¡Viva Terlingua! (11-04-12)

It's hard to believe, but this is my 300th blog post.  Anyone who has read it on a regular basis knows that sometimes I write posts with regularity, and sometimes I don't.  Some posts are more interesting than others.  I guess it's the nature of the beast.  Sometimes I am in the mood to write and sometimes I'm not.  So anyway, thanks for bearing with me for the last 3 years!

Terlingua- home to the world renowned International Chili Cook Off! We’ve been to Terlingua several times, as we use it as our base to explore Big Bend National Park. This time we made reservations a year in advance, to make sure we got a place to stay for the Cook Off. Our friends Julie and Mike arrived the day before us and set up camp.

Before the cook off started, we met a couple, Will and Cindy, who were participating. giving us an “inside track” to all things Chili.  As it turns out, the Cook Off was not at all what we expected- there was no Chili, brisket, or beans for the spectators.  This was pure contest, with very few samples and in general, no food available for purchase.  You could get a burger, or a burrito, but that’s about it. Quite disappointing. There are actually two Cook Offs at the same time- the original one and the CASI (Chili Appreciation Society International)Cook Off. 

 The entrance fee to each is about $30 per person.  We paid to get into one of them but then couldn’t say exactly what we got for our money.  Luckily the day we decided to check out the other one, the guy at the ticket booth, for whatever reason, accepted the wristbands from the competing Cook Off, so we didn’t have to pay again. 

Having been denied our dose of Chili, we found ourselves eating at the Starlight Theatre several times. They usually have live entertainment, but the best part is the $1 tacos and $2 Margaritas.

On the way down to Terlingua, we stopped in the Houston area and had dinner with our friends Dave and Avril.  They live in an interesting subdivision.  Instead of your typical golf course, their subdivision has its own runway.  Many of the homeowners own planes- Dave and Avril own two-and their driveway leads directly to the runway.  Talk about easy access! Being near Houston, in addition to many pilots living in the subdivision, they also have several past and present astronauts as neighbors.

Dave and Avril flew down to Terlingua to spend a few days hanging out and hiking with us.

We revisited two of our favorite trails with them- the Lost Mine Trail, and Santa Elena Canyon.

After an awesome two days of food and fun, it was time to watch them fly off into the sun……

 

The hiking continued with Mike and Julie.  Near the RV park there is a short hike that leads to some petro glyphs. There were also some great boulders to climb on as well! Note how blue the sky is! 

One of the things I love about Texas is how blue the sky is.  In fact, the weather has been absolutely perfect while we’ve been here.  We’ve eaten most of our meals outside at the picnic table.  It's been a week full of great food and fun with friends.  Tomorrow we move on, headed towards El Paso to spend a few days with Paul's mom before starting our trek towards Florida.