“Cowboy” may have been booted off the “Survivor” island Thursday night, but he’s still riding high and ranging far.

Anh-Tuan Bui (nicknamed “Cao Boi, ” which is pronounced “Cowboy”) of Christiansburg was one of 20 people competing for the top prize of $1 million on the CBS-TV show, “Survivor: Cook’s Island.”

Each week on the show, members of one of the “tribes” vote at least one person off the island, and during Thursday night’s episode, “Cowboy” was voted off.

After the vote, he said, “It was a wonderful experience. I had a great time. I didn’t make it as far as I planned on going, but that’s how it goes.”

And “Cowboy” did go on - on New York City for an appearance on CBS TV’s “Early Show” on Friday morning and then on to “The Late Show with David Letterman.”

In addition to those two appearances, “Cowboy” will also be attending this season’s live “Survivor” finale in Los Angeles, Calif., when the $1 million winner is announced.

On the “Early Show,” interviewer Harry Smith remarked to “Cowboy” that some of the other contestants had commented about how “very outspoken” he was, and “Cowboy” responded, “I tried to pull a little back but just couldn’t.”

“If I have a dream, I’ve got to follow it,” “Cowboy” said, and Rick Cupp, administrator of Moose Lodge No. 1470, where Bui is a member, said Friday he doesn’t think “Cowboy’s” dream is over.

“We would certainly have liked to have seen him go a long way on the show and we hated to see him get voted off so early, but I definitely don’t think we’ve seen the last of him,” Cupp said. “Even though he has been voted off, if he uses his head, he could still turn his ‘Survivor’ experience into a significant opportunity, financially and otherwise.”

“His being on the show has also been a great experience for us,” Cupp said. “He has helped give the Moose and the Town of Christiansburg a lot of great, positive publicity.”

“The Moose family all around the U.S. and the world has been following the show closely,” Cupp said. The lodge in Christiansburg has been holding “Survivor” parties each Thursday night since this year’s “Survivor” season began. Cupp said the lodge will probably continue the weekly parties even though “Cowboy” is no longer on the show, and there will definitely be a big party on Dec. 17 when the final episode is aired.

Bui, 42, manages Regal Nails, a salon located inside the Wal-Mart store in Christiansburg. Bui moved to the U.S. after the end of the Vietnam War and attended Virginia Tech. He is married to Kristol Bond, and the couple has two children, Jesse Dakota and Nicholas Roundtree.

Survivor Cook Island