Finally, pictures from Terlingua.

Remember the trip back a few weeks ago? Here we go. The
folks we camped with had mowed a stretch of ground and
we set up our tents on it. Click on any of these shots to see the
larger versions. Not sure you need to see the larger version
of me... but here goes.


This is the dean (in the hat) setting up his tent. The other
guy is a cook we work with on the campus who came to
compete. These guys are a lot of fun, I'm tellin' ya.


The set up. That tent is old as hell, but works for him.


Some fat hairy bastard, setting up his palatal yurt-like dwelling.


This is what it looks like when it's set up, from a set of pictures
taken on a river trip on the Buffalo National River a few years ago.
Imagine if you can, a twin sized air mat covered with a down duvet,
flannel sheets, and a down comforter and pillow. I live well, period.


The dean and one of the San Angelo cooks from our camp,
supervising the set up of the CTC teams main tent shelter.


The previous cooks wife, supervising the setup from a buddies
new truck tent. He'd never used this tent before, and it set up
easy as hell and was really nice. Makes me want to buy a truck
just to get one of these.


Tryin' to figure out how to set that tent shelter up. Lots of
"supervision". The t-shirt says "Start Slow, Taper Off."
One of my favorites. A few days later I switched to another
one with a picture of a gun and the line "Thin The Herd". It
went over well.


Figuring out the right way to put it up. Took a while. Several
beers later...


Finally. Being tall comes in handy every once and a while.


The main camp, with four campers forming a U shape, and a
tent shelter over the cook sites. Chairs circling the fire pit. An
awesome time was had by all, I wanna tell ya.


The main BBQ cooker/smoker. This thing was amazing to behold.


The camp, Friday morning, the morning of the first cooking
contests. The day would see huge amounts of Beans, ribs,
brisket, and other sundry snacks consumed with glee.


Some fat hairy bastard, grazing in the wee hours of the morning.
Eggs, bacon, sausage, etc. Mmmmmm.


One of the San Angelo guys, cooking bacon and taters over
one of the gas cookers.


Mmmmmm. Very nice. Nothin' like eating breakfast out in
the open. Nothin' like bacon cooked this way. Sheesh.


Chillin' in the AM. The day would be busy for these two. The guy
on the left is the older brother of the guy with the truck tent. He is
from San Angelo, and has won many cooking trophies. He provides
the credentials that allow us to come and compete.


The camp pooches. Sweeties. I called them Hoover and Eureka,
because all they did was wander the camp looking for things
that had fallen on the ground.


One of the ladies in our group (who took many of these pictures)
who got a ride back to our camp one day from some fun guys with
a customized vehicle.


First contest on the first day... "Silliest Hat of 2006". Gotta love
these people.


That's pretty silly. The lady, second from left, was one of the
cooks in our camp. The covered patio behind them is the main
stage where the cooking contest is held, and where the evenings
entertainment took place. Live bands played each night, Gary P.
Nun the last night. Got to hear him sing "London Homesick
Blues" live. Wonderful night. Great times.


Here's the silly hat lady, in her glory, at her cooking site. This woman
turned out to be a huge pill, once she got a few cases of
booze into her. Her poor husband was constantly on watch
to make sure she didn't make too much of an ass of herself.


The dudes, in typical repose. The guy on the left is the guy
with the truck tent. He runs the hospitality department on
the campus. His brother, the guy in the previous picture, is the
connection that allows us to go to Terlingua and enjoy the fun.
He turned out to be the only cook in the camp to win a prize...
for his BBQ chicken wings. They were to die for, I'm tellin' ya.
I was an official taste tester.

Somethin' to do.


The dean and another guy cutting the brisket...


And sampling the brisket. The guy on the right is Weldon,
another San Angelo cook with a lot of awards in his resume.


Not this time though. A hell of a nice guy. His ribs are amazing,
and won the prize last year.


The throne. Well set up. Well used.


Cooking burgers the first night. That cooker is a great little
number they picked up at Academy. I had three cheese burgers
that night, and fries. What? So, do you think I'm just playin'
around with this fat hairy bastard thing? Please.


The road to camp, at dusk, with Big Bend in the distance.


The river that flows into the Rio Grande, west of Big Bend.


Another shot of the river, from the overlook near some hot
springs.


Purdy. See the mountains in the distance.


The desert terrain near Big Bend.


Some of the folks, ready for the floor show on Saturday, the
day of the big time, 40th anniversary chili cook-off.


The floor show commences. These folks were contestants in the
cook-off, who set up this entertainment to have fun and kill time
during the cooking day. At the other camp, down the road, they
were having wet t-shirt and chili wrestling contests. Hmmm.
See a previous post about that. We may be shifting operations.


Elvis was there...


And the Blues Brothers...


And the... Who the hell? Who knows? Nice 'fro though.


Audience participation. Note the bubble machine. Spare no
expense, right?


Nurses. Gotta love nurses. Some stereotypes do play out,
sometimes.


And finally, the Grand Ol' Opry singers, or not. The lady in the
light blue dress is a former Marine pilot from WW2, 78 years old,
who flew combat planes to the front to replace those lost to
damage or downed in combat.