Category Archives: Travel

Haslet Wild West Fest

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Over the weekend we went to check out the 2nd Annual Haslet Wild West Fest and Chili Cookoff. Needless to say, we’ll be back next year. Haslet is a small, growing community north of Ft. Worth, Texas. You are in the country yet far away from the city that you forget it’s there.

When we first arrived we saw cattle trucks. I was already excited. They had a small rodeo arena set up with a lot of bleachers ready for fans to view the day’s upcoming events. Over in the park there were small venues set up including Lee’s BBQ (my food critic says the turkey leg was delicious), Sweet Tea, Italian Ice, Craft booths, a bus for the blood drive and a festival wouldn’t be a festival in Texas without a mechanical bull. On the far end of the park sat the contestants for the Chili Cookoff.

This being only the second year of this festival, there were about 10 teams ready to go for the Chili Cookoff. Each person gets a sample of each tent’s Chili, then when you are ready, you can vote for the “People’s Choice” award. I’m just going to come right out and say it – I voted for Hippie’s Blend Chili. It was so good I’m thinking of showing up next year with a mason jar asking if I can take some to go. It was nice to walk around, talk to the chefs and see the different tastes in each chili. Some were more meaty, one had brisket and some were pretty watery. The thing I love best about Texas Chili is that it has no beans. Makes my choices a little easier – I’m not a bean fan.

Hippies Blend! Yummy!

The Rodeo Arena had events going on all day. First, we started off with high school rodeo. I had never seen high school kids partaking in bull riding so I figured, eh they are probably on smaller bulls. Wrong. They get right up there like the grown men. They did really well! Hopefully we’ll see some of them in a professional competition in a few years. Later on in the evening, the professional bull riding was to take place. We didn’t stay for the entire day so we happened to miss out on this. At least we got to see the high school kids ride the bulls.

Next up – Weiner Dog Races. We were looking forward to this but happened to miss the event.
Mutton Bustin! This I was excited about and apparently so wasn’t everyone else. For those who are not familiar with Mutton Bustin, parents sign up their children (under 50 lbs) to ride on the back of a sheep and hold on. It’s the children’s form of bull riding, with sheep. It’s really quite entertaining, and super cute.

My favorite future rodeo star!

If you are in the North Texas area in May, be sure to swing over and check out festival. It’s great for the entire family in this small Texas town. Great food, entertainment and I think all the ladies will agree there’s nothing like walking around and seeing real cowboys everywhere you turn. You really get to experience what Texas is all about!

The Edmunds Family at the Wild West Fest!

I-25 Road to Cheyenne

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In October 2007, I found myself in Fort Collins, CO visiting a friend from college. Said friend didn’t take work off, so here I was flying solo trying to absorb everything the West had to offer. I had three days to explore, but having been so new to the area (and actually thinking of moving out there) I had no idea where to begin, so I surrendered to going wherever the roads took me. Wyoming. There it was directly north of me. The least populated state in the US seemed like my kinda place. So I hopped on I-25 to head north to Cheyenne. Little did I know that I would find myself in a state that I couldn’t wait to get back to.

The drive up was great. Hitting the highway with these gigantic Rocky Mountains to my west and nothing but prairie to my right. Driving along in my crappy Hyundai rent-a-car, driving with one hand, video taping with the other. Not exactly the ideal thing to be doing when you are driving but as always, I wanted to capture every little moment.

To the east of I-25 I passed a windmill farm. At the time, I had never seen anything like it. These huge windmills stood on the sides of these hills / small mountains all lined up in a row. I can only imagine how big they were up close. They belonged on the land of a, well we’ll call it a “Petting Zoo Ranch” where you could go and take a hay ride and check out the animals. (So the sign said.) I didn’t stop, so you’ll have to take my word for it. I wasn’t interested in touristy ranches, I wanted the real thing.

Soon enough, I entered Wyoming. You know you are in Wyoming, everywhere you look there is the bucking horse and cowboy. It is a perfect fit! My first stop was going to be the land of the cowboys – Cheyenne Frontier Days!

On Tap aka Lincoln Inn, Essex, VT

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Back in 2007-2008, just about every Tuesday night my roommate and I use to go to the Lincoln Inn in Essex Junction. Now it’s known as On Tap. Why Tuesday’s? Well, each night of the week a live band would play, each night was a different genre. Tuesday’s happened to be bluegrass night. 🙂

Bluegrass night was run by Bob Degree who has a band of his own, Bob Degree and the Bluegrass Storm. Various Vermont bluegrass bands would play throughout the month, some that were familiar (Mad Mountain Scramblers) and some not so familiar.  We started going every Tuesday and they pretty much knew we were coming, making sure to save us a table and were ready with our usual orders (chicken strips with sweet potato fries and a side of honey mustard). Don’t forget a pint of Blackbeary Wheat or Switchback! It was the best time just hanging out with friends, listening to awesome music and drinking some great brews.

Last time I was home for the holidays, I met up with a few friends at On Tap. I was happy to see that they are still serving microbrews and having live music. There’s really nothing better than that atmosphere.

(March 2008)