Chit Chat 6

[Frantic Freddie]

On the way home we detoured a few miles to have a drink at the No Scum Allowed Saloon in White Oaks {that's my wife)



When we drove up I saw a guy on the patio & thought "Hmm, looks like my friend Doug" & sure enough it was



We've been there before & sat around the fire at night





These were for fun, took 'em on the way home:





We had a good time

[Frantic Freddie]

Been meanin' to get these pics from the Symposium up, but yes, I'm lazy

This was one of the bands, playin' some really good Western Swing:


I don't usually take pics of horses 'cause I'm used to seein' 'em, but this one was so pretty:


We bought a ticket to eat at a chuckwagon, I didn't get a pic of my meal, but it was beef stew over mashed potatoes, beans & a big (US style) biscuit, and yes, it was delicious







Yours truly:


The Mountain Men had a small camp & were, of course, trading (selling stuff):







Blacksmith at work:



We went to see Bob Boze Bell talk, he's the owner of True West magazine, I'd met him a few years ago in Monument Valley (a funny story) & of course had to get a pic:



These kids were very good, she has a great voice & knows how to use it:

[Yvonne]

Okay.....nice

[Frantic Freddie]

The balloons are up!

[Frantic Freddie]

Yay!!!

Looks like we're going to the Cowboy Symposium, something I've wanted to do for years!

Couple of bonuses, one of the performers is Tommy Allsup, whom I met & partied with back in 2007 when I played with Sonny West at the Clovis Music Festival in 2007.

Also, ZZ Top is playing at the Inn of the Mountain Gods Friday night, it'll be the 7th or 8th time I've seen them, I love that Lil' Ol' Band from Texas

[Yvonne]

I have seen something on FB about roads closed but I didn't know why. This is awful!!!
I am glad that you and the wife are safe tho but I hope it will all be over soon for all the other people.

[Frantic Freddie]

I don't know if this has made the international news, but here in the American southwest we've had terrible (the newspeople are using the word "biblical") floods from freak rainstorms. The state north of me, Colorado, has been hit really hard, with 7 deaths so far & many homes destroyed. We've had 1 death but a lot of roads washed out, a couple of small towns are completely cut off right now.

Being as this is mountainous country the water doesn't just rise, it comes down in huge walls moving as fast as 50 mph/80 kph, it can destroy houses in seconds & carry even large vehicles away.

Don't worry about me, I'm in a safe area, on the side of a heavily wooded hill. The road we use almost got washed out but we have an alternate road.

And people ask why I only drive Jeeps

[Frantic Freddie]

We just got home from The Burning of Zozobra, which also marks the beginng of the Fiestas de Santa Fe. I have pics & vid, I'll get those up in the next coupla days.

No, it has nothing to do with Burning Man except that the guy who started that claims he didn't get the idea from Zozobra, but he lived in Santa Fe in the 70s! Everybody in New Mexico knows he's full of crap

[Frantic Freddie]

That's why we have the best BBQ on Earth,everything's always on fire

[Yvonne]

[old biker]

Ouch!!! I can imagine the woman's reaction
Not good that there is always a part on fire there....me thinks me is not going there because me is probably ending up in the on fire part somehow

that's the BBQ area

[Frantic Freddie]

That means a 15 hour drive ony good Porsche or BMW

I'll see your Porsche/BMW & raise you a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8

My Brit friend had terrible trouble with our freeway exchanges, he said on his blog that Americans had mastered the 4th Dimension as far as roads

[Kzin]

It might be, except for the fact that from Baltimore,Maryland (that's on the east coast) to the Grand Canyon is 2,300 miles/3700 km!

That means a 15 hour drive ony good Porsche or BMW

[Frantic Freddie]

Ouch!!! I can imagine the woman's reaction
Not good that there is always a part on fire there....me thinks me is not going there because me is probably ending up in the on fire part somehow

Unless you've been here, I know you Europeans sometimes have a hard time visualizing just how darn big this country is. There's a lot of fires near where people live but most of them are so remote they have to helicopter the fire crews in. That is, if they don't just let it burn because it's so remote.

I read a story once about a fellow in Baltimore, his German co-workers, having recently arrived, asked him about renting a minivan for the weekend to go see the Grand Canyon.
Now any American reading that can see the problem immediately, but some of you Old World folks might think that's a reasonable question.

It might be, except for the fact that from Baltimore,Maryland (that's on the east coast) to the Grand Canyon is 2,300 miles/3700 km!

Personal story along the same lines: A young Brit friend came to visit us & we took him from our house all the way to Austin,Texas with some stops along the way. As we were driving through SE New Mexico he asked me "Freddie, how long has it been since we made a turn on this road?"

"Almost 2 hours" (traveling at 75-80 mph/120-130 kph)

[Yvonne]

Owwww that is so not good. I hope you can still go there although it won't be the same anymore.