Alpine, TX Feb 22-24, 2013: 27th TX Cowboy Poetry event.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

http://www.texascowboypoetry.com

The above link will give you all the details on the 27th Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering,
scheduled to take place in Alpine, Texas (near Marfa and Big Bend). Not only is there cowboy poetry
singing the praises of Western life, but guitar playing by various performers, as well as story telling by
the former large animal veteran Mr. Baxter Black.

Each morning, for just $5, breakfast will be prepared outdoors from a chuck wagon and/or over an open
fire.

Alpine is home to SRSU (Sul Ross State University). It looks like kind of a New England college, but it overlooks
the scenic town of Alpine.

I am going to this event. It's an 8 hour cruise from Lewisville (my home) to Alpine, but this event is the catalyst
that spurred me to go back to Big Bend as well. I've been to Big Bend twice, I've seen the Marfa lights twice, as
well as Fort Davis and the observatory.

Marfa is where the iconic Texas movie "Giant" was filmed, as well as the more recent "No Country for Old Men",
which starred San Saba, Texas' own "hometown boy made good" - Tommy Lee Jones.

For anyone who is unfamilar with Mr. Baxter Black, youtube him and enjoy his story telling. I'll always remember
the one about the rancher who took his ranch pickup to the new car wash in town. It took him hours to clean up
the shrapnel generated from his pickup bed into the carwash! :-)

For anyone who needs a reason to make a great West Texas road trip, check the link above.

SIA

[G.A. Heath]

To make this gun related, this event is in Sheriff Jim Wilson's back yard, I wonder if he will be there or if he has a conflicting schedule on something else.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

To make this gun related, this event is in Sheriff Jim Wilson's back yard, I wonder if he will be there or if he has a conflicting schedule on something else.

Praytell, what is this gentleman's claim to fame?

TIA / SIA

[G.A. Heath]

Check out your NRA magazines, there's something (depending on which one(s) you get) in there. Otherwise check out http://sheriffjimwilson.com/about-2/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Thank you sir for the link. I read it and enlightenment has followed.

SIA

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Well, I've been meaning to comment on this road trip that I took.

It was a great experience to go to Alpine, Texas for the event. The people at SRSU (Sul Ross State University)
were friendly and well-organized for the large crowds. There were 10 venues around the campus with 3 time periods
each, so there was a chance to see 30 different versions of cowboy poetry, folk songs, country/western songs, and
story telling. All the shows we saw were great.

The performers were mainly from Texas, but there were performers from Canada, Arizona, New Mexico, South Dakota,
Nebraska, Oklahoma, and North Carolina.

Many of these folks have lives that consist of working cattle, or farming, and they had the musical talent to translate
their love of rural life into entertaining stories, poems, and music.

We went to Marfa on 2 different nights and the total of Marfa lights we saw = ZERO. Too bad.

We went down to Big Bend itself and put a few hundred miles on the Mazda easy. What sweeping vistas it includes.
One of the unique things we saw at the Big Bend campgrounds was a Kelly green heavy duty truck with a built in RV
body on it. This was not a type of vehicle I had ever seen before. I drove by it and it had German license plates.
They must have put it on a ship to get it to the US. Someone's got a few bucks to go on their American road trip!

One thing that was a little disconcerting is that when you are driving within <100? 50?> miles of the border, you have
to stop at these roadblocks set up by Border Patrol/ICE. One LEO may chat with you for a short while, but his fellow LEO
is trotting the German Shepherd K9 around the whole perimeter of your vehicle. I wasn't carrying anything that I should
not, but who says a dog can't generate a false positive?

If my schedule permits, I would love to go to next year's Alpine event. I would highly recommend the Alpine/Big Bend
road trip experience to all folks.

SIA