Mike Blakely! or A Friend Named Tim!

Yesterday we had so much fun, because Tony and I met our good friends Eva Robinett & Stephen K. Morris for lunch, at the Thai O'Cha Restaurant. We have been good friends with them for many, many years and it had been a while since we last saw them. In fact, we last saw them, at The Auslander, but the last time we got to visit with them was when Hans & Marita were visiting, from Norway. And they also have property, in Terlingua, but they live in Fredericksburg, so we decided that Kerrville would be a good halfway point for us to meet. Unless we all wanted to drive out to Terlingua and meet for lunch at the Bad Rabbit Cafe.

Anyway we had so much catching up to do with them while we ate our delicious lunch. They all ordered the famous #4 that Tony and always get, but this time I just ordered their Soup & Salad Bar buffet, because my 501 Levis were about to burst at the seams.

During lunch they told us that Stephen is still hosting his awesome "Outsider Songwriter Spotlight" series every Sunday from 4 -7, but he is now hosting his show, at the Western Edge Cellars, at 228 Main Street, in Fredtown. And he is noe taping the live music events and it now airs on the new, solar radio station TABC (Texas American Blues Cajun music). So Tony and I are definitely planning to go see Stephen's show this coming Sunday. And of course y'all are invited, too.

Also while we were catching up we started talking about great movies (PAUL to be exact) and books. I told them about that great book that I recently loved reading A Man Named Ove and then they told us about their dear friend Mike Blakely.

"We love Mike," Stephen said, as Eva nodded her head in agreement. "He's written 18 award-winning novels and he's up there with Larry McMurtry, James Michener and Marilyn Durham. Y'all would love reading his books."

"Mike is also is a very talented singer and songwriter!" Eva stated. "He's got 11 or 12 CDs out there and his songs have been recorded by Alan Jackson, Gary P. Nunn, Red Steagall, Johnny Bush and....."

"We'll definitely check him out," I said. "I'm sure Sandy & Jon have his books."

After our great lunch and fun visit with our friends we were about to leave when Stephen suggested that we go to Wolfmueller's Books. "We'll follow y'all."

When we got outside, Stephen & Eva pulled their cell phones out and told us that they had asked one of the restaurants great waitresses to come outside and take a picture of the four of us. And about that time she walked outside wearing a pretty, big smile on her face. "Hi, I'm Nancy," I said, as I pulled my cell phone out of my purse.

"Hi. I'm Tory."

"Tory, I want a picture too, if you don't mind," I said. "But please shoot from the waist up and don't make me look fat." Tory laughed, while I handed her my phone.

"Okay, smile," Tory directed. Then she took a couple of pictures on my cell phone and then she took pictures of us using Stephen's & Eva's cell phones. Here is Tory's picture.

And here is Tory's picture of us posing—not really, because she made me look fat and it wasn't her fault.

We had a fun time at Wolfmueller's Books. Jon & Sandy helped Stephen find A Man Named Ove and he bought it. Then Sandy took us over to the bookcase where Mike Blakely's novels were and they had a lot of his books and I didn't know which one to buy. "I'm reading that one right now," Eva said as she pointed at it."It is so good!"

So I took Eva's recommendation and picked Mike Blakely's book Shortgrass Song. And as we were walking up to the checkout counter I opened Mike's book, and said, "Omg, it's a first edition and it is signed! How cool is that?!" Then I thumbed a few pages to find his autograph and chuckled, because Mike had inscribed it to a friend named Tim. 

"What?" Sandy asked.

"He signed it to a friend named Tim. Occasionally, I will go on Amazon and buy a few copies of my used/signed book, by UT Press The Road to Utopia: How Kinky, Tony & I Saved More Animals Than Noah and give them away, because they are a lot cheaper for me to buy than new ones. And I always find it funny when I recognize a friend's name that I gave a book to. 

"Let me see," Stephen said. "I want to take a picture of it and send it to Mike. I bet he'll get a kick out of it." So I stood back so Stephen could take a picture. And when we got back home I took off my too-tight Levis and replaced them with black sweat pants and then I took this picture of  Mike Blakely's book and then I took a picture of what Mike had written to his friend Tim.

And before I finish writing this post I want to wish our dear friend, sweet Eva Robinett a very Happy Birthday today! And that is about it for tonight, because I am fixin' to start reading Shortgrass Song by Mike Blakely.

Y'all have a great evening and keep on laughing!

A Pretty Pink Day!

Today has been so much fun. We met Chet for breakfast, at 9:00, at the Bad Rabbit Cafe and our food was delicious.

After we ate and had a fun visit with Betty, the three of us and Willie, Chet's super cool dog, climbed inside Sparky and we took off. We had a fun day and we didn't get back to the Lodge until 4:00.

Here are a few of my favorite, pretty pink pictures and one of Sparky that I took today.

We are leaving dark & early tomorrow morning to head back home. Tony and I have had a blast out here, but we can't wait to get back home, because we are missing our dogs big time. And that is about it from our cozy cabin, at the Terlingua Ranch Lodge.

Y'all have a great evening!

#33!

Today has been a blast! Tony and I left early this morning and the only sad thing about it for me was having to adios Roy, Belle, Beau, Little Debbie and Big Al(ice). When I adios-ed Roy, he took it in stride and wagged his tail, which I guess means that he was laughing at me.

Belle, our official four-legged worry-wart, wrinkled her forehead and acted very concerned, but then again she always acts concerned. Beau, Tony's Blue Heeler, basically blew me off and ran outside to chase his squirrel friend.

And Little Debbie and Big Al(ice) were not happy campers about us leaving them behind for a couple of days, so they intentionally used their potty-pads right in front of me, so I had to stop and replace their soiled pee/poop-pads with new ones before heading out the door.

Our trip today was fun, too. Our first pit-stop was at the Pilots Truck Stop, in Junction. We bought two sausage, egg and cheese biscuits and one breakfast taco. Then we took off and ate while Tony drove Sparky down I-10.

Around Ozona, while we were listening to Willie's Roadhouse on Sirius' channel 59, I said, "Tony, don't you just love Sparky!"

"Yeah, it is a great go-cart. When do you want to start driving?"

"Soon," I lied.

About fifteen miles before we got to Ft. Stockton, Sparky told Tony that we were low on fuel and believe it or not, the very next exit sign showed a gas station. So, we took that exit and sure enough, out in the middle of nowhere was a tiny gas station and nothing else.

So when we pulled into this little oasis, in the desert, I told Tony that I would go inside to pay for the gas while he filled up Sparky. "I'm also going to dump out our trash," I said.

When I walked over to the blue, rubbermaid trash can, without a lid, I started to toss out what was left of the breakfast taco and two breakfast biscuits, but before I could dispose of our leftovers seven, beautiful cats, that all looked closely related surrounded me and started meowing at me. "Y'all want some breakfast?" I asked. Their answer was a definite yes, so I carefully unwrapped the taco and biscuits and fed them to the cats. Then I went inside the gas station and paid the woman for our gas and confessed to her that I had just fed the cats.

She smiled and said, "Thanks. I usually feed them in the evening when I close for the night."

When we turned off I-10 to get on Highway 67, Tony once again, asked me when I wanted to take over the driving, and I told him, "When we get to Alpine." And of course that didn't happen, even when we stopped to top-off Sparky, near Sul Ross.

When we turned onto Highway 118, Tony complained about being tired of driving. So, I ignored him and changed the channel to a comedy station, to make him laugh and forget about me driving. Then I sent Chet a text to let him know our approximate arrival time.

Seconds later, my phone rang and it was Chet. "Hi Nancy...."

We checked in, at the Terlingua Lodge, just a little past 3:00 and they gave us a key to our cozy cabin, #33.

After we had unpacked everything, we drove down to the Bad Rabbit Cafe, less than a quarter of a mile away. Christy, their friendly waitress greeted us and then brought us iced tea while we made up our minds what to eat. And believe it or not, we did not order the same thing. Tony ordered a BLT with fries and I ordered a veggie burger without the bun and fries. Then we got to visiting with Christy and John, the cook and it was a lot of fun.

Right after we started eating our delicious lunch/dinner=linner or dunch, Chet walked inside and all of us greeted him. Then the five of us started visiting and hears some good news—John is interested in possibly adopting Big Foot. "John, we are boarding Big Foot and his sister, at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, until we get back. And if they haven't already found a fantastic home for him we would love for you to adopt him..."

We stayed at the Bad Rabbit for over two hours having a great time visiting with Chet and our two new friends. And just before it got dark we adios-ed everyone and returned to our cabin. And here is a picture I took from our front porch.

Tomorrow morning we are meeting Chet for breakfast, at the Bad Rabbit. Then we plan to hang out with him and his friends for most of the day. And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening, because we are!