Wednesday, April 23rd

And on the 8th night away from home, he rested. I haven't slept in my own bed since Monday, April 14th and I'm really starting to feel it. Last night before I went to sleep, I went back to the office and paid for a 2nd night. Not that there is so much to see and do in Amarillo, I just need a day to rest up and catch up on a few things. I skyped my girlfriend this morning - which by the way, is a great way for keeping in touch on the road. My brother-in-law often skypes from the road so he can say goodnight to the kids before they go to bed. I experienced it for the first time last year when my sister joined him on a business trip and I got to play Mr. Mom for a few days. It is not the same as being there with someone, but it is still nice to see and hear your loved one on the other end. [Hey Taghi, we should get at least one laptop w/a built in web camera for people who go to multiple-day conferences outside the region].

I slept in today, recharging my batteries, then got up, took a shower and began sorting out all that has happened, and began developing a plan of action for the next leg of the trip, which is from here to Vegas. For those of you who didn't realize, I'm attending the National American Planning Association (APA) Conference in Las Vegas this Sunday/Monday to maintain my AICP certification and to keep one foot firmly in the planning profession. So today, I decided to go back about 20 miles to Conway TX to see the Bug Ranch, where 5 classic VW Beetles are buried nose down in a sort of spoof/homage to the Cadillac Ranch (aka "Carhenge") here in Amarillo. My Beetle Bug didn't know whether the Bug Ranch was a vision into his possible future or a threat that if he doesn't behave, this is where I am going to leave him. Perhaps he just needed the rest as well, because all of the yellow warning lights are now cleared from the dashboard and the car ran particularly well today.

So Colleen convinced me that I MUST go to the Big Texan tonight for dinner and that I WASN'T allowed to order a chicken caesar salad (my usual) since I WAS on vacation. I naturally listened (plus a few of my guidebooks also suggested the place) and really enjoyed it. I sat at the bar and wouldn't you know it, I got a shiner! No, I wasn't in a Texan bar fight. I had one of their local beers which happened to be on tap.
Shiner Bock is a local dark lager brewed by Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, TX. I also had a chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and some really good fried ocra. I only tried fried ocra for the first time last October in Georgia, and haven't been able to get it ever since. My girlfriend took me to a place on Liberties Walk that had it on their menu, but they didn't make it the right way and I couldn't eat it. Anyway, the meal was great (too much for me to eat) and I got to have an interesting conversation with a long-haul trucker from Pittsburgh. Of course, I talked about Ted's Goods Movement Task Force, the Philadelphia Traffic Club and how trucks now account for 80% of all freight movement in this country, but it seemed that he was more interested in talking about sports and what I should see in Vegas. Of course, I didn't even dare try their famous free 72 oz steak (Free if you can finish it in 1 hour), but my trucker friend said he knows 2 people who have done it, and the new record is in just under 9 minutes. That's a lot of beef!