Hurricane Dolly, Hot Corn Fields and Bigfoot Road

Ok, people...I'm sorry, but you're going to have to wait a little longer for "Makin' Hay" and "Cat Wigs" because I'm just plain tired. My Tour de All Over the Place will come to a brief end tomorrow as I fly back to Lubbock.

I started this journey July 12 with a drive to San Angelo, then it was on to DC for a week, then to Tulsa and Arkansas for the weekend, then to Austin for a morning, then a drive to San Antonio, then a drive all around corn country, then a flight back to Lubbock tomorrow.

Last night we wandered down through the River Walk and ended up eating at Mi Tierra, which is at the Market area. It was really tasty. Apparently, they never close.

This morning we met with the San Antonio Express-News and I was pleased with the visit. Their editorial board seemed somewhat sympathetic to our message, so I hope to see some success in getting our op ed column published in their paper. Meanwhile, our consumer education campaign launched officially Monday, and so far, I've gotten some great feedback. Go to www.TexasPriceCheck.com to check out my blood, sweat and tears.

We actually got to the meeting a little too early, so we walked the block over to the Alamo and took a look. I've seen it before, but it still amazes me to see this icon of Texas history surrounded by large buildings, including a Ripley's Believe It or Not and an IMAX theater.

But there is a really cool tree inside the famous fort.


After the visit with the paper, David and I drove the Caddy to Castroville to visit one of our board members who has a grain elevator. We went out into the fields to investigate some AF36 field corn, and look for evidence of aflatoxin, a serious issue Texas corn growers have to deal with that involves moisture problems. I'll post those pictures tomorrow. It was ridiculously hot today. I mean, like unreal-hot.

Did I mention it was hot? Try 100 degrees with good ol' South Texas humidity. I was drenched after leaving the corn field. Maybe I'm just soft after working behind a desk. These poor folks down here are suffering from a drought, but Hurricane Dolly may change that. Today was the first time I'd ever seen a sign that said, "Hurricane warning: Avoid travel to Brownsville." It looks to be making landfall in the morning. As I mentioned this morning, I hope it doesn't keep me from flying out of here.

We stopped at a Mexican eatin' spot and it was much to my delight that they served Mexican Cokes...now I quit drinking Cokes a while back, but I can't pass up a real Mexican Coke. They use real sugar. For some reason, they're just really good. David asked the waitress why they were supposed to be better, and she responded,"Because Mexican Cokes are just more better." Those crazy Mexicans.

On our drive today through the brushy, rugged terrain of South Texas, I commented on the high fences near the road to contain wildlife. The deer down here are crazy big. David commented that we wouldn't want to be driving through there at night because of...I thought we was going to say, "because we might hit a deer" but what he really said was, "because we might hit a Mexican sneaking up from the border." The comment made me laugh, but I then started pondering the thought of actually maneuvering through this thick, rattlesnakey brush country. We were only 120 miles from Mexico at that point.

We drove the Caddy to Castroville, Uvalde, Pearsall, Frio Town and finally back to San Antonio where we ate tonight at Bohanan's downtown. We ate at the white table clothes steak house in February for our board meeting, and it once again did not disappoint. I should also mention that there's a town down here called "Bigfoot" so I naturally had to take a picture of it for my mom. Here you go Mom, you can thank me later.


I'll be back in the office in Lubbock tomorrow, and then it's on to Tampa, Fla., for Ag Media Summit.

Oh, and check out this awesome sunset tonight. Pretty neato, huh?