Texas Storms, Steaks & Schtick

It's a beautiful day in Point Texas after another intense storm last night.  We awoke at 3am to a disturbingly loud tha-wapping noise and a rockin' and rollin' RV.  

We hurriedly pulled on enough clothing to satisfy public decency laws and rushed outside to lower our awning before it became tattered and destroyed by the wind.  The gusting was sudden and intense and we have been in areas of severe weather and tornadoes all week and were aware tornado conditions were ripe.  The awning was being forced sideways at an awkward angle by the wind so I hung on and pushed against the wind force with all my strength so Frank could get it aligned and rolled up.  A lull in the wind and a desperate thrust and we got it to roll up.

We then started grabbing everything that was "loose"--electric scooters, poo-poo can, wash bucket  and tossed everything in a compartment or inside the car.  Back inside to our trembling dog and brought the slides in and waited...  The wind died down almost as soon as it started but, by that time, we were full of adrenaline and caffeine and up for the day.

We found out the next day that our neighbors all did the same thing; some of them ignoring decency laws and running outside in underwear.  It occurred to us that I should have put on my ruby red slippers and grabbed my little dog, Cassie, and headed for the bathhouse since it is a safe concrete structure.  We found out next day that there was a tornado in the area.

We met some nice people, and a potential playmate for Cassie.  

"Barney" was a bit mature for Cassie and had some trouble breathing so they didn't do much except the usual exploratory tail sniffing.  We became friendly and helped them install a new washer-dryer in their rig.  They had gutted the big entry closet in their fiver and ordered the appliance from Walmart for about half the price of buying it from an RV store.  Later, we wifi'd together in the Clubhouse.

At our next preserve in Gordonville, we met a couple who had the weirdest lookin' dog I ever saw!  "Donovan" had one blue eye and one brown one.  But, Cassie didn't care about the weird eye and quickly assumed the universally-recognized crouch "play" position.  We all gathered in the MuthaShip and drank beer, and perhaps too much beer was drank.  A very odd thing happened.  Frank and the guy got into an unpleasant exchange and the guy had a hissy fit and got up and stormed out of our RV.  His wife apologized and left.  Next day, we noted that they pulled up stakes and left early.

That day, we chowed down at nearby Pelican Marina Restaurant where I asked Frank to "do something stupid" with his messy nacho platter.

Next stop--Amarillo and our favorite Overnight UglyPark--the AOK RV Park right off I-40.  

It is right off the highway, near the airport and there are many "permanents" living there.  There is no office-it is self-registration/self-park.  Once you park there, it is so ugly and noisy that you want to leave--but you can't because you are in Amarillo and MUST visit the nearby Big Texan Steak Ranch!

The Big Texan is a destination all its own.  They have a limo with massive steer horns mounted on the hood that transports diners back and forth for free (mostly used by truckers).  

The schtick is "Texas on Psychotropic Drugs".  "If you can eat a 72oz steak dinner in one hour Big Texas Steak Ranch, the dinner is free"  announces billboards along the highway.  

There are armadillos dressed up as cowboys, stuffed cowboy bears, jackalopes and rattlesnakes, 

a Texas-sized rocking chair 

and an Olde West shooting gallery with a cast of animated Disney-esque characters complete with sound effects!

And--GREAT STEAKS!

After waddling back to the camper after dinner, we pulled all the shades, turned the TV up and vegged.  Next day, we made a short trip to find a restaurant recommended by our friends, Kate and Jack, called Buns Over Texas.  Frank got a bun photo...wow I had no idea HOW Texas-sized my buns are!