Day 05 (Sat., June 4)

Today was fun. I woke up early to take a one-hour-plus drive east to Brady, a town that titles itself as the "Heart of Texas" as one billboard said. There, I saw something I had never seen before: drag boat racing! Now that's some cool stuff. The drivers took to the waters at Brady Lake and drove their speed boats past 100 miles per hour. It was intense and very loud, too. I had never seen such a thing in my life. Well, I had seen drag racing cars and motorcycles, but never boats. It was cool to see it first-hand. The drive was cool, but I stood out. First, with the talk with Connie Torres, a reporting intern. She made me feel like such the Southern California big city kid. She explained to me that she comes from Kress, a town in North Texas with a population of just a little more than 820. During the drive I felt even more of an outsider as I was so happy and eager to see roadkill. But wait, this was not any ordinary road kill. It was an armadillo. Although it was splattered on the road on highway 87, it was still an armadillo. Besides seeing them at the zoo, I had never seen one in my life. I felt like such an idiot getting excited for road kill. But I guess that's the cool thing about being open-minded and having the opportunity to see new places. Too bad it was road kill.

Oh, and speaking of road kill... I must say that I am very disappointed in Texas animals. A few miles after the armadillo, I saw a bird make a safe landing on the highway. However, the landing was done in front of my front right wheel. I did not have time to slow down and/or stop, so the poor birdie was squashed. I couldn't do anything but look back and see its feathers flying in the sky. I really wish I didn't run it over, but I think the bird was suicidal. :(

Finally, tonite I covered the Stampede, the San Angelo Indoor Football League team. But I did not go to the football game. I was there to document the life of team owners Darlene Jones and Patsy McIntire. These two businesswomen are out there trying to make it big in what everyone calls a "man's sport". Being a feminist, I totally support these ladies and I hope their team goes far. At least I brought them good luck, as their 2 wins, 8 losses seemed a lot better with a 42-34 victory tonite. Below is Darlene as she watched her team win at one of the end zones.

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