THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED...
Lubbock was the birh place of Buddy Holly, who died tragically in 1959...i'm sure you all know the story.
Anyway, on a trip to Lubbock with Susan and her boys (Jordan, Jason and James), we visited the museum which is set up in tribute to the Texan who influenced many Rock 'n' Roll legends..... not least of all The Beatles.

"Without The Crickets, there would have been no Beatles" - Paul McCartney.

"I was Buddy Holly...he made wearing glasses cool!" - John Lennon.

AT HOME WITH THE ABBOTTS...
Heres Paula with daughter Chloe, and mum and dad(Bonita and Jackie).
Bonita very kindly gave me this painting she'd done... a windmill!!

Thank you, i love it! xxx

JODI THOMAS......AUTHOR!....
I was fortunate to be introduced to local celebrity, author Jodi Thomas, who is a friend of Tylers.
Jodi has published no less then 24 novels, 18 of which have been bestsellers.
Her books are historical fiction ( and very steamy!!) and all based on aspects of Western heritage such as oil boomtowns, ranchers, cowboys (of course), but mainly about the women and their lives, loves and challenges. Here i am with jodi and my autographed copy of 'The Widows of Wichita County!'. Thankyou!!

BOYS RANCH COWBOY POETRY GATHERING...
We met up with Cliff and Ricky to attend the events taking place at "Cal Farleys Boys Ranch". The boys ranch is in Old Tascosa, about 30 miles north of Amarillo, and since the 1930's it has been home to boys (and more recently girls) who need "a shirt-tail to hang on to!" . Basically, it is a community for 'wayward' or 'troubled' kids who have grown up without much parental guidance. In the surroundings of a working ranch, they learn a way of life based on southern values in a supportive environment.

Each year the boys ranch opens its gates to the public to show off its work. We were able to see some rodeo ('celebrity team roping'...id never heard of any of them, except Chris Isaak), and we enjoyed a chuckwaggon dinner. The coffee was a bit dodge though... very bitter and full of 'grounds'. I had to ditch mine in a 'Mellow Birds' kind of 'moment'......

WINDMILL INTERLUDE........

WINDMILLS...THE SYMBOL OF THE HIGH PLAINS.
The high plains region is synonymous with windmills. Usually depicted as a silhouette against a blazing sunset, they are often solitary landmarks in an otherwise flat landscape.
Andy and I travelled north of Amarillo for an hour and a half to the town of Spearman in search of this windmill park.
Texans love collecting, so it came as no surprise that a certain Mr Buchanan had made it his lifes work to collect and display.......well, windmills!!
He said, "If it hadn't been for the windmill, this country (the panhandle) wouldnt have been settled yet.....they played a more important part in settling the plains than the barbed wire fence or the six-shooter because people couldnt have gotten along without water."



So there you have it. Incase you were wondering, the windmills purpose is to pump water up from the Ogallala Aquifer (try saying that when youve had a few! ha), which is the primary, but otherwise inaccessible water supply that lies beneath the plains. Mills pump water for domestic supply in rural areas, but mainly for water tanks on ranch land so the cattle can drink.











Nowadays, there are really only 2 manufacturers of windmills (Aermotor and Dempster) but this collection has examples of rare and extinct breeds such as Eclipse, Currie, Samson, American West, Star Zephyr, Giant, Kirkwood, Duplex, Freeman, Parish, Hummer (not just a baseball term then!)....... Oh, my god, im a 'windmill-spotter'!!! Move over Don Quixote!!!


There is never a shortage of wind on the plains.....indeed, there is often so much that the mills are designed in various ways to cut out if the wind is so strong as to risk damaging the wheel. One method, is that some fold in on themselves, as with the 'umbrella-mill' (above), while others simply have a vane to turn the wheel out of the wind as it gets too strong.



Well, i hope that was of some interest to someone!! im pretty fond of wndmills myself, as you can tell.

GO "DILLA'S" ..........
The Amarillo Armadillos are the local baseball team (that creature is infact an armadillo incase you hadnt realised!)
Tony and caryl were on hand to give us the lo-down on loaded bases, hummers, sacrifices, strike scores, umpire insults and the best hot-dogs!!

THE SCENIC ROUTE.....
Coming home the long way round from Santa Fe was well worth the detour.
The top was down on Caryls Mustang and we drove through some beautiful grassland country side.

Coming in to Amarillo from the north meant we got to see another Stanley Marsh creation... this is 'the floating Mesa'. Click on the pic to enlarge it and you'll just about see how he has put up sky blue boards to create the illusion of the top of the hill (mesa) floating! Best seen when the sky is clear.

We also passed by 'Boothill Cemetery' (above) which is the final resting place of many cowboys killed during shoot-outs who died "with their boots on"!

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO......
A good 4 hour drive west of Amarillo and you find your self in the heavily Spanish/Mexican influenced enclave of Santa Fe. Spanish conquistadors settled here in the 1500's and the pueblo style architecture is testimony to their legacy.
It is also the site of a Museum dedicated to the artist Georgia O'Keefe. I was so taken with it all i had to buy myself a cow head skull.... god knows how im going to get it home!!

Although O'Keefe is strongly associated with New Mexico, i was interested to learn that she had spent her formative years as an artist working as a teacher in Amarillo (1912-1918) and the landscape there influenced much of her work throughout her life.

"Texas is my spiritual home!" - O'Keefe.

THE WEDDING PARTY......
Caryl invited me to attend a wedding of an Amarillo couple getting married in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I didnt know them, but no one seemed to mind, and it was great to see how americans tie the knot.

Classic garden ceremony....no less than 16 bridesmaids and 16 groomsmen!


Caryl with daughter Alison.

COMMENTS ARE BACK!!!.....I just discovered id accidentally put a block on comments, and that infact one or 2 of you do actually look at this site.... so, feel free to add comments once again xxx

LIZ AND STEVES 'BIG TEXAN ADVENTURE'.....
Liz and steve flew out from Wimbledon, London, to have their taste of Texas, and were amazed and very impressed!!!!
We spent 2 days on a whistlestop tour of Amarillos finest, but here are the differences.....
The Rays lent us a pick up, but not before letting us sample the home grown beef from mum and dads ranch in Oklahoma... I'd seen this cow, and indeed patted it, when i visited with Rach and Julie!! Tasted good though!
Jim is a wildlife ranger for Pantex (nuclear disassenbly plant) and his passion is Purple Martins (very rare birds), which are curreently nesting in his boxes. Good job Jim!
At the Big Texan, Liz enjoys a mouthful of 'Mountain Oysters'...... if you think thats seafood then order something else!!!.... deep fried bull bollocks to be precise!!


A jeep ride in the canyon.

BIG BEND, WEST TEXAS.....
The Chisos mountains stand in the heart of this wilderness desert, on the SW tip of Texas, bordering Mexico.

Desert meets mountains meets river, and varieties of plants and wildlife adapted like nowhere else on earth. Amazing to think this is one of the least visited national parks in the states, but then again no surprise since it is one of the remotest and, believe me, one of the hottest places ive ever been.



Sunset through 'The Window' from Chisos Mountain Lodge.
Like most things, the photo doesn't do it justice.

AAAAAAAAAARRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!

CANOEING ON THE RIO GRANDE...
Carmen, our guide, took us on a half day trip through the desert by kayak. We had lunch in Mexico....

As she is a young single woman here, i was interested to find out what her opinion was about the chances of finding an available man. Her answer...
.... "well, the odds are good, but the goods are odd!!"




Liz was very at home on the water, being the ex-Irish canoe champ that she is!

DESERT LIVING....
While we had relative comforts in our little cabin hideout, those who come here to make a life for themselves typically live in reconstucted adobe houses, or trailers. They have solar power, no plumbing, collect rainwater and wash clothes the old fashioned way on washboards. Shaving is not a priority... men or women!!
This sounds like a way of life that many people in the world contend with, but the difference here is that people choose it.