Terlingua Dreams: 2019 Terlingua Chili Cookoff

It has taken me longer than expected to go through all the pictures I took this year at the 2019 CASI Chili Cook-off. Unfortunately, I used my cellphone as my camera bit the dust a long time ago. I am sorry to say that I had to discard more than half due to poor quality. Those mostly were taken when I went driving around the large campground both in my car as in the guys' Jeep.

Guys Camp

The only good pictures I took were when I was able to take my time and they were mostly of my camp, tent, and friends.

Took way too much stuff.

Every year I take one of my spiral notebooks to keep a journal of my days there for as you know I suffer from CRS. This year I bought not one or two but FOUR spiral notebooks and just like my calendars come chili cook-off time I could not find a single one. If I get some of my facts wrong like which day the cold front arrived please excuse me.

There is an annual Golf Cart Parade that began taking place I believe three years ago it takes place at night. They ride around the campground and finish at Krazy Flats. The video I took when they drove by my camp was terrible so I ended deleting it as well. I have asked my best friend to forward me hers but I have yet to hear back from her. Do not know if she is back in Houston or they are still RV'ing.

I managed to take this video when they were stopped at Krazy Flats but again it is of poor quality and my phone keeps on ringing letting me know I had a message when I did not. I do not know how to edit a video...sorry it went on so long.

The first days of my trip were warm though the nights did require a jacket as is common in the desert at this time of the year.

During this trip, the World Series was taking place between the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals. The "Guys Camp" always has all kinds of games going on on their outdoor TV and as you can imagine were a popular camp.

It wasn't until Wednesday and Thursday that we had strong gusts ushering in a cold front. I have said many times that cheap nylon tents have no place in Terlingua and I stand by that statement. However, due to my back problems, there is no way I was going to be able to set up my Kodiak Canvas tent without assistance. It is a fabulous tent but it requires 15 heavy-duty stakes to erect it and in the rocky ground is not easy even when I am in the best of health.

Even hammering in this steel stake for this small tent bent one of them...very rocky ground.

There is no way I am going to bother my friends. I consider myself to be self-sufficient and the day I am not...I will no longer attend. The guys camp do not agree and always give me a hard time for not asking for their help.

I mainly took the nylon tent to get everything down from my vehicle and have a place to store it all. The tent, as well as my shower, looked like a junk room and I could barely find anything but at least it cleared enough room in the car so I could recline the seat and sleep comfortably and warmly.

Getting almost everything down helped to keep the cheap thing from flying off in the strong winds. This year I added a new item to my camp a 7 x 5 shade structure. Actually, I ordered it back in 2016 but it did not arrive in time for me to incorporate it then. It was a good thing because that year I also had to make two trips and when I left there was another strong wind storm and I would have probably lost it like many others did theirs. To be on the safe side I took down my shower tent as I have also lost one of those in the past.

A new addition to my camp

My water jugs held my shower in place

I was sorting through all the stuff I brought and that I did not need so I could take back on my one day trip to Del Rio. I had no idea how much it was and without realizing it I quickly filled up my car making it impossible for me to be able to sleep in it.

Wednesday night was terrible the wind was flapping the right side of the tent almost hitting me in the face. I took three 30-packs of beer and was able to move them to that corner to secure it.

It was impossible to go to sleep so I started re-arranging more stuff. Around 4:00 a.m. I was finally able to get some rest. Happy to report that I was not cold as I had my sleeping bag and two heavy wool blankets to keep me warm.

I woke up at 7:00 a.m. as I wanted to get an early start for my trip back home. What was my surprise but I could barely turn over...I was in a lot of pain! I could see the guys camp from the no see them mesh of the tent but no one was outside. They had stayed up late drowning their sorrows after the Astros lost the World Series.

I tried to get up on several occasions to no avail. If I yelled who was going to hear me? All the people around me have trailers or RV's. My cellphone did not work this year though it has in the past so I could not call my best friend to come to my aid. It was horrible but I did not tell anyone...this is the first time I mention it.

My blood pressure shot up

Against all odds, I finally was able to grab on to my steel chair and get up. I could not even find my aspirin to help with the pain. I got a late start.

It was actually 9:50 a.m. for some reason I
am not able to reset it to Central time.

Stopped at Dollar Tree when I arrived in Del Rio and to my surprise noted that Harbor Freight was now opened. Headed there instead and bought two tarps a heavy-duty silver 5'6 x 7'6 for $3.99 but with my 20% coupon paid $3.19 as well as a Green Camo 4'6 x 6'6 tent for $2.99.

I then headed to Metro PCS so they could fix my phone and transfer my pictures to the SD card. They told me they could do nothing about the darn phone ringing telling me I had a message when I did not.

I was so tired but I had to take down all the stuff I had brought back like one of my ice chests, a steel chair, orange cones, extra tent stakes, dirty clothes, my favorite $5.00 coat I bought earlier this year just for this trip and a bunch of other things. My best friend's eldest daughter sent me three Betty Boop t-shirts and two BB journals along with chocolate from her trips abroad as well as other trinkets that I was not about to leave in my tent...thank you, Amanda!

My $5.00 blue jean coat

I think I will do like I have in the past use my photos as Header Pictures as I took better pictures on the second trip than on the first one.

Gasoline Prices along the way

In Sanderson, Texas....$2.799 a gallon for unleaded gasoline