Little Rock for Lunch and Dallas Texas to see Vicki and Steve!

 Josh and I stopped in Little Rock to have lunch with my cousin Derek, his wife Susan, their daughter Christy, and my Aunt Lynn (who was the one asked out by Elvis). We went to a great Thai place and chatted for a while. I forgot my camera so I didn't get a picture, sorry Derek. But thank you for lunch, we had such a good time. Josh ordered some "slap yo' mama" red curry. He was crying and coughing. But the most important part about seeing them was that they were the first of my family we have visited on the trip! Yeah Derek you were the first!!

This first picture was two of the happy faces we saw when we got to my aunt Vicki's in Dallas, Texas. Gaea is the shorter clown faced cutie and the huge puppy in the background is Jamison. He's an Irish Wolf Hound and he's still a puppy. I tried to hug Vicki and he about shoved me back out the door.

 Their dogs are so adorable and loving. We had so much fun visiting. We could only stay for a day but it was a well packed Texas themed day.

 Josh spent a good part of the morning playing with the dogs and then we headed down to the Fort Worth Stock Yards.

 First stop, the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame. Here is Josh and I doing our very best long horn impersonation.

This place had so much cowboy memorabilia! The entire center of the room was filled with all the different buggies from back in the day.

 All of the lights in the buildings and around looked just like this. Cowboys on horses rode up and down the cobblestone streets.

 Josh, Vicki, and I walked around the stockyard. It was very rustic. A lot of the people wore cowboy hats and boots. We were definitely out of place.

 This was one of the walkways that you would look down on the cattle and farm animals from. They not only had long horns but also goats and donkeys and horses.

 They had all the long horns in a big pen and a sign with their pictures and names next to it so you could see who was who. This one was Duramax.

 Here is mine and Vicki's favorite, Beavo. Isn't he cute? Each of the long horns had different shaped horns, this was because they are all descendants of Spanish herds, but there are seven different blood lines. So depending on the horns is what line they are from.

 Here is Josh giving the long horn sign.

 We went to find a place to get some lunch and a beer and this cute old man told us to head to the H3 restaurant because they had saddles for bar stools. He had never been there but said it was a great photo opt. He was right!

 Here is Josh and Vicki with out big beers. It a warm and cowboyish feel.

 If you'll direct your attention to the background of this photo you will notice the big buffalo butt and the sign that says Buffalo Butt Beer.

 We went to go find Josh a new belt buckle and ended trying on hats. Doesn't he look so tough in his carhart jacket and cowboy hat. We also got Fort Worth pins, that's what he's pointing at.

 In the afternoon they run the long horns down the street. The every time you run cattle you will almost always have a lead. It will be the most dominant of all the long horns or whatever other kind of cattle your running. Sancho was the lead here, Which was Josh's favorite. Beavo was all the way in the back. I guess pretty coats don't equate dominance.

 Here is Wild Bill himself! Available for photos for a small donation. We thought he died in Deadwood but he's alive and well in Fort Worth, Texas folks!

 After the stock yards Vicki and Steve took us out for a real Texas treat, a pit house! Here is the smoke house part where they smoke all the meats. They had tons of smokers and it smelled delicious.

 Here is the smoker we ordered from. you walk up and pick what you want off the smoker, they put it on butcher paper and you pay by the weight.

 Steve ordered for us and we had a pile of meat!! A little bit of everything, ribs, brisket, sausage, poppers, oh my!!

Then you walk inside and pick out your sides. We had creamed corn, baked beans, and potato salad.

So much food!

 We put a pretty good dent in all the food. It was some good Texas BBQ!! All we could do afterwards was lay on the couch.

Jamison is the size of a small horse and he loved Josh! I woke up the next morning and Jamison went to our bedroom door and whined until Josh woke up to play with him. Then when we left, Vicki sent a photo and said he just stood by the door and whined waiting for Josh to come back. We wished we could but we still have a lot of the country to get to before we want to be back at Christmas. Thank you Vicki and Steve for showing a good time and letting us help you drink your Texas beer and vodka. We had a blast and will be back to visit more.