After a week on Galveston Island, I returned to Houston to do a bit of exploring. I had originally intended on hitting a few restaurants and museums, then moving on to Louisiana; but after meeting a wine broker that was tied into the local scene, my trip took an interesting turn.

Giggle all that you want on this – I had a blast playing bingo on a Tuesday night with hundreds of other Houstonians. Believe it or not, I actually won a game and seemed to bring some good luck to the group I was with – several of us went home with cash in our pockets!

I also learned about a Mexican restaurant with an outdoor stage in a seedy part of town that has live music until the wee hours of the morning. There I met some interesting characters, many of whom were there to participate in the drum circle. (from what I heard, if you bring a drum, you get in for free).

Getting to mix with the locals in Houston was awesome – so much that I wound up staying another week to see what other oddities I could uncover.

click to expand photos below: 1: Bingo in Houston 2: A Funky Mexican Restaurant 3: Drummers Gather 4: Kate, the wine broker

After a few days (and some long nights) in Austin during South by SouthWest (SXSW) Music and Media Conference, I linked up with a few high school buddies. We drove to Houston for the Houston Rodeo championships – which was definitely an experience. I was expecting guys riding bulls and some cow calves getting lassoed. What I didn’t know about were events like chuck wagon races and bronco riding (which seems terrifyingly horrific for the rider). The most unexpected event, before moving on from the rodeo ramble, was “Mutton Busting”, better described as “little kids riding sheep”. (google it!)

While I was there, I learned that Galveston Island, which was at the tail end of a Spring Break influx, was only 45 minutes away. After my friends left Houston for their respective home-states, I headed out for Galveston – where I received a warm welcome from a few twitter-ers (tweeters? twits?). Specifically, RoShelle Gaskins with the Galveston Island Convention & Visitors Bureau, who tweets as @galvestonisland and Christine Hopkins, who handles PR for the Hotel Galvez, The Tremont House and Harbor House Hotel.

I ate at quite a variety of restaurants Galveston, a town that is still in recovery from Hurricane Ike  in 2008. I got a chance to meet Executive Chef Jerry Helminski from Bernardo’s (in the Hotel Galvez) before diving into an amazing Sunday brunch buffet. On a completely different end of the spectrum, I had fried pickles for the first time at The Spot, a biker-friendly shack overlooking the sea wall. (which was built after the hurricane of 1900 that devastated the area).

My initial intention was to spend a night or two on Galveston Island, but after a few days parked on the beach at Galveston Island State Park, I just couldn’t pull myself away. The entire island is very dog friendly, so Sid and I had a blast running on the beach several times a day. I wound up sticking around for almost an entire week!

My favorite photos from that week aren’t the most beautiful aspects of Galveston Island, but rather reminders of the devastation that hit the island two years ago. Many of the locals, including some of the State Park Rangers, explained to me that recovery from Hurricane Ike has been slow due to limited Federal aid.

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After discovering that there was snow on the ground in Flagstaff, I decided to change my route slightly and head south, along the Mexican border. A few extended stays at remote spots in the Arizona desert had me zipping through New Mexico a little quicker than I would have liked to. South by Southwest Music and Media Conference in Austin, Texas was approaching quickly and I had plans to meet some childhood friends that were coming down from Pennsylvania.

I’ll definitely make my way back to New Mexico, but not this time around. Next stop – Houston.

Photo of the "Recycled Road Runner" at a rest stop in Las Cruces, New Mexico where I spent a night in the Winnebago. It was over 20ft tall and made of old shoes, bags and other trash.

As I mentioned in a recent post on my Pismo Beach trip, I had an idea that I wanted to play around with in the sand dunes, but I needed a model. Luckily, a local student, Kaelen, was brave enough to venture out to the Pismo Dunes with only a loose concept and the promise of some head shots to add to her modeling portfolio, which she’s developing for fun. In situations like this, where my concept really wouldn’t help the model get exposure or build their portfolio, I will try to capture some additional shots for their book.

I asked Kaelen to bring a few items from her closet that she has hung on to, but never really worn. One of the things that she pulled out when we were deciding what to bring out to the dunes with us was an odd-looking knit top that was long enough to be a dress. I immediately saw potential and we tossed that in with my gear, along with some scarves that she had with her.

We knocked out the shots that I needed for my project (which is still in my photoshop queue) and started playing around with some images of Kaelen for her portfolio. The natural light out on the Pismo Dunes was amazing that day. And I was right about the knit top.

(click to expand the photos below)