Plutopia goes on a ride along... our friend Spike Gillespie was literally on the road when she spoke to Jon and Scoop for this week's Plutopia podcast.

Spike takes us on a free-wheeling tour of her ranch, her businesses, and Bastrop County, Texas. We also talk about her new restaurant in Smithville, small town Texas and fitting in, glamping, weddings, creating happy communities and much more.

So.....fasten your seatbelts and don't forget to use your turn signals!

Spike Gillespie: I have empathy for people who don't want to get vaccinated, and there's something that you just said - not known for vegetarianism. I don't know - I think maybe what I was going to say was kind of like, "When in Rome," which doesn't mean that I'm going to go have my vaccination taken away, or anything. But I'm really learning how to adapt more, and I am not going to convince people to become a vegetarian by opening a vegetarian restaurant. (Laughs) But what I do is every day, almost every day, I make some insanely incredible vegetarian soup. And then sometimes I'll make a bread. And the idea isn't that I'm trying to convince people to eat differently, it's just, like, "here's some delicious food, it just happens to not have meat in it."

* Spike's AA sobriety story from Pink House Chronicles

* Spike on Facebook

* Spike on Twitter

* Spike on Instagram