The friendships that have been formed with my Saddlebag women friends are priceless. We accept one another, each in our own way, overlooking our differences, while loving the comraderie of being together, and supporting one another. I have seen lots of women come and go over the years, from our little group, but there is a "core group" of gals that have been my friends since 1985, when I first rode with them on Thursday! We always welcome new riders to join us (no rules, no dues )on our Thursday rides, and we welcomed three new women to our ride yesterday. Only time will tell whether they will stick around thru the coming weeks, months, and years. It's always hard for me to tell when I meet a new gal on our Thursday ride, whether she will mesh with our group of women, and be around a year from now, let alone ten or twenty years from now! Back in 1985, I actually took off work, to join a couple of my women friends, to go and ride with this group we had heard about called the Saddlebags. I had no way of knowing I would still be a part of that group in 2012! However, my life has been enriched in ways I could not have imagined, by the friendships I've formed thru the Saddlebags!
We had a wonderful ride this week around gorgeous pastures and thru wooded trails, hosted by my dear friend Mary Ann (who is also my "walking buddy"). My dear friend, Gill, and I went over to Mary Ann's the night before with our horses and camped out. The weather was just on the verge of being too warm and sticky for camping, however by morning it was a little cooler and we had a little breeze blowing.
After the ride, while Lanette held onto "Jango" (Gill's horse), Gill convinced "Jango" that batheing is a fun activity!
A few days after Tom and I got home from our Caribbean Cruise, a friend of mine from my A.T. Thru-Hike, "Smiley", came thru Edgewood and stopped for a visit. It was so good to see him again, and reminisce about hiking on the Appalachain Trail! "Smiley" is from Hattiesburg, Ms. and is an R.N., who had been working at a pediatric clinic on an Indian Reservation in Arizona, and was on his way back home to Mississippi for awhile, before he goes to the island of St.Thomas for his next job as a traveling nurse. "Smiley" looks just like I remember him from the A.T. (minus the bandana on his head).
And here is "Smiley" now, a little thinner, but much the same as I remember him from our hike.
We went to the great State Fair of Texas! Our Texas State Fair holds a special place in my heart, because that is where Tom took me on our very first "date"! Unbelievable really, that I was born in Texas and had lived in here my whole life (almost), but I had never been to the Texas State Fair until 1997! The Texas State Fair is one of the largest, if not the largest, State Fair in the country. We loved the beautiful, flower-filled landscape, sampling the many different "fried things", the exhibit halls, the 2013 car show. the Chevrolet "test track" (where you can take a new car for a spin). people-watching, and the one of kind, famous Fletcher's Corny Dogs!
Fletcher's Corny Dogs are made fresh while you watch, hand-dipped in the batter and then deep-fried, and wrapped in a tissue and handed to you piping hot. Simply delicious! I usually manage to get to the Fletcher's Corny Dog stand at least twice, when we go to the Fair, however this year it was such a beautiful weather day, and it was the day after the ever popular Texas/Oklhoma football rivalry (which is held in the Cottton Bowl, on the Fair grounds), so there were so many people at the Fair the day we were there, that we had to wait in line (a virtual sea of people!) for 25 minutes to get a Fletcher's Corny Dog! It was worth it, but I don't think I will ever wait that long again!
Usually when we go to the Texas State Fair, (and we haven't missed but a couple of years since 1997), we stay all afternoon, and then at dusk we watch the nightly Starlight Parade, followed by the fantastic Laser/Fireworks Show at dark. However, this year as I said earlier, there were so many people at the Fair, it was so crowded anywhere we tried to go, we had enough of being jostled by the crowds by 5:00 p.m., and headed home to peace and quiet. (Since my hike, I don't handle crowds very well) We did catch a few minutes of some live music being performed on several outdoor stage venues during the day; missed the Chinese acrobat's performance; watched the dog show(frisbee-catching,etc.); we walked a lot and people-watched, and ate "fried things".
Here are some glimpses of our day at the Texas State Fair!
Yes, those figures are really carved out of butter! I could not get the whole display into one photo. Those are Girl Scouts selling their Girl Scout cookies, since this is the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts, and over in the Hall of State there was displays depicting the last 100 years of the Girl Scouts.
Big Tex is probably the most recognizable icon of the Texas State Fair. His mouth moves as his booming voice welcomes visitors to the Fair, describing various activities featured each day. The day we were there, his mouth was not moving, even though he was talking! Electricians worked on the wiring inside Big Tex on the same day we were there. The very next day, Big Tex went up in flames! His giant-size jeans, shirt, face, and hat, GONE! All that was left was his metal frame! WOW! We watched it play out on the local TV News! Think those electricians still have their job?!
I'm sure Big Tex will have a new outfit made for him, in time for next year's Fair! And Tom and I plan to go on a "hopefully" less crowded weekday next year!
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