CASI Chili Cook-off questions

I have received a couple of e-mails lately regarding the upcoming CASI (Chili Appreciation Society International) annual Chili Cook-off that takes place on the first weekend of November in Terlingua, Texas... which as you may know is an annual pilgrimage for me.

The main question I am asked is what "virgins" to the event should not forget to bring with them.

That is a little difficult to answer because I am one of a dying breed...I am a tent camper.  As a matter of fact up until last cook-off that my friends from Houston joined me after a ten years absence...the only tent camper in my group.

Tent camping requires a person bring a lot more items than those in RV's and campers.  Since all the questions were from readers with RV's ...I will address that group in this post.

First and foremost you are headed to the desert, so bring LOTS of water with you.  If you can freeze milk jugs, water and soda bottles these can serve as ice to keep your beer and food cold and once they thaw out...can be used to brush your teeth, wash your hair, rinse off some clothes or to just drink them.

I would advise you to bring as much beer, wine and spirits as you think you might need and then multiply it by two or three.  You are going to meet a lot of people and have many guests stopping by afterwards. This is a festive place and you will find yourself consuming more than you would back in the default world.  Beer and ice in Terlingua are not cheap and last year due to the unusual high temperatures...they ran out of ice early Saturday morning as well as in Lajitas and Study Butte.  I do not know about you, but I personally like my beer to be COLD.

You might consider bringing one or several bottles of Tequila or your liquor of choice whether you drink or not.  People gather around campfires at night and pass a bottle around as they tell stories and shoot the bull until the wee hours.

People are very generous and will invite you to breakfast, lunch and dinner...it might be nice to reciprocate. However, if you are a virgin don't worry about it as most old timers will bend over backwards to make sure your first experience is memorable.

This is the desert and in late October and early November it may be 100 degrees in the day but at night the temperatures drop sharply.  You might want to bring some firewood, blankets, warm clothing and a heavy jacket.

This is a BIG place and if you want to explore it...bring your four wheel vehicles, dirt bikes, mules, jeeps or tricked out trucks.  Don't forget to stop by my camp and take me for a ride :D

What is that you are saying...you do not know where my camp is at?  I am in the old spectator area along the ravine.  Look for my Kodiak Canvas tent or ask for Belinda from Houston...yes, I know I now live in Del Rio but I am known as Belinda from Houston, ok?

I usually arrive a week before the event but even at this early date people tend to party at night...it would not hurt to buy some ear plugs to drown out the sounds.  If you do not like to be kept up to the wee hours of the morning...perhaps this is not the event for you.  If you prefer a more quiet setting, may I suggest the other cook-off...known as the Original Terlingua International Championship Chili Cook-off located behind the store.  This is known the other 51 weeks out of the year as BJ's RV Park.

Bring some gallon milk jugs, preferably full, but if not empty ones...so the people that would rather drive home with empty  fresh water tanks can donate their liquid gold to the locals.  They converge early Sunday morning to scavenge the area but many do not bring containers to bottle up this precious liquid so they can take it home.

I would also suggest you bring a wide brim hat, lots of sun block lotion, an extra camera as well as batteries, flashlights, sunglasses, binoculars, beads (for the ladies and men that flash you), fly swatters, wasp spray, extra pair of shoes, hiking boots, additional chairs (for company) and a shade structure.  Will post more tips on future blogs.

This link will also answer a lot of questions you might have http://www.krazyflats.com/  however, they are not good about updating information until two months before the event.

I have made a new post with tips for tent campers http://terlinguadreams.blogspot.com/2013/10/casi-chili-cook-off-questions-part-2.html

Good night.  May you have Terlingua Dreams.

In the Beginning

I don’t know if I have mentioned that the first time I attended the annual Terlingua Chili Cook-off was with a guy I used to date (we were no longer dating but remained friends).  A mutual friend called me at work to warn me that he was probably going to be calling me because he had exhausted all his “male acquaintances”.  He had tried to no avail to get them interested in attending this wild gathering in the desert so he was going to try his “female pals”.

I asked our mutual friend where exactly this gathering was and when he said “Ter something” I said, “was it Terlingua?” he was surprised and said, “you know about this place?”  My reply “Of course I know about Terlingua I was there once when I was a freshman at Sul Ross (Sul Ross State University) and always wanted to go back.  Maybe one day I will blog about my first visit there but don’t hold your breath :D

Back to the story… I could not believe my ears; this was just too good to be true.  I think I just hung up on him and dialed my friend, could not take a chance that he could find someone else to accompany him.  It was Friday afternoon around 3:00 p.m. when we left Houston and drove all night.  Have you ever driven in the Big Bend area at night?  It is pitch black. We got to the cook-off around 4:00 a.m. but he could not find his buddies and he came to the conclusion that we were at the “wrong one”.  I did not know that there were now “two cook-offs”.

We finally found the CASI Cook-off where his friends were.  It was about 5:00 a.m. when we parked and this place was huge in comparison to the other event so he decided to wait till sun up to find his buddies and went to sleep. I had drunk a couple of cups of coffee and was wide awake besides with
his god awful snoring, who could sleep?

At 6:00 a.m. he was tired of me trying to wake him so he got up and went to look for his friends. Saturday is the last day of the event and I had such a magnificent time.  I could not believe how in one day I was able to forget all my troubles, dump the stress and enjoy myself to the fullest.  I went hiking along the creek bed, climbed the hill above the dance pavilion, went to sample the chili, took in the entertainment in the afternoon and attended the dance that evening where even though I do not know how to country dance (I 'm a disco duck) I danced till my feet hurt as well as the poor guys who had the misfortune to ask me to dance.

I went from knowing no one to having made the acquaintance of so many wonderful people by the time we left Sunday morning, his friends had became my friends.  I was totally hooked after only having spent one day in the desert and I knew I would be back…but this time by myself in my beloved Terlita (my camping van).