Tailgate The Nation

When we got the nerve to leave Marfa it was around midnight. We decided our best option was to get loaded up on coffee and go for it. We drove through West Texas in the middle of the night, which was probably the riskiest thing we could have done considering the oil pressure was entering the red. For those of you not on the same page, driving through west Texas is pretty similar to driving on Mars, only a lot closer to the border of Mexico. To say it was deserted is an absolute understatement. There were no areas to stop, no gas stations and no cell service. The obstacle course consisted of jackrabbits, armadillos and deer in families of 3 or 4 (thankfully they were smart enough to stick to the side of the roads.
Of little concern at the time were the insects (giant alien dragonflies and love bugs). At some point we stopped and slept. We woke up at 10am in a junkyard and instantly hit the road. We finally made it to Austin around 4pm. It was our first game!
To be honest, it was very overwhelming being at our first tailgate with there being so many people and us only having an average of about 3 to 4 hours of sleep under our belts. Among the thousands of people at the tailgate, Jean-Michel recognized Bob and Lisa Wade – pretty good considering the situation. They were extremely accommodating and agreed to sneak us into the alumni center – they also agreed to lend us their tickets so we could get into the second half of the game. It just so happened that Bob was the artist that sculpted the mammoth sculpture of longhorns that hang over the alumni center café. He enthusiastically relayed some of his exploits as an art student, but before too long he and Lisa had to go into the game.
We grabbed some overpriced lunch and settled down for a moment. While we were hanging out at the alumni center we met Chase, an aspiring filmmaker. He had just moved from Cincinnati and was tagging along with his mom (a University of Texas alum). We got his info and he agreed to be our story assistant at a future shoot. We definitely look forward to it.
Once it was halftime the amount of people packed inside the alumni center was approaching insanity. Everyone was decked out in their UT orange uniform. Texas was up big on Louisianna Monroe as would be expected (they’re ranked #2 in the country). Everywhere you looked, fans were drinking their 7 dollar bud lights. We finally reconnected with Bob and Lisa – they gave us tickets to get into the second half
There was no way we were going to get into the game with our HD camera, tripod, and shotgun mic so JM stayed back with the equipment while one of us ran in to catch a glimpse of the game. They were up 30 points and fireworks were exploding overhead – the party had just started but, unfortunately it was time for us to move on.
We drove out before the traffic got too hectic. Both of us were pretty tired so we decided to crash out at an RV “Resort” in Austin. We learned later that when the word “resort” is associated with an RV park that usually means it’s a regular campsite but they get to triple their price. We chilled out for most of the next day and made arrangements to head to Houston.