Terlingua International Chili Cookoff

[mikebulriss]

This was a real neat rally, with lots to see and do. Just don't forget to bring all your needed liquids for the week as they are pretty expensive to buy out there, like $25.95/case for the cheap beer that you get at home for $16-17, and wine was typically double what you normally see in civilization. WalMart was only 5+ hours away in Odessa according to a park ranger.

I was pleasantly surprised by the pristine old iron that Steve would have drooled over in Terlingua. Apparently that dry desert air serves them well. I found this, maybe not so pristine, "Grateful Dead" bus in back of a Terlingua hotel. It seemed to fit in very well in that time warp of a place. Looks like Miami Beach was their next stop; maybe in it's next life.


With the leading edge of that hurricane coming in from Mexico on Sunday, the tail wind made for a spirited ride heading north, but then it tried to blow us off the road once we hit IH-10 and turned east and caught the winds full on from the south side. Cranked in an eighth of a turn on the wheel to stay straight, with full quick quarter turns when gusts came. I followed an 18 wheeler as my early warning system: when he crossed the center line, I knew another big gust was coming; when he went on the right shoulder, I knew a sheltered dead air spot was coming. After several hours of that in the early dark after the time change we called it quits for the night. The winds even rocked the bus some when we stopped for the night at a rest area. Interesting and tiring drive all the way home, since the winds continued the next day also.

If you get a chance to go to another rally out there, it is worth the ride, but I wouldn't do it just for a weekend trip.