Friday 06 May, took off from Gatwick at 10.45 am only 15 mins late and arrived safe and sound Dallas Fort Worth Friday at 15.15 Hrs USA time 21.15 Hrs UK time, just 45 mins late. Susie, Toni and Linda there to meet me. Drove up through Texas across the Red River to the Oklahoma border and called into a typical massive awesome American Casino with 3 large Restaurants in it, we had a big shell fish and steak buffet meal then a little flutter on the gaming machines, big delay on Interstate 35 road, finally arriving at Susie's house 01.30 Saturday morning, which meant I had been up and awake, apart from a coupla catnaps on the plane, for some 30 hours.
Entry to: Tuesday am 10 May
On Saturday we all went downtown to Bricktown OK City to see a charity Baseball game, some coupla pictures on my Photo-page, met some great guys and girls, also went to a big Mexican Festival event called "Circo De Mayo" which celebrates their Independence day. Sunday went to Susie and Jerry's Daughter Connie and her family for Mothers day, we took some ready cooked meat, Brisket and Ribs, some beans and other side dishes, had a great afternoon, oh yeh in the morning we went to Jimmy's Egg which is a chain of early morning breakfast restaurants and had an American breakfast, well actually I had a Mexican breakfast with added Jalapeno hot peppers!
Monday went with Susie to visit with some of our "friends" some of whom I had met last year and went and had some food with them. Went to a large Mall in the afternoon and got a few things. The Malls here was so large that some USA folk use them as exercise tracks and power walk round them with their exercise kit on and carrying water bottles and of course they are pretty safe places and always out of the Sun and bad weather.
Went to a nice restaurant in the evening Toni and Johnny came which was good as Johnny kindly paid the bill!!! and had a coupla fresh Oysters to start then a plate of fried shrimp and other shellfish with stuffed squash and other side dishes, all good stuff, the "shrimp" over here are like our V large prawn!!
Temp today, Monday, is 80 deg F. Tomorrow it is due to reach 90 deg!!! Susie and Jerry are starting to clear their pool for the pool-man to come and service it. I cleared a blockage in their sink today so I was pleased to be able to do that as I feel as if I am earning my keep here as the resident odd-job man, also I am on constant call to let the 3 Yorkie dogs, Ellie, Bexley and Bubba, out into the yard and back in again. I will try to keep this running diary up to date so please watch this space!! Byeee for now.
Entry to Thursday am 12 May.
Well all going well still and I am being looked after and spoilt, one of Susie and Jerry's three Yorkie Dogs, Ellie, follows me just everywhere just like she did last year. Yesterday, Weds, we went to the Oklahoma Bomb Memorial Park which commemorates the terrible lorry bomb which killed 168 people including 19 children in a nursery class just 10 years ago last month. There are 168 individually made stone/metal chairs in the Park, to commemorate all those who died, laid out in nine rows to show on what floor they were when the bomb went off.
Weather was hot touching 90 deg as predicted the last coupla days but this morning - Thurs - is a bit windy and changeable. Am today going to Stockyard City today, also called Cowtown where REAL Cowboys and Girls come in daily to look at the cattle stock and visit the clothe and gun stores!! Yeh REAL guns with live bullets!!
Better get a shift on but I'll be back.
Entry to Friday am 13 May.
Big Thunder and lightning storm overnight, raining hard this morning, getting ready to get to the Convention to register and see what is going on at the Conference Center, Meridian Hotel. Oklahoma City. Have arranged to meet Susie's and Toni's friends at the Stockman's Restaurant a well know place for big Cowboy steaks etc at Stockyard City. Had a good day at the Convention and went to the Stockmans late afternoon and had a monster 1" slice of Prime beef rib joint - yes it was quite large but I finished it all up for England!! Got on a horse drawn open carriage just outside the Restaurant to take us back to where the car was parked, about 50 yards!!! See the pictures. Back to the Convention for the evening meeting then home in an absolute tropical lightening, thunder and rainstorm. We gave a lift to a lady in a wheelchair so after seeing her into her house, well you can guess that Susie and I were absolutely soaked by the time we got home and the dogs were pleased to see us, they didn't like the storm either. Be back later.
Entry to Weds am 16 May.
Well all going well still, on Saturday we spent the day at the Convention, or Conference, as it is known over here there were some very good Speakers drawn from other States. Members gave about $1600 - 750 Pounds - to pay for Registration fees, about $15, for members unable to afford it or who were out of work.
Sunday - Up and out at 07.00, Johnny and Toni took me down to their lakeside house on Lake Texoma, about 130 miles from Oklahoma City, the lake is over 100 miles long and is on the famous Red River which is the dividing line between Oklahoma and Texas. Johnny has a 35 foot boat and takes fishing parties out at the weekend.
Monday - I was taken out by Toni and Linda to Indian City where they have some good art museums and an Indian type settlement right up in the hills, all the Cowboy/Western films I have seen in the past really brought on some authenticity to them with the rugged scenery and high look out posts. The Girls, as a surprise for me, brought some iced cream and 3!! punnet's of Strawberries, all in a big freezer bag, which we had at a lovely picnic site, (all that was missing was the Tennis)!! I was really spoiled that day. I also bought some real American Indian made items at the Reservation shop.
Tuesday - Chilled out today, still very hot in the bottom seventy's to upper 80 degrees F. Went to meeting lunchtime with Susie then in the afternoon Toni, Linda and Terry, a very good lifelong friend of Toni's and who I have been communicating with in the UK helping her with her new Computer, called to take me out, we drove around Oklahoma City and met Johnny where we had a lovely meal in the Mexican area of the city. Not sure what is happening today but hope to be going to the American Cowboy Museum with Susie either Thursday or Friday. I'll be back!!
PS - I am experiencing some difficulties in transferring my camera images onto the Computer but am working on it.
Thurs am 19 May.
Well we went to the USA National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma yesterday as it was all indoor and rain was threatened, but didn't happen.
The Museum is a lovely huge place with many painting Galleries and several large galleries of exhibits, reconstruction of a typical Rodeo, Cinema, Indian war scenes right down to showing the history and many different types of barbed wire used to keep the cattle in on the Ranches.
One of the exhibits showed Jim Shoulders a very famous American Champion Rodeo Rider wearing a pair of Wrangler Jeans style number 13MWZ which are exactly the same type number as the Jeans I have been getting here from Langston's Store in Cowboy City. Jim Shoulders was wearing his in 1947!!! The 13MWZ stands for "13th design Men's Western Zipper".
Langston's current advertisement quote:
"Wrangler 13MWZ Cowboy Cut jeans are the official jeans of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Associations. The 13MWZ jean is the original fitting jeans made especially for the guy out riding his horse or the guy wheeling his truck down the road".
That's all for now folk, am hoping to get a bit more sightseeing today, Toni is picking me up in her truck later. I have managed to put a coupla more photos onto the Website.
Friday pm 20 May.
Yesterday had a nice day out travelling about seeing the sites with Toni and Linda, ate at Pearls, a Sea Food Restaurant and shared a dozen Oysters before our main meal, had a really nice day.
Today Friday did some shopping with Susie, went to Hooters where all the waitresses have large overflowing Hooters and short shrunken pants, yes a large "Hooter" over here does not relate to the nose!! we had a succulent plate of Large Prawn and dips with a Caesars Salad.
Jerry got home midday and this evening we are going to Catfish Cabin, all you can eat!! Oh yes one little thing I forgot, it was very hot yesterday and we have just got back from the Post Office, 17.00 hrs and the Temperature outside is 101 deg F !!! Byeeee for now, thank goodness for Air Conditioning.
Saturday 21 May
Well it is 07.00 am UK time and 01.00 pm UK time. It looks as if Susie's PC has finally given up, unable to get on-line to AOL - no comments re AOL please!! Am using Jerry's Laptop. Will close down now and say Cheerio for now, my plane leaves Dallas Fort Worth tomorrow, Sunday at 04.30 pm USA, 10.30 pm UK, getting into London Gatwick 07.30 UK Monday. Just getting ready to watch the Cup Final which starts at 09.00 am here on the large TV screen - dimensions of 3 foot by 2 foot 4 inches deep!!
Be seeing ya'll soon.
PS - Message for S Sue from Lewes. When was that wedding date again Sue?? haha
Two Texan sayings:
1. Never squat with your spurs on.
2. When you throw dirt you lose ground.
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