Tuesday March 22nd

The temperatures have made a serious drop today as we got ready to hit the road again.  We walked over to the campground office for their daily continental breakfast and were chilled to the bone in the 34 degree air.  After some bagels and juice, we left the campground and continued further east toward Amarillo, Texas.  Our goal was the Big Texan Steak Ranch, a Texas and Route 66 Legend.

We had been there a few years ago and were looking forward to a return visit.  We arrived around 6:30 p.m. and pulled into their RV parking area in the back.  They also have a motel, stables for traveling horses and free limo service to and from any of the nearby truck stops.  RV'ers are invited to spend the night at no charge, so we set up camp and walked into the restaurant for dinner.

The Big Texan has been featured in several Food Network shows, most recently, Man Vs. Food.  The challenge is to eat 1) a shrimp cocktail  2) a salad 3) rolls 4) a baked potato and 5) a 72 ounce steak!  (That's 4 1/2 pounds of meat!)  If you can do it in one hour, it's all free.  A sample of the diner is on display at the entrance along with the names and times of those who most recently met the challenge.  One young fellow consumed the entire meal in 59 minutes and 59 seconds and then asked "What's for dessert?".  The most famous contestant was Joey Chestnut.  One of the top competitive eaters in the world and multiple winner of Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Challenge on Coney Island.  Joey at the entire Big Texan steak dinner in under NINE MINUTES!

Neither one of us was up for the challenge, so we ordered the much smaller filets.  These were the melt-in-your-mouth quality steaks you expect but rarely get.  This place delivers!  The dining room is Texas sized and the walls are covered with plenty of big dead animals with horns.  On the other side of the dining room, there is a bar, an outdoor beer garden, a 25¢ shooting gallery, a gift shop and a fudge shop.  The buy-a-pound, get-a-half pound-free was too much to pass up.