Year 1: Jason & Joseph travel to Marfa.

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May 10

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Since going, I have told approximately 50 people where I visited on my first official road trip & vacation of the year. 90% of them had no idea what or where I was referring to. I'll have to admit, I wasn't too familiar with it until several years ago. I kept seeing it through various web articles, and then noticed that No Country for Old Men & There Will Be Blood were both filmed on location in Marfa, Texas.Personally, my biggest desire was to visit this mysterious town loaded with every camera I currently have and I did just that. My good friend Jason and I embarked on our trip early (5am) on a Friday morning..set out to travel a daunting 576 miles. The day was definitely adventurous to say the least. My travel partner had the bright idea to take the "scenic" route..which involves taking HWY 90 out of San Antonio..instead of the normal route of continuing on with IH-10. I'll keep this short. Do NOT go that route. Immigration check after Del Rio. Not fun. German Shephard

Now, lets get on to the pretty pictures. I had a request to wear "driving clothes". I totally thieved this idea from my buddy Sam; but regardless it sounded fun.

@ the STOP N SHOP on the way

We were lucky enough to find the baddest place on earth to stay, once arriving in Marfa...the el cosmico

I won't say there are TONS of things to do in Marfa, but you can definitely fill a 3 day weekend with events. Mostly, if you like to explore..and you aren't afraid of the Border Control following you on a lonely road miles from the Mexico border.

Saturday morning, we hit up The Chinati Foundation, created by the late Donald Judd. For me, this was the highlight of our trip. I've always been an art enthusiast, but had never explored the world of installations. If you are like me, this is the place to fall in love with this corner of the art world. Here are a few of my favorite pictures while visiting.

The last one is my personal favorite. The work that is available to view @ The La Chinati is breathtaking, and I left asking, "how did he do that?"

Next we visited the famous "Prada Marfa". The big riddle? It's 35 minutes outside of Marfa..but still named...Prada Marfa. Interesting to say the least. Apparently, a few years ago an artist broke in and thieved all of the "left" shoes as a practical joke. People in Marfa..let him off easy..and he eventually returned the shoes without any charges.

For me, I used this trip as a time to explore my limits in photography. My first panaromic, my first time to meddle with cloning, and so on and so on. Point of this post? Convince you to visit Marfa. It really is an enchanting little town w/ one blinking stop light. That says a lot coming from a guy who grew up in a small town, and wanted to leave at the age of 4. If you go, relax, be polite, and enjoy the art.