What to do in Texas ...

What to do in the Lone Star State?

I overslept Saturday (September 7), and didn't get up until nearly 8 a.m. That's late for me. It was nice to just sit and relax, drinking coffee. But I desperately needed a haircut so we got ready and headed to JGayle's local beauty salon. I got my hair cut by Fancy. Yep, that really is her name. I asked, Reba? Nope. The original song by Bobbie Gentry, remade by Reba.

Fancy gave me a haircut I love, very, very short. Of course, since then I think one young girl told her mom she thought I was a guy, and another called me sir!! HAHA!! I still like the hair cut.

Fancy hair ... short, short, short!!!

Which reminds me … on Friday heading to JGayle's I saw a couple of interesting things … a first, I think, was a guy coming out of a ladies room. As he passed me, he said, “Sorry. I couldn't wait!” Well, I could certainly relate to that since I was about in that position waiting for someone, him, it turns out, to come out of the women's room. I'd been contemplating the men's room. No damage done, though.

And then, I was in a convenience store, and saw a haircut Hobbs could relate to … a VERY bad one, like Hobbs got from me. This one went up and down in the back, to a point on one side, and then it was cut up over the ears about two inches on either side. Are you kidding me? I had to laugh to myself but as the guy drove away with some other guy, it was a pick up like my dad had years ago in the 70s or 80s, a green and white Chevy. Memories.

JGayle has great taste.  She bought a gift for her brother.  Top of the line.

Anyway, back to business. We just ran around, running some errands. Jgayle needed some dirt for the foundation around her house which was pulling away due to the heat. So off we went to the nursery to get the dirt.

What she did NOT tell me is that the nursery guy's wife has a boutique, Brown Eyed Girl. I might be off the Harley-Davidson motorcycle-riding shopping tour, but now Jgayle was moving me on to the girly-girl shopping spree.

Need I say more?

Jewelry galore, clothes like you've never seen, embellished hats, oh wow. And then the sales person from hell stepped in, the one that makes you want everything, the one that will go and find whatever it is you think you need to match something else you've chosen. Her name is Isabelle. And she was a master of sales. But you sure couldn't hate her she was so very, very nice. No hard sell. Just extremely helpful.

Isabelle, JGayle and the Brown Eyed Girl (yes, I know her real name, but like this better).

The Brown Eyed Girl is a tall, duh, brown eyed girl, and there comes the shop name. She and Isabelle were friendly, personable and felt like friends after we'd been there a bit. They are one-of-a-kind.

The three of us.

It also did not hurt that The Brown Eyed Girl adopts animals. Currently she has dogs, some chickens and who knows what else. I met Barney, an adoptee who meets and greets everyone who comes into the shop. He likes to have his tummy rubbed and barks at you when you stop, usually. He did not that day when I moved on to do other things … probably because there were so many people coming and going he was very busy meeting and greeting.

Barney.  He's better than any WalMart greeter.

There are items in this shop I've not seen elsewhere. Jgayle and I had so much fun trying on things, saying yea or nay. I did not buy the cute little sneakers or shoes but I so wanted a pair because they were just so unique. We must have been in there for two hours, and I can tell you … we came out with way more than just dirt. Dirt. Sure. Suckered me in on that one. What a great time we had, though.

We had been in a special duo of businesses and the experience was fun. I mentioned to Jgayle that the rapport shes developed with the small-business owners in the area is truly awesome. That comes because she prefers to shop local and so it's fun to go those places.

If you want to check it out, she's on Facebook, Brown Eyed Girl Inside Ron's.

Shopping can be very exhausting so we had to have a bite, and then, of course, followed it up with Braum's. I'm thinking I could be their poster child.

Texas Roadhouse ... one of my favorites and I have JGayle take me there every time I visit.

On Sunday we invited Jgayle's neighbor, Charlie, to go riding with us. He'd recently bought a Harley, a Heritage Softail, and so he was game. We rode out a ways and what do you know, found a gun shop. We thought it was pertinent to visit it because Jgayle needed some ammo. Wouldn't you know they'd have an indoor shooting range? We figured we should take advantage so we ran hoodlum back to the house, dropped off the bikes, grabbed guns, ammo, ear and eye protection, hopped into the hot red Caddy and hightailed it back to the range.

Targets are set up at whatever footage you want them to be.

Geared up ... eye protection, ear protection.  Let's shoot something.

This is one Texas lady you do NOT want to mess with.



It had been a while since I'd shot this piece.



I may not have hit the head every time, but you can bet this guy would have been ducking!

Shooting becomes all women. It empowers you, it gets rid of anxiety and stress, and is at least as good as playing defense on a hockey team (which is also wonderful as a stress-releaser). We didn't practice long, but we sure had a good time.

Charlie.  I thiink he enjoyed the time he spent with us, but we are kind of a handful ...

Then as once again, shooting builds up an appetite, we hit a barbecue place as I had a craving, and then dropped Charlie off. I think he was a bit tired out by all our gallivanting. We are a lot to handle together … double trouble plus!!!

We stopped by Williams Square which is where JGayle works.

The horse sculptures in the square are breath taking.

They look like they will come alive at any moment.

And there's always room for a little horseplay.

And by the way, I saw gas at $3.29 near Mesquite, Highway 80 and Belt Line.