Wednesday, April 8, 2026

Waitress Finger Shoots Brad

 

Brad enjoys telling a joke nearly everywhere we stop.  So I am going to start this week’s post with a joke.  It is about a young cowboy and his ice cream sundae. 


When Val was a young cowboy, he worked hard at the rodeo all summer.  He dreamed of riding in the rodeo one day.  He was brutally honest.  He worked hard at every thing he did.  Val, at the young age of 10, was serious about his transactions.  He’d walked past the ice cream parlor about a dozen times that summer.  There was a picture of a delicious ice cream sundae displayed in the window.  The thought of the sundae gave Val good motivation to keep working under the hot sun.  This eagerly anticipated day had finally come.  He earned some money and it was in his pocket.  Young Val, wearing his chaps, cowboy boots and large brimmed cowboy hat, strutted into the ice cream parlor.  He looked the waitress in the eye and told her he wanted an ice cream sundae.  The waitress asked if vanilla ice cream was okay.  Val said yes.  She asked if he wanted strawberries? Val said yes. The waitress followed up, “Do you want whipped cream and a cherry on top?” Val said “Yes, just like the one pictured in the window.”  The waitress asked, “Do you want me to to crush your nuts?” Val excitedly drew his cap guns and said, “Lady, do you want me to blow your tits off?”!!   Bada boom! 



The folks at the Great American Campground and Dive Bar gave us some great tips on the best motorcycle routes and places to eat that are perfect for motorcycle riders.  Armed with information on small diner choices, Brad and I left the campground and headed towards Cole Camp a small town in the rolling prairies.  The road to Cole Camp wound through the beautiful countryside, and it was a smooth ride.  Our motorcycles leaned into the turns, and the sun shone off the chrome, making everything look so shiny.  The temperature was starting to rise.  We enjoyed the cool air pockets as we rode through the green trees that shaded the road.  It was a relaxing ride approaching the middle of the day.


When we got to Cole Camp, the sun was high and the heat was on. The Classic Grill was the first restaurant we saw as we got closer to town.  I spotted a vintage yellow car parked next to the restaurant.  I didn’t manage to take a photo, but it was an antique car with those cool curved lines and a shiny chrome grill—obviously a symbol of the restaurant’s name, Classic Grill.  I knew we had to stop. 


Brad and I were happy to feel the cool air conditioning as we walked into the restaurant. We figured we’d grab an iced tea to cool off from the heat. It was a simple restaurant. The tables and chairs were sturdy and comfortable.  More than half the tables were full of people enjoying their meals.  This indicates that the food is great.  We were seated right away at a table.  As I walked to our table, I looked at the platters in front of folks eating.  The meals all looked delicious with big portions.  We also noticed an ice cream machine.  As we looked at the menus, we saw ice cream sundaes on the menu.  Neither of us was very hungry yet.  We wanted to take a break from the warming sunshine.  So Brad decided on ordering ice cream.



The joyful waitress greeted us at our table.  We ordered some iced tea. Then Brad ordered an ice cream sundae. The waitress terribly failed to conceal her surprise. She took a step backwards.  Her body began squirming like one of those inflatable stick men at a used car lot. You know the kind that wave in the air to get attention from folks passing by.  In a loud high pitched surprised voice, she exclaimed in a questioning tone, “you two big bikers are not going to have our big juicy hamburgers!!??”  She was animated and visibly surprised at our choices.  Brad matched the waitress’s enthusiasm.  It was a little comical as we attracted the attention of other customers in the restaurant.  Brad started laying it on thick with his order.  He declared we definitely want ice cream sundaes.  The order conversation went something like this;  


Waitress: Do you want a banana split?

Brad: No an ice cream sundae.

Waitress: Do you want vanilla ice cream?

Brad: Yes.

Waitress: Do you want strawberries?

Brad: Yes and whipped cream and a cherry on top!


The waitress follows up by asking Brad if he wants crushed nuts.  Brad excitedly exclaimed, “Lady, do you want”, the young enthusiastic waitress cut him off and pulled out her finger pistol.  She finished Brad’s sentence, “to shoot my tits off?!” Brad pulled out two finger pistols and gestured shooting at the happy waitress.  Both erupted in laughter.  I am sitting across the table from Brad with the waitress standing beside me.  Their finger pistols still smoking.  Myself the the other customers wonder what the heck just happened!  So Brad had to enlighten me by telling me the joke about the cowboy and the ice cream sundae.  Apparently the waitress has heard the joke a hundred times!




Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Texas Bar Rescue

Location Big Dick's Halfway Inn part 2 of 2


From part 1 at Big Dick’s Halfway Inn, Brad and I are looking at this bartender like we know her from somewhere.  We cannot figure out where.  This takes me back to a memory when I moved from California to Illinois.  I was in the garden section of Walmart early in the morning.  I was pushing my shopping cart around the garden supplies for my new yard.  I had just completed my first week at a new job and was introduced to what seemed like hundreds of people.  So here I am in the garden section pushing my shopping cart when a guy is staring at me like he knows me.  It seems like he wanted to say something.  After the second encounter, I begin to think that I am rude and maybe this guy recognizes me from my new job.  This stranger did look a little familiar, but I wasn’t positive if I met him at my new job.  So on the third time our shopping carts pass, the guy continues to look at me.  He does look familiar, so I approach the man and begin to form my words.  I am interrupted by this excited couple asking if the man was Mark Ruffalo, the actor.  This was during his romantic comedy era with the movie “13 Going on 30” starring opposite Jennifer Garner.  The guy confirmed he was the actor visiting the area to check up on some property.  The couple was excited to meet the actor. I immediately continued my shopping.  I guess it would have been a totally different conversation if I were to ask if he and I worked together.  Anyway, back to the Ozarks.




I finally tell the bartender that she looks familiar to me, but I cannot place where I might know her from.  She quickly responds that she remembers the two of us from Rocky Top Sports Bar and Grill a few days prior.  She was our bartender there.  Yes! Brad and I remembered.  That was the place we stopped on accident.  It was an invasion of the old folks!  The old folks came into the bar staring us down with their laser eyes.  This woman confirmed they were nice folks; we, the out-of-town folks, were sitting in their seats.  




Our bartender tells us how she moved to the Ozarks from Austin, Texas.  Her attire with a Texas pennant and something referencing Texas on her shirt made sense now.  She proceeded to tell us that she indeed went from being a bar owner in Texas to bartending at two separate bars at the Lake of the Ozarks.  She needed a change of scenery.  Then her husband arrived at the bar.  He sat beside us and joined in the conversations.  He is a chiropractor.  He talked about owning a bar in Austin.  He told us that the show, Bar Rescue, featured their bar!  He talked a little about the show and told us they sold the bar shortly after the show aired and moved to the Ozarks.  Brad found a short clip from the show.  We saw our bartender giving away drinks to her friends in Austin when the star Jon Taffer confronted her to tears.  Neat experience hearing about the challenges of bar ownership, the show, and the bar owners of the Ozarks.