Texas Part 2

Yes, That's correct - You can purchase 50 piece chicken nuggets in McDonald's in Texas for only $10.99!!!!



Austin Capitol building

Austin, Texas - “Live Music Capital of the World”. There is a bumper sticker that reads “If you’re listening to American Music – You’re listening to Texan Music”. Like most city dwelling northwesterners, I used to be fiercely opposed to country music. The radio station in the little town of Sitka, replaced my favorite classic rock station with a country music station. The country music played in most of the northwest is little more than pop music with a country accent. Then one day a friend introduced me to bluegrass and a few of the local bluegrass bands that played in Portland – Jackstraw and The Freak Mountain Ramblers. I felt like a whole new world opened up to me. My grandma, who grew up in Texas, introduced me to old school country and I started listening to blues as well. I started to understand where classic rock got its start and its inspiration. It wasn't until our Texan friends, Cam, Margarite, Sara, Brent, Paige, and Lee introduced us to Texan country music that I really fell in love with those soulful deep voices and finally gave up my antipathy towards country music for good.
Austin, however, isn’t all about country music, quite the contrary. Austin is a friend to just about every type of music out there. South by Southwest (SXSW for short) is a music festival of epic proportions that happens there every March. Having listened to a download of singles from thousands of performers from 2008 and 2009 SXSW (Thank you Justin!), I was dying to make it to this year’s event. Our timing was off by about 2 weeks but we did get to spend a very relaxed Saturday evening strolling up and down 6th Avenue and Red River Street. Sure enough, there was music streaming live out of nearly every bar. Something vital is lost when music is recorded in a studio. CD’s can’t relay the grimacing and grinning faces of the musicians as they coax ever more intoxicating and heady tunes out of their instruments. I’ll never forget the mandolin player for Jackstraw playing so fast that his hands became invisible. You’ll never get that from a CD. The audience drives the musicians to give it their all, sweat, blood, and tears. And when the set is over you can’t just walk up to the CD and tell the band how much they blew you away. One band we really enjoyed, by the name of The Trent Turner Band in Austin, was vaguely reminiscent of Stevie Ray Vaughan. The guitarist was wailing. The bassist was a man on fire. It was a hell of a show. Everyone was tapping their toes, but no one could dance because they were too busy staring, mouths agape, at the acrobatics onstage.


Jon fishing on the Colorado River (The one in Texas)

We only stayed one night in Austin because we were eager to meet up with our aforementioned Texan friends in Fort Worth, Texas. On the way, we spent one night on the Colorado River (the Texan one) and did some fishing and barbecuing. The fish were not biting but the river was beautiful with huge multicolored cliffs on one side and thousands of fossils in the stone river bank on the other side. We were amazed to see about 50 vultures going after the dead cow on the opposite bank.

BBQ Texas style

We were so impressed by the BBQ provided at the campground that we had to take a few pictures of it in case we decide to someday duplicate it. The BBQ had a special mechanism for ventilation that made it possible to cook at a very high heat while still allowing the wood to last a long time. There was an ash box that the ashes could be easily pushed into and the BBQ could also be used as a smoker. We made an unforgettable meal on that BBQ; pork chops, asparagus and cabbage in aluminum foil, and an onion stuffed with a couple of Serrano peppers and olive oil as well as some oven baked potatoes.

The next day, as I was taking a shower (one of life’s simple pleasures when living in a trailer), a thunderstorm started. I walked outside, headed for the trailer, and was suddenly drenched in a deluge of rain. I looked up just in time to see the lightning crack into the ground no more than 50 yards away. I jumped about 5 feet in the air. By the time I made it the short distance to the trailer, it was as if I had taken a second shower – in my clothes!

Dana - mixing up some venison sausage - Fort Worth, Texas

We headed to Fort Worth as soon as the rain let up and were beyond stoked to see our Texas buddies finally. All along this trip, we’ve been somewhat concerned about the road worthiness of ‘Ole Giddy up Go and were just crossing our fingers that it would make it to Texas. We had finally made it. True, we still wanted to make it home, but we now had a month’s leeway, before making our way up to Alaska, to purchase a new truck if need be.

We spent our 2nd night in Fort Worth at a sausage party – a sausage-making party that is. Cameron and his buddy Cameron had a whole mountain of elk, venison, and pork sausage to turn into sausage. Sarah, Margarite, Cameron, and Cameron, Mike, and I all took turns pushing the meat into the sausage grinder and holding the formed sausage as it came out of the grinder. As you can probably imagine, the innuendos were flying. Messy as it is, I thoroughly enjoy the sausage making process, particularly since Cameron let me season a couple of batches on my own. Sausage seasoning possibilities are endless: salt, crushed red pepper, coarse black pepper, garlic, cheese, fresh jalapenos, celery, meat marinade, Cajun seasoning, fresh cilantro...As we mixed up the sausage ingredients, we cooked little bits up on the stove and taste tested them. YUM!


Dana and Mike, stuffing sausages

Fortunately for us, the sun was shining on us in Fort Worth. Cameron told us that spring had just arrived the day we got there. Not long before we arrived, they had a foot of snow on the ground – much more than is typical in Texas. Apparently everyone was out making snowmen.


That's one hell of a long sausage!



Modern Art Museum - Forth Worth, Texas

Andy Warhol - Modern Art Museum - Forth Worth, Texas

Sara took us to the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth. They were featuring the works of Andy Warhol. I've never been a big fan of his work but I was curious to see more than the famous soup cans to see why it was that he made so much money. It was there, in the quiet and serene, library-like atmosphere, that Jon belted out, for the benefit of all those around us "This stuff is CRAP! They made us pay five dollars to see this!" There were definitely some folks around us nodding their heads in agreement.

Apparently, Andy Warhol was able to turn art into a business by opening "The Factory". "To create his art, Warhol used silkscreens so that he could mass-produce images the way capitalist corporations mass produce consumer goods. In order to continue working the way he did, he assembled a menagerie of adult film performers, drag queens, socialites, drug addicts, musicians, and free-thinkers that became known as the Warhol Superstars, to help him. These "art-workers" helped him create his paintings, starred in his films, and basically developed the atmosphere that the Factory has become legendary for.(Wikipedia)"

green candy with plastic wrappers - Modern Art Museum - Fort Worth, Texas

Jackson Pollock, Modern Art Museum - Fort Worth, Texas

Moder Art Museum - Fort Worth, Texas

Cameron running for it after a great hit

Jon nearly got in a fight with a guy on the opposing team for yelling "stttttttrrrriiiiiiiiiiikkkkkkeeeeee!" when he struck out (playing softball!) because he apparently wanted the walk. The dude came running over with that look in his eyes, but luckily ended up walking away - tail firmly tucked between his legs.

modern art at Lola's Saloon - Fort Worth Texas

One night we went to “The Stockyards” to see Scott Copeland playing live at Lola’s Basement Bar. The Stockyards was once the location of Fort Worth’s functioning stockyards, but is now a strip with old western façade style bars and restaurants. Sara tells me that longhorn cattle are routinely driven down the middle of the street for the sake of the tourists. The place we went to, Lola’s, was a great bar for dancing to live music and the location of Scott Copeland’s weekly gig.

Copeland’s band put on a great show and nearly everyone was dancing. Copeland sang and played an acoustic guitar. The rest of the band was made up of a lead electric guitar (who also played fiddle), a bass guitarist, a harmonica player, a drummer, and a guy on the steel guitar. They played many of their own songs and a few covers. Copeland must have like Jon’s dancing moves because he threw him a free CD.

Another night, Sara made delicious tacos and homemade Bloody Mary’s for us at Margarite’s house and we hung out on the back porch around a fire telling stories and dirty jokes. Margarite has quite the repertoire of few dirty jokes, as well as a delicious banana pudding recipe (topped with Nilla wafers - I haven’t had anything like that in years!) Afterwards, Margarite showed me how to make some fancy leather and turquoise earrings for my newly pierced ears. I guess I didn’t mention before that my good buddy Hallie took me to the oldest piercing salon in the world (located in San Francisco) to get my ears pierced for the first time. It’s hard to be a gypsy if you can’t wear giant hoops in your ears.

Deer Camp - ready for wild pig hunting!

The next day we set out for some pig hunting. Cameron borrowed some assault rifles from his buddy Cameron to add to the arsenal. All in all we had at our disposal: two AR-15’s, a 25 ought 6, a 7mm Magnum, a 22, a .223 with a high power scope, and a .38 pistol. Our first hunting camp was 1200 acre property that Cameron leased along with about 6 other dudes. They called it the T3 Ranch. Jon and Cameron scattered deer corn near the hunting stands to attract the wild pigs. There were also several feeders, filled with deer corn, that were set to go off in the early morning and late evening. The wild sows can have up to 30 piglets a year and are a menace to anyone with property. They can gain 300 lbs in their first 5 years so they obviously have to eat a lot. They dig up fences and eat the roots of just about any plant, including trees. The Texas government did some fly-by shooting and killed about 50,000 wild pigs. So, assault rifles in hand, we were out to save the environment.

T3 Ranch

What convenience! Actually, I tried to use this once and it broke 5 seconds after sitting on it. Hey! It was old!

You get better accuracy if you smoke a pipe while aiming

Jon trying out the handgun

We did some target shooting to check out our rifles. Bailey, who isn’t afraid of lightning, fireworks, or shotguns, was not a fan of semi-automatic weapons or pistols, and decided to hightail it as soon as the shooting started. We found the poor dude sitting by the gate.

That night, Jon and I sat in the hunting stand for about 4 hours. I got bored and fell asleep. Jon had to pee into his beer can. He woke me up when he saw a herd of deer walking around near dusk. Just when it got too dark to shoot, Jon thought he saw a wild pig running across the open field. We had to head back to camp empty handed, but we did get to eat some of our freshly made sausage cooked over a campfire.

Our Arsenal

Bailey sitting next to a cow pie with arrows

We decided that pigs, being lazy by nature, wouldn’t be waking up at the crack of dawn, so we shouldn’t bother to either. After a long night’s sleep we spent several hours sneakily hiking all over the property. Cameron managed to startle a big herd of pigs, but they ran off before he got the chance to shoot them. We attempted to circle around them for another go, but unfortunately - no luck.

The Lone Star of Texas

We decided to head over to a new hunting camp that night, owned by a friend of Cameron’s. T3 Ranch consisted of 4 trailers, a firepit, and a portapotty. This hunting camp, on the other hand included a beautiful 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house with a big porch and outbuildings. When Cameron opened the door to the garage, we were surprised to see a giant side-by-side ATV called a “Mule”, with seating for 4 – and a safari style bench seat with a padded rail for easier shooting from the vehicle. This baby was a kick in the pants to ride on and even more fun to drive. It also had a giant spotlight so we could drive around at night with our assault rifles spotlighting for pigs.

"The Mule"

Better watch out deer....

deer stand

The next night Sara and I shared a deer stand and Cameron and Jon shared another. We were hoping to have to full glory of spotting and shooting our own wild hogs. About 15 minutes after getting into our stand we heard shots fired off in the direction of Cam and Jon's stand. "Damn that was quick!" We kept our eyes peeled hoping to see a whole horde of wild hogs come tearing out of the briars in our direction....we saw nothing! Then about an hour later - more shots! No pigs! We saw deer, turkeys, tons of birds, but not a single pig! Right at dusk, we heard the guys start shooting and it sounded like a wild hog massacre for several minutes. We were more than a little disheartened - until we saw the two pigs they had shot! Jon's pig was a good eating size and Cameron's was over 300lb - and it smelled like hell! It had scars all over it and even open wounds from battles with other pigs. Jon had also shot another large boar that got away into the briars. We dragged our spoils home on "The Mule" and cooked up some fresh pork backstrap for supper.

Jon and the 300 lb wild hog!

Dana, Queenie, Jon, and the 300 lb wild hog

The next morning, we got up bright an early, not wanting to waste another second of golden pig hunting opportunity. This time, I wanted to sit in the deer stand that Jon and Cameron had been in, close to the Brazos river, where the pigs seemed to like to hang about. This time Jon sat with me. It was a beautiful sunrise, but no pigs were spotted.

Jon and Dana witing for pigs in the deer stand - early morning

We decided to stick around for one more eveing of exciting deer stand sitting. This time, Sara and I took the river deer stand. On our way to the deer stand, we spotted a armadillo in the briars. I was beyond excited for my first armadillo sighting. When I saw it, i thought "armored rat". The armadillo paid us no heed and Sara started telling me that they attack people with they feel threatened. I was trying to get as close a shot with the camera as possible, but that gave me pause. Then, it finally saw us and took off. We sat in the deer stand, amusing ourselves in anyway possible, playing cards, whispering to the guys on our walkie-talkies, aiming at deer, eating candy...still NO PIGS! Well better luck for Sara and I next time, I suppose. Still it was an experience of a lifetime and we are ever so grateful to Cam for taking us along on that adventure!

armadillo

Sara getting ready for a big one to come along

watching the feeder - hoping for a wild pig to come along

Better watch out pig...

Jon and Cameron with their harvests

Sara and I ended up using the pork-butt off of Jon's pig to make some delicious tamales. I'm feeling pretty confident about my tamale making skills now, thanks to Danielle and Sara's tutelage.

Cameron and Cameron fishing below the Possum Kingdom Lake Dam on the Brazos River

Dana - Theadfin Shad

If you've ever heard the song "Possum kingdom" by the Toadies (a Texan band), “Decide to walk with me/ around the lake tonight/ behind the boathouse/ I’ll show you my dark secrets…” You've probably wondered where the name came. I found out when we went fishing on the Brazos River, just below the Possum Kingdom Dam at Possum Kingdon Reservoir. Cameron, Cameron, and Jon caught about a hundred bass (sand bass and striped bass) in a few hours. Even I was catching sand bass on almost every cast. Bailey was highly entertained by trying to fish out the bass after I got them off of my hook. We kept a striper and a sand bass for dinner and, thanks to Cameron's advice, fried 'em up with some corn meal for fish tacos. They were delicious.

Cameron and Jon with a Bass Bonanza! (Stripers and Sand Bass)

Jon with his Striped bass

After our time in Texas, we spent three days of long driving to get to Reno for our friends Tad and Jill wedding. The panhandle of Texas was pretty flat and brown and ugly. Particularly the town of Lubbuck. Sara tells me that Lubbock is known for having the highest rate of syphilis per capita in the country and a hearty dose of AIDS as well. Additionally, there was an especially raunchy cow farm where the cows were all stuffed into a tiny fenced-off area and the smell was intense for miles. It seems that the California cows are indeed the happy cows. We also saw another town that consisted of only a cemetary, a big pile of tires, and a Baptist church. We took route 66 back to Reno. The drive from Las Vegas to Reno was desolately beautiful, but very difficult - with the gale force headwinds. Reno seems to be filled with the dregs of society.(thank goodness for "Reno 911!") . However, there is a beautiful river with green way on both sides, running through town. The City of Reno altered the river from it's natural state to include better river kayaking challenges. The drop-offs and and pools that were created turned out to be a favorite habitat for trout and there were dozens of people out fly-fishing for them in the middle of downtown Reno.

After the wedding, we drove another 2 days to get back home. We celebrated the last day of our trip with a re-creation of the delicious BBQ'ed pork meal and had a nice fire near the banks for of the Klamath River. On our way home, we discovered that Bailey had about 20 ticks on him (That luckily hadn't gotten stuck yet) and I had 3 on my clothing and one that had dug it's way into my side. I'm still checking the bite mark to make sure I don't have Lyme disease.

Now that we are back in good old Ridgefield, WA - we are back to our usual spring harvesting. In the last week since we've been back we slayed the razor clams, oysters, and mussels in Long Beach, WA. Then I spent most of a day smoking and canning them. Since it's my first time using a pressure cooker, I was pretty stoked that tye turned out good. Jon spent a couple of days in his drift boat fishing for spring chinook on the Columbia River. Luigi went with him one day and the weather was so stormy and nasty that they ended up huddled in a shelter on the beach for most of the day. I went out with him the next day and after waiting in the hog line for 4 hours or so, Jon got one on the line. I grabbed the net nearly lost the fish by snagging the net on everything in sight, but we managed to get the fish in the boat! Although we saved most of the fillets for Jon's sister's wedding, we ate the collars that night and it was absolutely heaven.

The trip came full circle after that because Flo and Nicole invited us out to White Salmon for another epic snowboarding trip with Kjersti and Joel! The powder was so deep that it was tiring and it snowed most of the day. I ended my day early by running into the only tree in sight for hundreds of yards, because I was not paying attention, and had to go put some ice on my ankle. Having so much fun can be hard on you!

So this marks the end of our blog - for now. Thanks again to everyone who read it and especially for all your great comments and emails. We recommend this trip to anyone, it's incredible how much fun and adventure there is to be had in our own backyard. The scenic landscape of America is not to be missed. I found it very surprising that so much of the country is wide open space. We only traversed a tiny strip of our country and were continually amazed by the diversity and surprises around every bend. Now go have your own gypsy adventure!

Post script - there seems to be no evidence of lyme disease.