It’s been a long couple of days here at the TFG Ranch. We’ve probably had 400 people through here in the last two days, most of whom were just looking for a place to spend the day and play in the river. I bet I’ve driven 500 miles this weekend in 1/4 mile chunks. Some of the highlights include:

• Sneaking away to Smooth Water Ranch’s Americana Jam for a few hours yesterday. We got to see Trainwreck, Jay Johnson, and my (still) favorite young Texas band, Thrift Store Cowboys. This is only my second time to see Trainwreck and JD and the boys sounded as good as I remember from last month. Jay Johnson has completely rebuilt his band with a bunch of young dudes, and as a result, has a rockier sound than he used to. You can tell he’s really enjoying it. And TSC just gets better and better. The good news is that they’ve been in the studio and should have a new CD out soon. I really can’t wait for that. Their set was great, too, hitting all of my favorites and playing at least one new tune. I got a nice new hat while I was there, too — another Guatemalen palm-leaf jobbie.
• We left early last night to avoid the late-night Barney Fife cop-fest, and got in around ten. It sounded like there was a firefight going on down at the river. EVERYBODY bought firecrackers and they were firing them off like crazy. I gave my nieces $30 to go get some (more), and we went down and added to the craziness. Everybody talked about what a great show it was…and everybody just did it on their own.
• I met a nice couple who do promotion for a lot of blues bands in the D/FW area, and they are looking to gen up a monthly blues festival here at The Tiny Bidness, starting next March. Sounds pretty good to me, because they would bring a lot of motorsickle guys and gals, who might want to do their motorsickle rallies here. That’s always good — they’re some of the best customers I’ve got. Plus, this lady gets SPONSORS…imagine that.
• For as big as our crowds have been, it’s been mildly surprising how well they’re taking care of the place. I think it might have something to do with the fact that everybody got a garbage bag when they checked in. Small price to pay if I can get 80% of the folks to just put their trash in the bags, much less actually put it in the dumpster.
• I put a splitter on the satellite so I can watch some Rangers. Why would the splitter work when one receiver is on TBS, but not when it’s on TVLand? Seriously…the receiver at the end of the long run goes on and off when my wife changes channels on the other receiver. It goes into that Searching For Signal routine. Weird.
• I was gifted with a HUMONGOUS air compressor this weekend. This thing weighs half-a-ton. My kayak guide is closing his shop, and he didn’t want to sell it, so he gave it to me. What in the world will I do with an air compressor? If I had any money, I’d go to the Depot and see what kind of cool tools they have. At least I’ll never have to put another quarter in a gas-station air machine. And by the way…if anybody has an arc welder that they can’t stand to look at any longer, I’ve got a place for it (and I’ll pay for the shipping.)

That’s about it for now…I’m bushed. All I’ve eaten all day was a few ribs, and I’m starving, too.