Starting out on my trip west, I decided to follow Will Roger's example. Stopping into the local cafes just to sample the region's chili was a plan that I had never considered before. Since I was heading west on Rt66, I knew I would be stopping in some of the greats areas for chili. Especially in Texas, who hasn't heard of Texas Chili?

I learned a lot about how Texans made chili as well as other great foods. One of the first things I learned was that Texans get very serious about their chili. The second thing I learned was that chili is best prepared the day before, and never - never add beans. Adding beans to chili just isn't done. Chili is not about beans, it is about the meat you use. There is a big difference between Texas Chili and Ranch beans; don't mix the two.

My first stop when I reached Amarillo was the famous Big Texan Steak Ranch restaurant for lunch. As a child, my family occasional stopped at the restaurant while travel Rt 66 on the way home to California. It was usually the first western home cooking we got after a couple years of European Cuisine. This time I was also heading down Rt 66/Interstate 40 on my westerly trek to California to visit the relatives and knew I had to stop. Entering in the restaurant, I was greeted by the familiar stuff heads of deer, elk, and buffalo and various fowls that are mounted on the walls. As I was seated, a good-looking cowboy introduced himself as my server. As he was about to tell me about the famous 72oz steak, I had to stop him. As great as the Texas steaks are I already knew what it was I wanted - Texas Chili!

Having ordered my lunch, I began to work out what I wanted to do for the rest of the afternoon. The afternoon was free to visit the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum, and Kwahadi Museum of the American Indian before I headed south to the Elkins Ranch for a night of western festivities. Severalminutes into my planning, I was present with a big bowl of Texas Beef Chili. Seems everything in Texas is big, including the taste of their chili. The chipotle pepper adds a unique flavoring to the beefsteak, along with the flavors of cinnamon and cloves. In addition to the chili, there was a wonderful honey flavored cornbread and a garnish of sour cream tomatoes and cilantro. Top off with a bottle of Texas Shiners Beer. Which I found they also added to the chili.

After the mouth-watering lunch, I head down the road towards the American Quarter Horse Museum. I don't know much about the Quarter Horse other than that it a multi-purpose workhorse. I know more about pintos and paints - the real cowboy's pony. However, after more than an hour of touring through the museum, I learned more about quarter horses and the men and women that ride them. Next was the Kwahadi Museum. I had never heard of the Kwahadi tribe, so I wanted to know more. As a woman of Native American Blackfoot descent, I am always on the look out for Native American museums where I can learn about my heritage. The museum is the home of the Kwahadi Indian Dancers, who at the time I visited where out touring around the state. Although I was disappointed at not seeing the dancers, the exhibits provide me with an excellent glimpse into the cultures of the Pueblos and Plains people through displays of paintings, bronzes, and beadwork.

Walking out the Kwahadi Museum and checking my watch, I found it was time to head for the Elkins Ranch. The ranch is located south of Amarillo in the Palo Duro Canyon valley area and is famous for its cowboy breakfasts and western evening dinner shows. The Elkins ranch is a real working cattle ranch and not only provides scrumptious culinary delights, but also provides jeep tours through various parts of the Canyon. With the tours, you will hear about the history of the area, including the stories of Billy the Kid and a visit the rustler's graveyard. This trip I had planned to enjoy one of their famous chuck wagon dinners and the show provided by the Elkins' Ranch Entertainers.

The first thing you will notice when you approach the ranch camp, is the tantalizing aroma of fresh cowboy coffee brewing. To find out that it is brewing over an open fire, just adds to the enchantment. All the ranches' chuck wagon dinners and breakfast foods are from family recipes. There is no box mixes or short cuts use here; everything is prepared from scratch. On the night, I was attending the dinner, I was handed a tin plate and directed to a chuck wagon buffet line. What a sight and the smells coming from the chuck wagon - Rachael Ray's “Yummo” just wouldn't give it food the credit that was due. If I weren't all ready hungry, I would soon be. I had the choice of Spicy Mesquite Smoked Ribs or Chuck wagon Chicken. There was potatoes and corn of the cob, ranch beans, cornbread, granny's cobbler, and of course the cowboy coffee. Can't say I'd walk away hungry, not with a spread like that.

The Ranch's breakfast is equally fantastic, although I was not going to stay around for it. The spread includes western style scrambled eggs, maple sausage, sourdough or buttermilk, biscuits, Dutch oven potatoes, sausage gravy, fresh fruit and cinnamon rolls, with juice or coffee. All this food is prepared over a mesquite fire.

When I travel, I always like to stay at a ranch or at a B & B, again because I feel I can soak in the local culture where I wouldn't at a chain hotel or motel. You just can't sit down with your host or hostess at a motel and chat. Therefore, I decide to headed back towards Amarillo and check in at the Starlight Canyon Bed and Breakfast. This wonderful sanctuary is located in upper Palo Duro Canyon. Just about eleven miles South of Amarillo and is nestled in among cottonwoods and other trees. I was able to stay in the newly remolded Aspen room that had a private patio. The room had a large aspen log bed, a large wood burning fireplace, antler chandelier, an oversized bathtub - you can't find that in a modern hotel room. The best feature I found was the hot tub on the patio. After a day of fun, I was ready to slip into that hot tub. The hot tub was a nice way to end a great trip to Amarillo. In the morning, would be on the road to another adventure in a new town and more Chili to sample.

Stop in Midland to get some good ol' country breakfast at "Cracker barrel". Prepare room for the wonderful rockin' chairs you'll want to take home from their old fashioned front store full of toys, indoor and outdoor decorations, and candy originals!

Want to have some fun in the mountains for the day? Head west into Odessa, stop at Walmart to pick up necessary supplies, and head out South West. Maybe an hour or so later you will arrive at a pretty cool man-made natural spring. Thank you military!

After you've had your fun at Balmorhea Park, head east back into town, and enjoy the wonderful Florida feel as you drive around. Hit the Texas Burger drive-thru order a few Jalapeno Burgers, shakes, and your heart will be unlocked by passage through your taste buds and stomach! If your not feeling like a burger stop at Denny's!

Kick back at the hotel swimming pool, beer in hand, and cool off enjoying the view of Palm Trees and bird's hydrating in the crystal clear pool water. Time for dinner! EASTBOUND! 8 miles from Odessa, back to Midland, and you have a wonderful choice of restaurants. Texas steakhouse, Carino's Italian restaurant, Arby's, Sonic!...they even have a Jack in the box, a What-a-Burger (says that 10 times fast), IHOP, Olive Garden, and McDonald's (where isn't there one-LOL). This list of restaurants can go on for a while.

Pumps jacks decorate the road sites, although they may seem greed-generated, it renews hope and vitality, and really makes you proud of the Unites States of America. With technology comes efficiency, and we are at the brink ladies and gentlemen. Hybrid cars are old news, in with electric sports cars, and full-powered solar houses!

Stop at Acme Realty in Pecos, TX while you are there, and ask about the great deals on land. It's possible Home Design Consultants by Angela Moore can design you a fabulous home, but I am still waiting for mine. Has any one seen her face? Be sure to get the signed contract before you give her money. Do it face to face. And if that fails, do it yourself!

Overall, West Texas - known as the big bend region (maybe because it is "Home of the first rodeo"), is a grand place. Just bring lots of water! It's hot out here!

One thing I found silly was the abundance of tanning salons in such a sunny place. But that's ok, because West Texas has everything! Even a hockey team. GO JACKALOPES! Come to Texas to see if these creatures are real! You can even go ice skating at a mall in Midland, and pick up some stylish clothes at Dillards. Some of the people may be a little slow at ringing you up, but what nice people!

I'm sold! How about you?

Fran's Burgers is one of the best places to go in Austin for a reasonably low cost and great food. They have juicy burgers that come in three choices of large, larger, and huge. There's no place that offers such large burgers like Fran's. The atmosphere is also very old fashioned since it used to be a drive in. The interior and exterior is not polished up at all and looks like they just moved into a building that was falling apart. However, the food tastes great and it is not expensive which is what counts.

Stubb's BBQ is another nice little restaurant that offers good food for reasonable prices and they have live entertainment. The type of food at this restaurant is Texas barbecue food and it has been around since the mid 80's. The one thing I enjoy about this place is that you can listen to a live band while you eat.

If you like Japanese food then there is a restaurant that I would recommend as a place with good food and good prices. The place is called Zen and they offer very big portions that you could share with another person. It also serves chicken, steak and shrimp.
Galloways Sandwich Shop is located off of East 12th Street. They don't have sandwiches but they offer other types of foods including fried chicken and pork chops. They also have breakfasts available with pancakes and fried eggs. Galloways is a very small place but good food with good prices.

A couple of other restaurants to check out are Hoovers which specializes in Southern food and Eddie V's which is located near the arboretum downtown. You may pay a little more at these restaurants since they are near everything but you have to think about the convenience as well. There are plenty of restaurants to choose from in Austin that have good food for an economical price.

Tired of walking? Check out this futuristic way to tour Austin called the Austin Segway tour where you tour Austin by riding a Segway HT; a perched on two wheels that you can ride for a reasonable fee. You will probably want to catch a bite at one of Texas best steakhouse so go to Ruth's Chris steak house located in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. They have a wide variety of gourmet steaks but if you're in the mood for something else they also have seafood available. You have to go to Texas to get this great experience with your friends and family.

The city is most appreciative of its fine art as well as its cowboy/rodeo exterior. It is this diverse blend that makes the city a most worthwhile visit.

It is very hot during the summer months and fairly mild during winter. Spring and fall are wonderful times of the year: as long as the city does not experience periodic tornadoes.

The Main Street Arts Festival is held in the month of April and the Women's National Finals Rodeo is the event to attend in the month of November.

The city center in Forth Worth is an active variety of bars, restaurants and shops. The area has been totally revitalized.

The vibrancy of Ft. Worth cannot be over-stated. There are two unique sites you need to go and “feast” your eyes upon when visiting the downtown area: One site is the Tarrant County Courthouse (circa 1895) and found on Ft. Worth's main street. The other site is the Mural of Chisholm Trail by the artist Richard Haas.

If you would like to participate in Ft. Worth's cowboy custom, you will naturally want to check out the selection of fine cowboy hats offered by Peters Brothers (located on Main Street).

On a hot Fort Worth summer day, it only makes good sense to visit the delightfully cool spray of the Water Gardens with its waterfalls and pools all designed by Philip Johnson.

The cultural district that overlooks the downtown area on a slight incline has a vast amount of museums.

A pretty light pink brick building houses the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. The building is the design of David Schwarz. Here there is a variety of fun activities, some of which include reviewing giant size scrapbooks documenting life on the ranch and filming you being the rider in a 1930's old-fashioned rodeo.

The Amon Carter Museum is not to be missed. The museum showcases an enormous collection of Remingtons, Russells as well as other fine American paintings and photographs by the modernist and architect (winner of the Pritzker Prize) Tadao Ando. The museum's collection is housed in a massive 50,000 square foot building so wear some good walking shoes.

The older and iconic Kimbell is well worth the trip displaying European and non-Western paintings. If you happen to be visiting the Kimbell at lunch, a café on the grounds serves up salads as well as quiches.

The historic Stockyards was once the main hub for cattle drives on the Chisholm Trail and at a later date a place where cattle were shipped by rail by the stockmen.

The stockyards nowadays has changed its use. Here you can board a steam train named the Tarantula and go on an excursion to the nearby historic town of Grapevine.

Additionally, a mini-mall and train depot called Stockyards Stations provides visitors with stucco buildings and brick streets.

Do you want to know where some of the locals eat in Fort Worth? Well, take note as one very popular steak house is the stylish Del Frisco's.

Head over to Lonesome Dove Western Bistro for the grilled (Quail) quesadillas.

Or if you prefer a lighter meal, delight in a plate of calamari while dining on the patio at Angelina. The restaurant faces the massive statues of trumpeting angels located at the Bass Performance Hall.

Café Ashton, located downtown, offers dishes like roasted lobster bisque and delicious wild mushroom risotto.

Joe T. Garcia's has been around since the 1930s starting out as an eight table diner located in a little wooden shack. Today, Joe T. Garcia's covers an entire block. Here there are outdoor patios, enchiladas or fajitas and margaritas.

If you are searching for a good “combo” platter of appetizers try the tequila shrimp and tenderloin tamales (appetizer) platter at Pedro's Trailer Park, a truly fun and “funky:” place.

If you'd like garb fit for a Rodeo, you'll want to head on over to Maverick Fine Western Wear. Here you will find a nice assortment of beaded and embroidered shirts as well as colorful chartreuse cowboy boots.

A wealth of art galleries is clustered around the Cultural District. Visit Carol Henderson's where you will find ornamental crosses and unique, one-of-a-kind jewelry items.

The Santa Fe Warehouse was constructed in 1937 and is nowadays the Fort Worth Rail Market. You will find merchants selling fresh produce, seafood, wine and beautiful cut flowers. There is also a tamale shop and an all-vegan restaurant (the first of its kind in Fort Worth.)

Wherever you go in the city, there is something unique and interesting to enjoy. Fort Worth with its art, unique choice of restaurants and shops and cowboy history is well worth a visit.

I got the bicycle down and rode back up to the service center and got our supper for the night. I came back and started up the generator and watched TV while eating supper. I could not access the WI-FI at the Flying J, because you had to subscribe to their system to be able to access the Internet.

There are some drawbacks to parking in the truck stop. The big one is noise at all hours unless you are a heavy sleeper. It was not the best night I spend, but was not that bad. I got up in the morning and all I could see was semi-trailer on both sides not more then a foot away. It felt like we were in a box. We put the coffee on and got ready to leave for the days drive.

We were going to make it out of Texas today!!! We got to New Mexico and stopped at our first roadside store. This one had the jewelry and rattlesnakes for sale. After a couple hours there I got the wife to leave on a promise to stop at another one. We got all our packages in the rig and off we go again.

Will down the road about 15 minutes and the right rear tire blows out and we are on the side of the road. Now one thing I did get was Good Sam's road side service. This was a wise choice and I was glad we had it. We had to wait about two and half hours for the guy to get there. He jacked the rig up and found we had two tires blown out on the dually. He had brought one tire and I had a spare, so we got the tires on and down the road we go.

We blow thru Deming and get to Lordsburg, New Mexico. We spend the night at Lordsburg and were off in the morning for Tucson, Arizona. We had picked the SOUTH FORTY RV RANCH RV Park north of town.

The South Forty Ranch RV Park was a nice place to stay. They had a good pool and club house area and we stayed four days to catch up on laundry and rest. It was a good rest place and the sites were cement pad with stone lot. We will hit the road for San Diego after Tucson. See you on the road.

The Premier RV Resort On The Gulf Coast, Beaumont, Texas

This was the nicest RV Park we had seen since leaving Florida. The park had drive thru sites and no unhitching of the car dolly. I would just pull in and undo the tie downs and back off the car. All the sites were cement drive thru pads. They had free WI-FI and the park was really nice.

I had installed a computer in the rig with a wireless card for this very reason, to be able to access wireless connections at the different parks.

I had mounted the computer under the dining room table with room to spare. I had cameras and scanner to record the trip of a live time connected to the computer. I would put together collages of the places we would stay and email to the family back home. They were looking forward to getting their email everyday.

Something like the above collage but more pictures and info. It was funny making them up for everyone I emailed.

We left the next day heading west across Texas. If you never been thru Texas, in the fat part, then you don't know what it is like trying to get out of Texas. The only thing I didn't like about the dolly towing I had to stop 50 miles down the road and make sure your tie downs didn't loosen up on you. Well, we will see you at the next stop, which will be in TEXAS.

The state of Texas is located roughly 30 degrees north latitude, just north of the tropics and just south of the middle latitudes. Which means Texas is in the middle of warm moist air surging north from the tropics and cool dry flowing from the plains; perfect ingredients for severe weather, which often comes quickly and sometimes with very little warning.

I've lived in Texas all my life, so I'm accustomed to the crazy weather we receive. I wanted to share some photos of my beautiful state with you.

This is a picture of our beautiful beaches at Corpus Christi.

Here is a thunderstorm brewing, it's beautiful and scary at the same time.

A flash flood, which can occur before you have time to react.

Another shot of the flash flood. Very fast and very deadly.

As the caption reads, this the famous Jarrell tornado that destroyed so many lives in the spring of 1997.

Beautiful Blue Bonnets that come after the rains in the spring. Our Texas flower!

Beautiful sunset over Lake Travis, in Austin, Texas.

I placed the order early in the afternoon and was told my order would be ready for pick up in 15 minutes. Having encountered this situation before with the Anaya's Restaurants I knew it would be more like 30 minutes. I decided to run a few errands in the area and then go to pick up my food. I arrived approximately one hour later and to my surprise I was told that my food was not quite ready and to have a drink at the bar (at my cost) while I wait...the food would right out.

In retrospect I see know that they were conniving enough to try to milk me for more money. I did not stay for the drink; instead I paid for my food in good faith that it was about ready, and left to run a quick errand. When I returned one-half hour later my food was still not ready! As a food professional, I can understand a considerable amount of wait time as a seated customer with an overly busy waiter. There is no excuse that could possible justify to any extent why it had been over 1.5 hours and my food was still not ready. I had only ordered 2 entrees for Christ sake.

So I asked the dimwitted hung-over hostess to speak with the Manager on Duty. She left and came back what felt like an eternity later, smiled, and ignored me. I said "well!" At which point she looked right at me and asked if I would still like to speak with a manager. At this point one can only imagine if the hostess' parents were related. I replied with a yes and she set off again for the manager.

Eventually, the ethnically appropriate Manager arrived with a disturbed tone. I spoke with her and said that I was not wanting to complain, but rather to inform her of the situation that was going on under her nose. I wanted her to be aware of what was going on so that no other customers would be subjected to such an injustice. She said she would go to check on my food (possibly spit in it I suspect) and see what was going on. Ten punishing minutes later (for a total of over 1 hour and 45 minutes since placing my to-go order) she returns with a bag containing my food in hand. She handed me the bag, and with an extremely insulting and sarcastic tone makes a half-assed attempt to apologize and shows me the door.

Cyclone's has typically been a great place to enjoy a relaxed brunch and mimosas, but under this management I can only suggest they get their act together before they drive away all their customers, bankrupt the company, and disgrace the Anaya family name. I have been it situations similar to this in restaurant of far less reputation and 99% of the time the manager is quick to make amends...offer comps from free drinks to free meals. My problem is not so much with the fact that nothing was offered for this terrible service, but the manner in which they continued. I am appalled at the service this past weekend from the Anaya's Mexican Restaurant and strongly recommend against eating there anytime soon.

I do believe in second chances and might give one after sufficient time has passed for this restaurant to get back to quality service.

Texas' travel industry is very good. It gives them an average of about $40 million a year. 485,000 Texans work in travel related industries. There are about 130 state parks and Recreation areas that attract a total of more than 21 million people annually.

Texas is a very populous place. Back in the 2000 census, Texas had more than 20 million inhabitants. Which is the second most populous state. It sure would not be rare to see white people in Texas. About 71% of all people in Texas are white people. Houston is the city with the most people in Texas, with almost 2 million people! Houston is leaving Austin, the capital, far behind in 4th place and with only 660,000 people.

If you like snow, you shouldn't go to Houston, with only 0.4 inches of snow a year. If you like rain though you should go to Houston, with forty-eight inches of precipitation a year! Both El Paso and Houston are warm. El Paso gets warmer in July than Houston does, but it gets a lot colder in January than Houston.

Texas has a large amount of road length and other ways of transportation. The total public road length is 301,034 miles; the highway system road length is 13,435 miles. The length of the railroad tracks is 10,649 miles; there are 1280 airports, and 396 heliports in Texas during year 2000.

Those are some interesting facts about Texas. There are probably more basketball teams than you thought there was. A lot of other things you probably didn't know were in this report about Texas.