WELL, THIS ONE ISN'T ENTIRELY TRUE.....But its a great example of the numerous quirky signs that are scattered throughout Amarillo.
These are the work of local artisan, Stanley Marsh, and they are randomly placed on sites all over the city.
I have no idea how many there are, but ive made it a mission to collect them as i see them.
The house here is actually up for sale too.
I particularly love this one!!

'FOOTLOOSE' IN UTAH!...... The Sundance Film Festval takes place every year in Park City,Utah. What an amazing state Utah is! This winter wonderland was a beautiful setting for a little rendez vous with fellow Fulbrighters Nicole, Rachael and Lorraine.
We saw an edgy flick and visited Salt Lake City, the seat of the Mormon faith.

The film 'Footloose' was filmed here.... this is the flour mill in Lehi, where some of the main scenes of the film took place.









This is Nicoles little wooden house... isnt it cute!!?
Park City, ...... we followed in the snowy footsteps of Jen, Gwyneth and Robert D Jr.

WHAT A LOAD OF BULL .....!!!

The Amarillo Livestock Auction is where the cowboys and ranchers do their wheelin' and dealin'. The auctioner was incomprehensible to me, but by the end of the morning i knew my Herefords from my heifers.



Behind the scenes we were priveleged to meet Mr. Dash Danner (what a name). He is an ex rodeo champ and now rears bucking bulls.

This is where the real cowboys hang out!
I took one of my precious personal days to go to the Tuesday cattle auction with dad and we ate a real cowboy lunch at the 'Stockyards Cafe'
They certainly start 'em young round here and this little cowboy called Steel,aged 2, was roping before he could walk. He really can handle that lasso.
I loved 'visitin' with the old ranchers and cowpokes who are down to the serious talk beef prices here... or maybe they are discussing the latest celebrity gossip!!??

DAD COMES TO STAY!....
This was a true 'blokes' holiday and i enjoyed having Frank to stay. We explored sides of amarillo that i hadnt yet been to.


Down on the ranch with Tony, Melynns dad, it was only proper to have a little red wine with the beef!!

"DIRTY SANCHO".....here i am at local dive bar 'Whiskey River' to see the band that Melynns brother, Clayton, plays in (bassist, pictured here)
With Tyler and Melynns Mum, Diane, doing the groupie thing.
I've discovered that peple here do the two-step to just about everything and, done well, it is a fun dance, though you find you end up with an over developed right thigh! On this particular occassion we had fun watching the dancers avoid the pool of dog pee that was in the middle of the floor, and i had the misfortune of being asked to dance by a guy who turned out to be touch phobic..... not a great quality in a two-steppin pardner!

'HAPPY NEW YEAR!'
Well, we made it to Las Vegas in plenty of time for the fireworks. Phew!!

Pamela and Andrea, 2 other Exchange teachers from Britain, met us here and provided the fetching eyewear.

Flagstaff, Sedona and the Grand Canyon are all relatively close to each other and we stayed with Michelle here while we went hiking in the 'Vortex' and sight seeing in the Canyon. Thanks for having us Michelle and for introducing me to 'Gravy'.

Monument Valley.......'Marlboro Country', and what a place to put my riding lessons into practice. This is the first time id ever galloped. It was impossible not to do a big 'yee-haw!!'
My horse was a Mustang called Daniel, and our guide was a Navajo indian called Calvin, in Wranglers and Stetson!

Jody with "J.W", otherwise known as John Wayne

Me and "Daniel".

Move over Thelma and Louise..... here come Destinee and Whitney (Vegas names, long story!!). We set off from Amarillo on boxing day with the aim of being in Vegas for New Year. 2000 miles later we returned having done just that and seen and done lots on the way.......
This picture shows us at the 'Four Corners' where the states of Utah, Arizona,New Mexico and Colorado meet.

We followed the Historic Route 66 for much of the way enjoying these classic diners and 50's retro motels.

"Road" being the operative word, we spent a lot of time on it but the miles fly by when the driving is straight and easy.

My little blue Saturn did us proud.