Bowie Ranch Rodeo ( funny video)

I went along to the Ranch rodeo in Bowie this afternoon, a bit of fun to watch.Richard and Tina ( Bud & Eunice Williams daughter) took me along, great to meet them and spend time together.







Texas cowboys.


They start em small !

Here is a funny video of team roping.

Probably my last post from USA.

Lunch at the Chuck Wagon

I spent yesterday with a a great group of ranchers from all over the USA who attended Bud's coaching day.We started at 7.00 am broke for lunch and went to the chuck wagon cooking competition for lunch,then finished at 7.00 pm.
There was a lot of learning for me yesterday, great to meet some great people.



























Off to the rodeo this afternoon seeing I am all packed up ready to leave tomorrow.

Ranching in Oklahoma

Oil is on most ranches in this area,original owners owned the oil rights and many kept them after selling the land.So most ranchers do not own the oil wells.
These oil pump jacks are everywhere pumping up oil from as deep as 12,000 feet - the oil is pumped in to tanks.



Mesquite is like a woody weed with spikes,not something we want to spread in Australia.It has infested areas near Broken Hill and is proving difficult to eradicate.






There an even worse plant called black locust, that is also like a woody weed.See the photo how the spike is as long as my finger.



Here are a couple of photos on the ranch.






Beside oil and cattle, hunting is a big part of some ranches income.People pay big money to hunt pigs, deer,turkey and ducks on the ranch I was on.
The rancher provides self feeders for the deer, hides to shoot from up around 25 feet plus cool rooms and accommodation.
I did try to take a photo of a deer, however all I can see is bush.
Here is short video of an oil pump jack working.

Kansas Weekend

Independence,Kansas is a little like Glen Innes in NSW. The city is the home of Cessna factory which employs around 1300 people.
I got a sense of what a middle American city is with the houses,trees etc.
Walmart is open 24/7 and you can buy anything from grocery's to baby's clothes or a gun.

I spent the weekend on a ranch visiting, did not take a lot of photos as I forgot to charge my camera, but here are a couple I took.






Inside the trailers is a lot different to ours and even has a roof.



Back in Bowie now and off to a cattle sale tomorrow in Oklahoma.

Location:Bowie,United States

Independence, Kansas

I arrived in Bowie, Texas on Wednesday to spend the next 12 days with Bud and Eunice Williams. Those of you who know them will be pleased to know they in great health and spirit.

Today we drove about 600 ams north to Independence city in Kansas, where we will be for a few days working on a ranch.
Here are a couple of photos from today will try to get more tomorrow.



This is some sort of fertilizer factory which uses natural gas directly from the field adjacent.



Each town has these water towers to pressure the town water.







This is on the ranch we are visiting, anyhow best go gotta meet at the diner at 5.00am for breakfast.

Location:W Main St,Independence,United States

Day 16 Fort Worth. Texas

Everything is big in Texas, here are some longhorns running the street in Fort Worth stockyards.
If you ever come to Dallas /Fort Worth, stay at the Holiday Inn,great service,cooked breakfast,pool,spa and washing machines.
The shuttle bus will take you and pick up on a phone call for nothing more than a tip.
I spent some time out at the Stockyards area today.Could have bought a hat for $2,500 or boots made to fit. The cowboy hall of fame was interesting.









Off to Bowie tomorrow, hopefully I will have Internet. If not I will be back in 2 weeks.

Location:W Lancaster Ave,Fort Worth,United States

Day 14 & 15 San Francisco

Ashley & I finished our trip together in San Francisco, a city with a very much international flavor. We have had a great 2 weeks travelling together, Ashley is now heading home and I am off to spend time with Bud in Texas.
Our last night in Vegas we took the Gondala ride in the Venetian, this is totally inside and the sky is painted,so even at midnight it is still daytime.









Not sure where Ash puts all that food !






Ok so here a couple of photos of San Francisco, we spent time at Fishermans wharf, Alcatraz and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge.



Typical architecture









Even a lone Eucalyptus at Alcatraz.




So that is the holiday part of the trip, I am off to Fort Worth,Dallas today.Spend 1 day there and be with Bud and Eunice Wednesday.
It has been fantastic to be able to spend 2 weeks with Ashley checking out this great country.We will remember this trip for the rest of our lives.

Location:Unnamed Rd,San Francisco,United States

Day 11,12 & 13 Las Vegas

Up early we were on the road to Vegas,watching out for wildlife on the road.
Some of the country looked like the West of NSW.



We passed Hoover dam just outside Vegas was a short stop on the way in.



Ash drove us right into the centre of town, at times crossing 6 lanes of traffic, I might have been tempted to leave the hire car at the city limits if I was driving !
We arrived at the Venetian, a hotel / casino built just like being in Venice,complete with Gondolas.









The Venetian sure is a beautiful place. We walked the strip the first night, saw lot's of strange sites like Elvis,Batman and woman and many other impersonators.
The water show at the Bellargio was great, there is a short video of it at the end of this post.



I somehow found myself dancing with 2 girls from Tahiti in their show, Ash made a video but you are not going to see that !!








We went to "The Beatles - Cirque De Soleil" last night- wow what an awesome show with the music of the Beatles combined with the trapeze artists of Cirque De Soleil.





Ash was hungry again.



San Francisco Tomorrow.Enjoy the video.

Location:Winnick Ave,Las Vegas,United States