Continents

First trip as a photographer so again apologize for quality but… Dallas Cowboys treated me like a VIP, Friday night lights in the town which inspired the TV show, I ate the 72oz big texan steak (thats over 2kg), had a thrilling college game, then the next weekend Red River Shootout at the Texas state fair and a Texans game in Houston.

The worlds largest story telling festival. I think this was the 39th anniversary. I met a lady who drives 20 hours from somewhere in Canada to come and had only missed a few. It is an art form that isn’t so popular these days, and given the crowd were exclusively over 60 its looking bleak. There are maybe a dozen or so ‘pros’ who make a living from it, mainly CD sales. At the event there is the ‘Swappin Ground’ where anyone can have a turn at telling a story, an ‘up and coming’ invitational for newer semi pros, then the pros. The stories may be comedic, or dramatic, e.g. reading a civil war diary. At night was ghost stories by the water.

The gateway to the west – I wasn’t aware you could go up inside the arch. Other highlights are the Chess Hall of Fame Museum, one of the most spectacular cathedral’s I’ve ever seen, and Scott Joplins house.

US open finals, a Jets game, and some great cloud cover. My first day shooting with a Sony camera (nex 5). I thought that using the color picker function made me a star. Anyway.. have to start somewhere!

Interesting state. At the end of WW2 it was top of income per capita – then the US military spread out with spending and bases and things stagnated. The entire middle of NM is military White Sands Missile testing ground, including Trinity where the first nuke was tested. So you can only drive around the edge of the state. Roswell has done well to build a tourism industry of aliens. The desert is beautiful and you can camp there. Carlsbad caverns is a must see. However.. Visiting Trinity is only on 1 April or 1 October and is a 2 hour drive out to the spot. Well worth it from a historical perspective. Also the town of ‘Truth or Consequences’ named after a radio show in the 50s to boost tourism – it worked, I only went cos of the name. But charming place with hot springs.

This was a dedicated journey to taste the best. I had just come off eating the 2.5kg Big Texan shirt and wanted to see who could feed me. Very honored to spend time with Mathew Matthew Burt of Phat Jacks BBQ as he was preparing – he went on to lose on a coin toss in the Chicken section out of over 400 teams.