Road Trips, Street Food, Moon and BBQ

First, let me start off on this Independence Day by saying Thank You to every single Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine, and Coastie who has ever had the guts to don the uniform of the United States and stand a post. You are the reason that my family and I were able to gather today in Bigfoot, TX for the 11th Annual Shebang. It is your selfless sacrifice that keeps us free. There are too many of you on my mind to name you all. But you know who you are. Ooh-rah.

Sunday was a great day! Got up early, met my friends Kim Slaughter, Andrea Fox, Mark Bittman and the rest of the AJ's Shop Ride group for an early morning ride out Parmer. Only one problem... as I was driving to the ride, I realized I forgot my brain bucket. My helmet. Now I have been told for years that I am hard headed, but riding without a helmet is just DUMB. Fortunately, Mark owns a bike shop and had a helmet to lend me. 22 miles, as Andrea helps Kim get used to riding.

Came home, showered, lazed around the house till about 4PM. Then we loaded up the pups for their first road trip. If you have never traveled with two pups under the age of 6 months, its an adventure. But we got it done. Arrived in SA and introduced the pups to Dad's dog, Turk. Well, Turk in a Cone. See, Turk got in a scrap Saturday morning and got cut up pretty bad. a $450 vet bill later, he has the Cone of Shame.

We spent about an hour letting the dogs socialize, then loaded up in Mom's new Cadillac CTS for a ride down to the old Pearl Brewery for dinner. San Antonio has done a fabulous job reviving the old brewery on Grayson into a multi use market and housing center. It was a bit bittersweet. I mean, Dad worked on building part of the old brewery as a teenager, my Grandps Pawlik drove a truck for Pearl for 30 years. Dinner at La Gloria, they have Pearl in a can. But its a crying damn shame that it is not bottled/canned in SA any more. From the Country of 1100 Springs.

Dinner was good... I had the Tacos Al Pastor (PREACH ON!) and the Coctel a la Campechana (Mexican style seafood cocktail.) Sis and Jina got a little sauced, I got to drive the Caddy home. Its a sweet ride. If you have a spare $45K lying around, go buy one. Or spend the extra $5K and get the CTS-V!

Got up Monday and headed to the aforementioned Bigfoot for the 11th Annual Shebang. What on God's green earth is a Shebang, you ask? Well, its this community BBQ that is held every year at the Bigfoot Community Pavilion. Dad's brother, Joe, along with Dusty and Jack Center, have been BBQ'ing for all 11 years. They work on tips only. Locals from Devine, Moore, Yancey, and other parts of Medina and Frio Counties gather for some fun, food, fellowship. And of course some dominoes! Can't be a Shebang without a friendly game of Moon. (I need to teach Dad and Ronnie how to play 42!)

Wish I could say it was all good... I actually had two people today tell me I was getting fat again... Really? Do you think I need that? Yes, I know I have put about 20 pounds back on. But hey, its marathon training season. I expect it to go away. I am still wearing size 33 jeans, Medium or Large shirts... but FAT? Yeah, that felt good. Guess it was a little bit of a reality check? But last year, when they saw me at the same BBQ, I was a the pinnacle of my weight loss. I know we all gain some back. I just didn't expect it to hurt so much to be reminded of it.

One other bad thing? Its HOT! Well, DUH... July in Texas? You were expecting snow? Yeah... about 95 degrees today. We stayed till about 2:30 then headed back to Austin.

After all the meat at lunch (brisket, ribs, and chicken... along with some pintos and pickles,)

I decided a light salad would suit me well for dinner. Break out the local greens, cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes. Add in some Full Quiver Raw Milk Feta and some Whole Foods Greek olives. Mix up a little Greek dressing. Bam! Salad.

Finish off with some fresh local peaches and organic berries and fresh whipped cream. What a light, refreshing dinner.

Back to the grind tomorrow. 5 weeks left in the quarter. But hey, at least I get a tempo run in the morning and a nice 90 minute massage tomorrow night. Thanks to Velvet for squeezing me in.

One last thing... my sister hates the term "foodie." She thinks I should change this to "Bariatric Food Nerd..." What say you?