For our last full day in College Station Ray decided we should cook out over at Derrick's place so we headed to the HEB grocery store to pick up some grub. This was the second time we have visited an HEB store and each time we are in complete amazement. After all we are only talking about a grocery store.
This just isn't your typical grocery store however, from the car carts, to the huge organic section, freshly cut pineapple, tons of samples, a cook teaching culinary techniques to use at home, a fresh tortilla making machine and of course lots of groceries.
To our even greater surprise during this visit we came across something very new to us. It was a huge bag of live crawfish siting on ice. I mean like a 50lbs bag, crammed full of crawling and clawing crawfish. At first we were suspicious that many of the crawfish would be dead but in fact only a few had actually expired, apparently these shell fish are very hardy. So we had to try this cuisine out for ourselves, we went for a 10lbs bag.
The girls were as amazed as Kristy and I were about these lobster like creatures all crammed in a single bag. Of course the girls wanted to make all 10lbs of these crawfish into pets but we explained that they would be dinner before the day was through. I think the lobster experience they had earlier this year helped them more easily accept this situation.
We dropped off the bag of crawfish at Derrick's place and headed to the biggest attraction during our trip, the horse corrals where Derrick's horse Bugsley lives. On the way Neleha decided that her new found friend Sponge Bob needed his own pair of Sponge Bob sunglasses, she has such an awesome imagination.
We arrived before Derrick and a perfect stranger saw our girls waiting with carrots to feed Bugsley and asked if they wanted to feed her horse. Of course they were more than willing.
This horse however was unlike most horses in that it would kiss you for a carrot. That is correct, KISS, the horses owner showed the girls that if they placed the carrot in their mouth the horse would kiss them and take the carrot. This horse needs to be on Letterman's Animal Tricks segment. The girls loved getting horse kisses, they did it over and over again.
Derrick finally arrived and we all got to meet Bugsley.
Bugsley has been a very faithful companion for Derrick, together they have won many a rodeo competitions. Bugsley had a very unique handicap, his right eye was very bad off but Derrick explained that he was able to accommodate and he still competes with him.
The girls first got to brush Bugsley down.
Then Derrick got Bugsley all saddled up.
Then it was time for horsey rides... and ride they did.
Neleha and Molly could not get enough time on that poor horse. As soon as one got off the other one wanted back on. Derrick was so kind and generous in allowing the girls this most enjoyable time.
The girls even talked Derrick into taking them into the corral where they could actually gallop, they really enjoyed that!
Molly and Neleha appeared so at ease on the back of bugsley, they had the time of their lives.
Eventually Molly and Neleha gave Derrick a break and he was finally able to take his girlfriend Holly for her first horseback ride. Holly was much more timid than the girls but of course this wasn't the girls first time.
Ray did a great job occupying Neleha while Holly and Derrick was off riding together, Neleha had a hard time understanding that Holly should get a turn too. In Neleha's mind she must have thought that since Holly was a grown up that she did not warrant a turn.
Before we called it a night Derrick talked the rest of us in to taking our ride with Bugsley. This turned out to also be Ray's first horseback ride and he did awesome. I think after awhile he started to really like the experience.
Kristy took her turn and showed us all up, she grew up around horses and this was just second hat for her. She had as much fun as the rest of us. I thought Kristy looked so cute on that horse, I just loved watching her ride.
Kristy sure made it look easy.
Of course when Molly and Neleha saw their Mom riding by herself they wanted to do the same. Derrick placed them on Bugsley together and led them around the corrals. They thought they were true cowgirls then.
They both also had another chance to "go fast" as they put it. They really did have the time of their lives.
But as all things do, our time with Bugsley had come to an end. The girls walked him back to his stall and thanked him and Derrick for the wonderful evening.
Back at Derricks we began the great process of cooking the crawfish. Kristy carefully separated each crawfish from the 10lbs bag and placed in the bowl in preparation for the boiling pot of seasoned water. Kristy was so awesome being so willing to help when she clearly had no intention of trying this new cuisine.
The bowl of live crawfish were dumped in the boiling pot of seasoned water and cooked for about 7-10 minutes.
At one point we came across a crawfish the size of a baby lobster, now that is one huge crawfish!
Even Neleha helped in this process with cleaning them prior to being placed in the bowl.
After multiple pots of boiling crawfish we had finally cooked the entire 10lbs. Ray laid down some trash bags on the table and we began to eat. Ray taught me and the girls how to properly eat these small red shell fish, just a good twist on the tail, suck the juice from the head sections and peel and eat the tail. The girls thought this was some fun eating as did I. These things were so tasty but not very filling. Between about three of us who actually made it a mission to eat this pile of crawfish we still had room for more when the last of them were gone. It was fun though, no doubt about it.
The next morning it was time to say our goodbyes and head on back to Missouri. This is always a tough thing to do for Molly. Neleha on the other hand could have cared less so long as Ray didn't try to take back his sponge.
On the way out of Texas Ray directed us to stop in a tiny town called West. According to Ray it is here where the best Kolaches are made. We stopped in and grabbed a bag of these little treats and I admit it, Ray was right.
And so another trip to Texas had come to an end..... a tasty end at that!
