Observations of West Texas

 Within the first hour of my arrival... a tumbleweed, dirt devil, a WILD FIRE (oh My) just beginning (complete with Emergency crews flying past), and oil pumps sprinkled randomly through the fields. I thought the High Plains of West Texas was really beautiful in it's own right. Red dirt, sand and WIND.

The family I stayed with said, "The wind blows the Yankees out!"  

 This warning made me laugh out loud. It HAS NOT rained since OCTOBER 21st in West Texas. That blew my mind. Wild fires are burning crazy right now too.  

I am standing on top of a ginormous barn overlooking the Wilmeth farm. They like to see the full view and I don't blame them. That might be New Mexico over yonder.

 Along with grapes, the Wilmeth family also grows peanuts and cotton, like everyone else in the region. This is a huge cotton harvester/combine/seriously ginormous tractor thing. I took this for Beau, It's Frank from Cars!  

 The stars did shine bright... along with the hats, belts and lip gloss. I love the ladies of Texas. I feel like me and my big hair and big bottom would fit right in! Although I was 5 inches shorter than every woman. Seriously they were all 5'8" and taller. Example - I got lost in Lubbock and delightfully pulled into a Western Wear shop for boots, I mean directions. The display boots for women are size 10 and she only had 2 pairs of size 7.5 in the store! Both of which were $400 and GORGEOUS. Sadly, they are still in Lubbock as they should be. And so is this hat, only because I couldn't pack it in my bag.

 Hard to see, but the "caterer" showed up with a 15' trailer with a complete championship BBQ outfit hitched to a duelly. I've had better BBQ, but this was certainly awesome. The rolling smoker was impressive in itself.

A good time to mention the WIND this particular day. 40mph steady wind with 60mph gusts full of dirt. I watched that trailer lift in the wind! The sky looked like red fog sometimes. Wow.  

 This dirt blew in in a matter of minutes when it really picked up. It was all over our papers, our skin, I could feel myself breathing it in and I hadn't stepped outside! When I did, Holy Wind Buckets. Straight shot of sand blast to the corneas! Ouchy Mama. These people plant and harvest in hoodies with the cuffs taped to their gloves, goggles and masks. Umm, no thank you. Apparently, Friday was as bad as it gets round those parts. That hasn't happened for quite some time. It is particularly bad due to the intense drought. I was kind of excited to experience it! The tornado sounding wind on the barn and driving the rented Toyota Corolla (clown car) made it an adventure.

 Back at the Dallas airport, I found a new love... Pappadeaux Restaurant. YUMMO.

 I will never get tired of flying through clouds. I always look for the Emergency Exits. I am thankful I didn't have to sit near the man who ate a Subway sandwich of onions for lunch.

I'm not very good at being away from my babies. My babies are oodles of cute in cowboy hats.