24 May Jada: Enjoying the Texas hospitality

There is just something about the people in Texas that emanates hospitality. They are always “fixin” to do something but even if you barge in uninvited, they always have the time for a quick howdy and a ya’ll come back now ya hear! From the grocery store and post office to local repairmen and shops you can always expect a friendly smile.

I really enjoy Olney. It’s always felt like another home.

This year we haven’t been able to camp in our normal home- Spring Creek RV Park- but are enjoying our Echols campground all the same. It’s amazing how quickly new things become “home” wherever you have your camper parked. Every morning we have to make the rounds to visit the neighbors which is really fun. The campgrounds are full here and we are lucky that we were able to find a place to camp. There is currently a wind farm being built here outside of town and there are also oil people. All of them are camping here in Olney.

In addition to custom leather belts, Garland and his wife do catering. Out of his large oven comes a cake that will be made to celebrate an anniversary.

This morning the wheat was too wet to cut so we extended our rounds from the campground to a visit with Garland too. The boys ordered themselves some custom belts and wallets. We also stopped in at Steve’s Repair shop to check on my pickup and it’s still not fixed. The closest part Steve could find for my truck was Houston. So once again I am without a vehicle while we wait for the part to get here. Thank goodness I am getting used to the heat now. There’s no problem walking to where you need to be- it just takes more time. However, I miss going out to the field whenever I need to or want to without having to wait for a ride.

My poor pickup still being fixed. At least it’s in good hands.

What I am digging today…….. Billy Hubbard’s mobile catering kitchen.

Billy fires up his mobile cooking machine to cook briskets.

Billy cooking briskets in his mobile catering kitchen.

Uncle Billy and Kaidence.

Not only is Billy a welder in town, he also is in the catering business along with his wife. Since January he had cooked 89 briskets and last week served an event he fried fish for. They cook about anything you can imagine but his specialty is his brisket. Billy said his goal is to get to around 700 briskets by December. In fact he has 30 cases of brisket on hold at the grocery store to help him reach his goal (each case has 5 briskets). We helped him out with his count by ordering some brisket. He started cooking it at 1 p.m. and it was done by 7 p.m. He cooked the brisket over an open fire on his mobile kitchen he is currently in the process of making using his welding skills. The mobile kitchen is equipped with four cookers and two large workstations. Soon it will also feature a sink that will have the capabilities for both hot and cold water, 4 large restaurant grade fryers and several workstations surrounding the outside. To finish it all off, Billy wants a huge sound system that will only play 60’s and 70’s rock and roll- his kind of music.

Jada can be reached at jada@allaboardharvest.com. All Aboard Harvest 2011 is sponsored by High Plains Journal and DuPont Crop Protection.