Day 1 HWY 83 - Brownsville to Laredo

Flew into Brownsville, Tx yesterday.  Kickstand down at the Pecan Tree Motel.  No wifi, no cable tv, took a walk and enjoyed the evening light.  

But...let me back up a bit.  After landing at Brownsville, rang up Mad Boar Harley-Davidson.  The LowRider had been shipped to them.  Juan, the service manager told me to sit tight.  He would send one of his guys over to pick me up.  "Just look for a truck with Mad Boar HD on the door".  That's when I met IBM.  Now all bikers have biker names.  That's just part of it.  "First things first...we need to stop and get you some lunch, then we're goin' stop by and see when Freddy Fender is laid to rest."  As we're ridin' along I'm waiting for IBM to tell me about his name.  Finally, after several very colorful stories of his early days growing up in the area he confides in me.  "When I was a young kid I was very small.  One day my grandfather started calling me IBM.  Now I'm no f*#&kin' computer guy, so I ask my grandfather what does this name mean...simple he says...Itty...Bitty..Mexican.  Just stuck ever since."

IBM stops the truck.  Freddy Fender was born in San Benito, Tx.  He was a county and rock and roll artist working both solo and with the group Los Super Seven.  IBM tells me about the band he was in and how they opened once for Freddy.  It was at that gig IBM met his wife.  They had one son.

IBM turns and in a quiet moment says..."Here is my son next to Freddy.  He served in the Army.  A mortar round in Iraq took his life."  I thought I was just getting a ride to pick up a motorcycle.  In a few short minutes a man called IBM had shared a big part of his life with me.

HWY 83 is dedicated as the Texas Vietnam Memorial Highway.  Town after town pays tribute to those who were lost and served in Vietnam. 

Between the towns of Weslaco and Mercedes is the last operating drive-in movie theater on HWY 83.  The Wes-Mer is a family run business.  The charge is a flat $10 per car and includes two movies per night.

Family businesses and services line the streets in the small towns of the Rio Grande Valley.

230 miles today.  Kickstand down in Laredo, Tx tonight.  Always a good motel when you can park at the door to your room. 

be strong, be safe, Talon

 

HWY 83 - Surfaced All The Way

 On the road again!  Flying to Brownsvile, TX tomorrow and ridin' a spankin' new 2018 Harley-Davidson LowRider from the Gulf of Mexico north to Canada.  On assignment for HOG Magazine.  US HWY 83 runs roughly along the 100th Meridian.  Been told this road marks the historic divide between the civilized eastern United States and the real American West.

Be stopping by the Spinach Capital of the World, lookin' for the largest oak tree in Texas, havin' a real milk shake made at the oldest Rexall Drug Store in the west, checkin' out the Chalk Pyramids in Kansas,  paying respect to Sitting Bull, visiting the Knife River Indian Village in South Dakota...the list just goes on.

Anyway, wifi permitting,  tune in here everyday for the latest road trip reports.  If You live along HWY 83 give me a shout out and we can grab a cup of coffee.

be strong, be safe, Talon

 Eleven Most Endangered Places

The Greater Chaco Landscape includes Chaco Culture National Historical Park and many cultural sacred sites in the surrounding landscape that are affiliated with Chaco.  Over the years, the BLM has leased more than 90 percent of its managed landscape for oil and gas development.  In 2011 The National Trust for Historic Preservation designated the Greater Chaco Landscape as one of the nation's "Eleven Most Endangered Places".

Forty miles north of Chaco near the Great North Road a Sacred Site is surrounded by the industrialization of the landscape. Last week Nancy and I documented this Sacred Site and the Greater Chaco Landscape surrounding it.  The landscape is fragile.  The threat is real.  Photographs are stronger than words...

Click here to view the story 

be strong, be safe, Talon

Meet John Wayne...yes, really!

Yes, his real name is John Wayne.  He is a "real deal" cattle wrangler working on ranches here in New Mexico.  The Southwest is filled with so many incredible real individuals. I am teaching a photography workshop at the Santa Fe Photography Workshops coming up on July 8 - 13, 2018.  It's all about making real portraits of individuals like John Wayne who make up the true character of the American Southwest.

This workshop goes beyond cowboy portraits to explore and discover the iconic western portrait in its many faces. Each day, we photograph on location to document the many different characters that make up New Mexico.  We learn to see, express, and create meaningful portraits which reflect the individuals of the Southwest.  Light, location, and moment become our daily tools.

Join me in Santa Fe for an exciting week of making Portraits of the American Southwest.  You can follow this link for more information and to signup. Santa Fe Photographic Workshops.

Look forward to our paths meeting in Santa Fe.

be strong, be safe, Talon