improved with a dollop of the stuff. Few things!

There were a few younger couples sitting in the table next to us, so when my beer arrived it set off a little comotion. One of the guys said "Oh man, that's cheatin'," as if I'd gotten an unfair advantage on the days drinking.

In the end he ordered himself one, peer pressure being a beotch, and then had it half finished by the time I downed mine and we got up to go. His buddy looked up at me and said "Well he can walk!" I said something about how I loved to corrupt people, and we all laughed and parted company.

When the main feed began, Denise went for the Jaegerschnitzel burger. It's like chicken fried steak, if you've never gone there. Denise lived in Germany for many years and learned to love the stuff there.

I went for the Bacon Cheeseburger with all the works. It's so friggin' huge they have to bring it to you like this. You have to gently hoist the one half up and place it on the other, and then I cut the thing in half so it's a bit more manageable.

It's just delish!

After all that we walked up and down the strip, visiting stores and buying some of the local wine. I'd sit outside, smokin' a cigar while Denise went in to check out the stores. Usually she'd come back talkin' about how nice the stuff was, but how silly the prices were. She's a pretty sensible gal, that little lady of mine.

In an hour or so I was ready for dessert. We stopped at one of the local places there on the strip and I got one scoop of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

Denise went for the Butter Pecan. Mmmmmmm, good stuff.

One of the places we stopped was this little shop. "Bath Junkie" sells all sorts of bath items. Lotions and soaps and the like. I immediately fell for the little rubber duckie in the window.

I had to have the James Brown in the red jump suit! can you make him out there? Sixth from the left, front row. Denise thought I was nuts, but I begged like a fool and she went in and got it for me. She's SUCH a sweetie!

Now, the hardest workin' rubber duckie in show business has a place of honor on my desk at home. I couldn't be happier.

On the drive back north we headed by Enchanted Rock, and stopped at one ranch to look at the elk. We've been by there before and seen them, but this time a few of them had come right up to the fence. So we joined the crowd and stopped to take pictures. Ain't he majestic?

They had other exotic critters there too. Any ideas what this one is. It's about the size of a White Tail.

The elk were amazing to watch, almost really hamming it up for the camera.

One of these days I'd love to have one of those heads over my fireplace, and the hide on my couch. Mmmmm, and them's good eatin' too.

Finally, on the drive East on 29 from Llano to Burnet, we stopped along the road to see some Eagles in a nest along the Llano river. They were far enough away that I could barely make them out with my little camera, but you can clearly see the white head there. Maybe momma is feedin' the kiddies.

Anyway, we got home by about 5PM on Sunday, and then it was the couch for Denise and the computer for me, trying to get as many of these shots done as I could. If you want, you can go to my FlickR site and see more of them. Cheers!

Another Friday, and another busy, fun weekend ahead.

It's Friday again, so you all know where we'll be. It's Mom's turn to pick the restaurant and she's chosen to go back to BJ's. Good thing too. We haven't been back there in a while. After that we'll probably head back to that cool Irish pub we discovered a few weeks ago. O'Briens, in downtown Temple. Just check out this list of draft beers. That's more choices than you can find anywhere else in the area, so far as I know. I wish to God the place was in Killeen, but it just may be a good thing that it isn't.

I found their web site while workin' on this post and clicked on the "events" link. We saw when we were there the last time that they have a nice little stage set up on the first floor, and the place looks like it'd be PERFECT for seeing to a great band close up. Looking at the schedule I see that Chris Lopez is gonna be playing there at 10PM on October 3rd... next Friday!

He's a San Antonio based guitar player, heading up a great little power trio. Click on that MySpace link above, scroll down a bit and and click on "Somewhere Beyond Forever". Crank that sucker! You'll see what I mean.

We saw him close up at a blues festival we accidentally bumped into in Marble Falls some time back. He was playin' Stevie Ray Vaughn covers in a little house that'd been turned into a bar. I was mesmerized by his talent. You judge for yourself...



Denise and I were both enjoyin' his music that night, but we couldn't stay and listen. It'd been a long day. This time we'll be there for the long haul.



The big event this weekend, as I've told you already, is the ACL Festival in Austin. Denise and I will be out there in that crowd (these shots are from the 2007 event... Yep, stealin' again), jammin' the tunes and tryin' to pack as many cool bands into our Saturday and Sunday as we can.



I'm stoked as hell! The last time I went to one of these gigs was the last Lollapalooza festival I attended, up near Dallas in 1996. It was the year that Metallica headlined. I took my cousin, who was about 15 or so then. Blew his friggin' mind. Denise has never been to one of these things, but I know she'll eat it up. She's game as hell when it comes to loud music and good fun.

We've got a reservation for Saturday night at a hotel near Highland mall, just off I-35, so we won't have to drive back and forth from Killeen each day. It's still gonna be a zoo though, gettin' in and out of the park, but it'll be well worth it.

Of course, the festival actually started today (it's a three day thing), but there weren't enough bands on today's schedule to get me to want to plunk down the funds to attend. I'd like to see Jacob Dylan and David Byrne (both in tonight's lineup), but Saturday and Sundays bands will be more than enough to keep me happy.

Saturday will start with a trip to Pappasito's. That's right dammit, were gonna pork up at the good Tex-Mex feed before going to the festival so we don't get tempted to spend ridiculous sums of money for food at the park. It'll suck enough to have to spend something like eight to ten bucks for an adult beverage. Fuck that noise! I'll make sure I drink at least two beers, and Denise at least as many strawberry margaritas, before we leave the restaurant. We'll both be full as a tick and balanced delicately on the brink of inebriation by the time we get to the friggin' festival. Everything else will just get better from there.

The first act we plan to catch is this guy...



Robert Earl Keen. He takes the stage at 4:30 pm, so we won't have to bust our asses getting down there early in the day. I figure we'll get to Pappasito's by noon and then try to get into the park by 3:30. We can wander around once we get in there, checkin' out the scene.

The next act on the schedule is John Fogarty. Denise is a huge fan of CCR, and I kinda like the stuff too, so it should be fun. After that we'll have to relocate to another venue in the park to see these dudes...



The Black Keys. Ol' Mushy turned me on to these dudes a while back. As you can see, they have an amazing, raw, bluesy sound. I'm excited to get the chance to check them out live.

The headline act Saturday night is gonna be Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. You may remember that Denise and I saw them in concert up near Dallas a few months ago. They put on a hell of a show, so we're both lookin' forward to seein' them again.

Thing is, as is inevitable in one of these festivals, there's another band playin' at another venue the same time Plant and Krauss take the stage. I'm gonna be torn. I'd love to check this dude out.



While Krauss and Plant spin their wonderful tales at the AMD venue, Beck is gonna be playin' at the AT&T venue in another part of the park. I've never seen him, and would love to. We'll see what happens.

Sundays festivities will begin at 4PM, and again, I'll be torn. This one is a HUGE bummer. My choice is between this guy...



Joe Bonamassa, and this guy...



Xavier Rudd. I'm really torn. I guess you can't have everything you want in this world. I'll have to decide when we get there, but my heart is gonna be beatin' for that guitar.

Shooter Jennings will be going on stage at the WaMu venue at 5:30, and then the shit's gonna get really good. The next band on the schedule is one of the ones that I'm REALLY wanting to see. This is another group that Mushy turned me on to.

He emailed me one night... One of those nights when we used to email one another back and forth, like we were instant messaging. He told me to go to specific music site and watch a streaming live concert given to celebrate the latest CD release by The White Stripes. I have to say that I thought their sound was a bit too "garage" for me then (Mushy LOVES that shit), but the last tune they did totally blew my mind. Check it out...



The leader of that two piece band, Jack White, also plays with another band called The Raconteurs. They take the stage in Austin at 6:30, at the AMD venue. Here's a taste.



After that experience, I'm gonna be wrecked! But the concert goes on. The big headliners Sunday night will be The Foo Fighters.

I've been a HUGE fan of theirs ever since Kurt Cobain blew himself out of the picture and his band Nirvana (another band I loved) bit the dust. I've often thought that maybe it was some sort of kismet... Cobain putting himself out of whatever misery he was experiencing so that we could all grow to recognize Dave Grohl's true genius. Who knows. Anyway, I can't WAIT to see and hear their show. They take the stage at 8:30.

After that it'll be a tired worn out drive, about an hour, back home to Killeen. A good shower and the sack. The alarm will be goin' off at 6:30 AM sharp Monday mornin'! I know, it's a bummer, but it's WELL worth it. Life is to be lived, by God!

Anyway, I figure I'll have about 600 pictures in the camera by the time we get home Sunday night, so you know what I'll be doing all week long. Hopefully some of them will turn out good.

You guys try to have a good time too, and we'll reconnect after all the fun. Cheers!