I'm back. And I found real BBQ

Seems I was sucked into some Pacific Northwest vortex back in 2008 and temporarily lost my Texan sanity. I'm happy to say that I'm back...and I've found real Texas BBQ in Oregon.

My wife and I visited Podnah's BBQ in Portland awhile back and we were pleasantly surprised.

This was the real deal and made by a real central Texan. BBQ like I fondly remember it, and it's in Oregon. Maybe I was dreaming? Here's their website, so it must have been real.

http://podnahspit.com/

Good to be back in Oregon

Hello folks out there in blogland. I just got back from a vacation in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. Why go to Canada? My wife's family immigrated there from Ireland during the potato famine of the 1840's and she has a lot of cousins that we've been intending to meet for many years.

I must say. Canada made me homesick for Oregon, just as Oregon makes me homesick for Texas. Dorito Nachos with "fromage?" Wow.

Things were way more expensive there in Canada than they are here in Oregon, just like Oregon is way more expensive than Texas.

Kilometers thew me off to. It's good to be back.

Starbucks Shutting Down 6 Texas Stores

Living in the land of corner coffee outlets here in Salem, it's hard to imagine that Starbucks is shutting down stores. Six will shut down in Texas - Brownsville, Laredo, Dallas, Rosenburg and Waco and two eventually in Austin.

Now, when I was living in the Texas motherland, I drank coffee like there was no tomorrow, but sometimes it was just too danged hot outside to work up a hankering for a cup of java. Iced tea usually won out to hot coffee.

Now, living up here in the hinterlands, I drink coffee throughout the day. I am on a permanent caffeine buzz. Oregonians love their coffee like Germans love their beer - lot's of it and all the time.

I've never stopped to count the number of coffee outlets here in Salem, but that would be a nice trivia question. Anyone got the answer?

Ace Reid - Cowpokes

Ace Reid was the creator of a cartoon called, "Cowpokes." He was the quintessential Texas cartoonist. Ace was born in 1925 near Amarillo, Texas. Here's a sample of his work:

Sad Day For a Texan - The Governor's Mansion Burns

Got some terrible news this morning on the internet. The Governor's mansion in Austin, Texas burned this past Sunday. Police suspect arson. Enough of it remains to be restored according to experts.

I've been to the mansion many times over the years. The most memorable being the day my wife and I and business partner met with then-governor George Bush in the library for an interview for my magazine, True Believer.

I pity whoever did this. Texans don't take kindly to their holy places being burned down.

Nature is a comedian

What cruel joke hath nature wrought when it’s 99 degrees in Salem, Oregon and 79 in Austin, Texas?

Is this like one of those Twilight Zone episodes when two worlds are flipped in a herky jerky fashion?

I have been away from my homeland for too long. When 99 degrees feels like it must feel in the center of the sun, then I question my Texan origin.

I grew up without air-conditioning for pete’s sake! Now I’m in Oregon for four years, and I’m whining like a true Oregonian.

Stephen F. Austin, please forgive me!

Happy Mother's Day...Mama.

Well, I hope all my fellow Salemites have a sunny and wonderful weekend. Enjoy that bright orb up there in the sky while you can. We have just a short window of sunshine and warmth before the winter dankness descends on our little valley again next winter.

Oh yeah. And don't forget your mother this weekend on Mother's Day. For those of you lucky enough to be in Texas, go pick her up a bunch of bluebonnets, the state flower of Texas. Meanwhile, I'll be scouting the valley for an Oregon wildflower or two.

Dear Governor Perry

Governor Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428

4-15-08

Dear Governor Perry,

Thank you for your recent note.

Yes, it has been a long time (4 years to be exact) since my "assignment" as Texas Ambassador to the Pacific Northwest.

Our headquarters up here in the little outpost of Salem, Oregon (population 1 1/2 BBQ joints, 0 Tex-Mex restaurants) is nicely central to the Pacific Northwest area, even if it is a little light on the entertainment side of things. You know (better than anyone) how much a Texan likes his country music, BBQ and Tex-Mex food.

The only places I have been able to find here in Salem for BBQ is a place called "Busters" and another called, "Adam's Rib." They're no County Line BBQ, but about as close as one can probably get up here.

There isn't a single Tex-Mex restaurant in the area. The missus and I frequent a little Mexican food restaurant called Los Dos Amigos on the Yankee side of Salem and a place called La Hacienda in the south. Danged if we didn't order the "spicy" salsa the other night at Los Dos and didn't even work up the slightest sweat.

That seems to be the basic state of Mexican food - and food in general up here - bland as buttermilk. Puttin' your boot in the oven don't make it no danged biscuit and wrapping a tortilla around something and calling it "Mexican Food" ain't going make it so either.

Sorry...enough complaining. Have I mentioned the rain? You didn't mention to me when you "assigned" us here that it rains solid from November through April. I'm not talkin' gully washers either. Just the constant drip, drip, drip of what we would call a "sprinkle" in Texas and what they call "rain" here.

Please send up an ample supply of Gebhardt's chili powder. I haven't had a decent bowl of chili in a month of Sundays.

I look forward to seeing you on my next trip to the "holy land."

Your humble servant,
Randy Hill
Texas Ambassador to the Pacific Northwest
Salem, Oregon Outpost