When I photographed Dora and Otto’s corvettes the day before, she invited us to a “fish-fry” at their ranch on Friday.  We already had tickets to go see Willie Nelson (I found them online for $20 each) but said we’d love to go.  I wasn’t even sure what all was involved in a fish fry, and as neither of us had ever been we were eager to find out.

So Friday afternoon came and we headed out north towards Goliad, where I had taken photos of the Spanish mission earlier in the month, using the directions Dora had given us.  Several others from the Seabreeze RV park were invited too, so we made a sort of convoy the 30 miles out into the back country of Texas.

Their ranch house is like a weekend or getaway place for them, as they live right in Portland.  It’s a ranch-style house with one level, a porch and screened in patio.  Otto has turned the garage into a workshop and 1 bedroom guest house.  We immediately noticed and set out counting the stars that adorned almost every vertical surface. He was so engrossed in his counting that Rob completely overlooked the pistol that was just sitting on the counter.  Just like any other household item, keys, a hat, etc.  Texans sure do like guns – yes sirree!

Porch on their house

Doesn't it just LOOK like Texas? You have wagon wheels on your porch too right?

Front door and one of the many stars around the ranch

Yet more stars!

I found us a bit segregated as the men hung out in the garage, while George fried the fish (using his secret recipe that he wouldn’t divulge), and the women sat on the enclosed patio.  Otto offered us a ride out into the pasture to see his cows, so we jumped at that opportunity.   Brought me right back to my childhood and my uncles dairy cows out on the farm.   These however are beef cattle, not dairy.

Texas Grass Fed Cows

Another lady sat up front in the “Gator” with Otto, and we had lawn chairs set up in the back for us to “set” on.  He’s quite proud of his cows and seemingly everything he does is something he’s very passionate about.  Not a bad way to be at all.  He told us about how he was gonna do this and that and move some trees around a pond.  When Rob asked him why, Otto said he likes to keep busy – no kidding!

Otto driving the Gator

We watched as the cows ate real grass and the calves fed on their mother’s milk – as it should be!   However, we were disheartened to learn that even most grass-fed cows are sent to the big mass production feed lots and fed corn to fatten them up, and turn their fat from yellow to white (better for marketing supposedly).  So apparently to be able to advertise “grass fed beef” the cows only have to eat grass for a certain percentage of their lives.  In the end, they all end up in the same feed lots, and being handled poorly as they had to slaughter houses.  We were not very happy to learn this.

THIS is what cows are supposed to eat!

See, she likes it!

Baby cows drink milk!

The Fish Fry

Back to dinner – the fish was catfish and tilapia (a white fish), coated with George’s special cornmeal and spice mix and fried.  I particularly liked the catfish.   As I mentioned, Rob asked but George would not give him the recipe.  There were also leftovers from potluck the night before, so there was lots to eat.  Good food, good company.

The signs says "RIP here lays the last SOB that didn't close the gate"

Yup, deep in the heart!

Willie Nelson Concert

The timing worked out for us to stay for the whole dinner, and after a quick stop at the RV back at Seabreeze, we headed off to the Old Concrete Street Amphitheater for the Willie Nelson outdoor concert.  We got to the area and sort of just follow the traffic to find our $10 parking spot blocks away.  It is in a warehouse area, and they had a free shuttle going back and forth to take people up to the main gate – a nice service!

The venue is a bit odd to say the least.  It has two sections of pre-reserved seating with actual chairs placed in rows.  The rest was just general seating where you could stand or sit if you could find a spot.   It’s basically a flat area so seeing from the back – good luck.  Or, they’d be happy to rent you a chair for $5 each if you could find somewhere to put it and actually see the stage.  Bringing in your own chairs was forbidden.  Of course – they couldn’t make the $5 then!

We also waited in line for about 30 minutes just to get through security at the main gate.  They use actual metal detectors and everyone got patted down before being allowed to enter.  It IS Texas after all – you did read about the pistol earlier right?  LOL.

Yes it was Texas and Yes we wore winter clothes

We found a spot on a grassy hill area and put down our tarps – which we were allowed to bring.  It was NOT that warm that evening, maybe 5c or 6c and I had on gloves and long underwear and 3 shirts.  That didn’t seem to deter the girls that paraded around in Daisy Duke like outfits with teeny tiny short, cowboy boots, and midi tops.  Made me wonder where Hazard County really is anyways – must be close!

The concert itself was just okay.  The sound wasn’t great in this venue and Willie seemed to be mumbling a lot.  But HEY – we saw Willie Nelson in concert IN Texas – how cool is that?!

Related posts:

1. Day 85 – Dolphin Connection dolphin tour
2. Day 62 Corvettes and the Beach
3. Day 48 – Tombstone to Van Horn Texas
4. Days 56 to 61 – Sea Breeze RV and Goliad

We left Montana, had clear weather most of the way.  Dar slept through the only rough bit where is snowed and was foggy, good timing on her part, Rob was thankful.

We stopped for lunch in Butte, MT at a mall and had Chinese food.  We’ve decided to eat mostly vegetarian or Oceanarian (only veggies and seafood) while in the US unless we buy the meat ourselves from a local farmer or market and know it’s organic with no hormones, antibiotics, etc.

Not much to note, stopped in a little town called Clancy to stretch our legs and take a 10 minute walk.  Things we’ve noticed along the trail were that we’ve seen a lot of cattle outdoors actually eating grass, and we’re quite happy about that.

Got to Idaho Falls about 7:30pm and picked a stall at Snake River RV ($30/night).  Dar had called ahead and they had lots of spots.  The offices of most parks close at 4pm or 5pm so after that you just self-park and check out and pay in the morning, or put it in a night drop box.  Rob was getting set up and putting the leveling legs down on the RV, Dar was inside setting up.  As the legs for leveling the unit were coming down, they slipped on snow and ice underneath the RV and the rig fell back onto the tires and the legs bent backwards.  Dar screamed and freaked out, thinking they were now broken and we’d be stuck in Idaho for an infinite number of days getting it fixed, need to stay in hotel, etc, etc.   Rob just put the legs back up (they went inside fine) and we slept in the unit on the wheels, just a little wobblier than usual.

Then Dar was sitting on the couch doing email in her PJs when she discovered her butt and back were all wet.  Cat pee!!!  She had another breakdown, couldn’t find any other PJs and went to bed without eating anything.  This is the third incident of cat pee, they also peed on the cat bed we bought for them at home – and the first day when Rob was covered in it.

Lessons, things learned this day:

• that the washer fluid for the windshield wipers takes a really long time to get up to the window and it isn’t broken
• that when putting up the leveling legs you need to start the engine and wait for the rear air suspension to fully inflate, otherwise you end up with the rear legs stuck down.
• that when putting the legs down, always check underneath for unlevel surface and ice that may cause a problem, and if in doubt put down the metal plates for them to sit on.
• Rob also learned that when you sneeze while driving, the sneeze will not hit the windshield as it is too far away.
• Dar is constantly learning that Rob is much calmer at handling any issues that arise and to trust him to do it, and not so quick to jump to the “it’s a disaster” conclusion

Related posts:

1. Day 2 – Border Crossing
2. Day 4 – Mormon Temple Square
3. Day 6 – Two Days in Pahrump Nevada
4. Day 5 – 20% Fuel Efficiency Improvement