1/28/08 Jalapeno Peppers!

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After Graceland, we drove on to Amarillo, Texas and stayed overnight at the famous steak house “Big Texan Steak Ranch.” The hotel was designed to look like a town out of the old west. The double beds in our room were decorated with cow-print bedspreads and the dressing area was separated from the sleeping area with swinging saloon-style doors.

Jalapeno Pepper Slideshow


The restaurant was a kick. They are famous for their “free 72 oz steak meal.” While we were there a young man was attempting to eat the dinner – shrimp cocktail, garden salad, two rolls, baked potato, 72 oz of steak and dessert – within an hour. On this night, the young man didn’t succeed, but plenty of people before him have gotten the free meal and t-shirt.

Not to be outdone, Dave decided to be adventurous and eat a jalapeño chili on a dare from Sarah. He ate one chili and found that it wasn’t even spicy, so he was thrilled that he won the bet (5 chores). Then, because we decided to memorialize the moment with photos, Dave decided to eat a second chili. Oops! The second chili was scalding – no amount of water, soda or bread worked. Finally, the waiter brought out an emergency glass of milk!

News of Dave’s bravery encouraged the singing cowboys to serenade our table. In honor of Billy the Kid (we were listening to his biography on audio book), we asked for “Turkey in the Straw,” one of Billy’s favorite songs. Dave limped through eating the rest of his meal, but then was desperately ill and spent most of the night in the bathroom.

The next morning, we decided to go back to the restaurant (where Dave decided not to eat another chili) so Dave could have steak and eggs. Sarah and I enjoyed the buffet and enjoyed wonderful omelets. Our cowboy waiter hung out at our table telling jokes and the meal was memorable. We bought a armadillo plush toy and Sarah's new favorite shirt with a picture of an armadillo and text "Texas Speedbumps." We can’t wait to go back there with Mel!

We were excited to get driving since we were within striking distance of Albuquerque. We arrived around 3:00 only to find that our RV had run out of propane due to the extreme temperatures, our refrigerator had turned itself off and all of our frozen and refrigerated food had turned into a science experiment. Thank you Dave for taking on this task. Large trash bags, plenty of cleaning solution and paper towels saved the day.

Then we made a trip to get more propane and got the RV set up in its new space, only to find that the below freezing temperatures had frozen the plumbing and we were without water. Sigh… Conveniently, we were parked close to the bathrooms in the campground. We made a grocery run with plenty of bottled water and got ready to spend the night in the RV with the temperature dipping to 6 degrees. At least it was warmer than Chicago!