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Woo Hoo the Texas Heat Wave is finally here. As the excitement boiled up in me I couldn't wait to get to Austin (not Boston) Texas for this years show. So like always I take off early and make a long weekend out of the deal so as soon as I got off work Thursday evening I took off on my 3hr journey to seeing old friends meeting new ones and drinking a lot of beer. Right when 5:30 rolled around we hit the road, First stop, beer store! We filled up the cooler and kept on truckin. Next stop was in Hillsboro TX to grab a bite to eat and see some of my family I never get to see, plus it is tradition to stop there on the way to THW and make sure nobody wants to roll with us.Last stop for the day Fast Eddies pool hall in Round Rock (about 20 min North of Austin). When we arrived here we met up with Ronnie and Jim and some other club members to play some pool, drink some beer and to shoot the shit ..err I mean crap. After leaving the pool hall a few of us headed to Jims house to terrorize the neighborhood till 4 in the morn before heading to bed. As Friday morning came early we headed out in route for Travis county fair grounds. As we pulled up to the show we knew that this was going to be the biggest year ever for THW. After finding a quick parking spot we picked up our press passes and checked out a few vendors before heading off to find some grub. With food in our stomachs we headed back to the show grounds where a lot of people have rolled in to get registered early and cleaned up for the weekend. When I was sitting there talking with fellow club members and watching people cruise by us I felt like a weight was lifted off my back and all my excitement was fulfilled because heat wave was finally happening, I say this because in my eyes THW missed last year and we had to wait 2 years for this one to come around, at least this is what I felt Friday. Holy crap its show time, sat morn, I hop out of bed throw some clothes on and I am out the door man I was like a kid getting to go to the local theme park for the first time, until I got there. Once at the grounds all I could say was "holy shit, what have I got myself into" I was seriously thinking about calling Garrick and say screw it I quit. This show was freaking HUGE, more vendors, more cars, more people, I could not believe my eyes and I was here all by myself.
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So I did what any photographer/boyfriend would do, I sent my girl to the mall, loaded my backpack full of beer, slapped on my funky pimp shades and tore ass walking. I started walking around 11:30am, only stopping for beer and bathroom breaks I didn't sit down but maybe 10-15 minutes before 6:30 when I left the grounds due to hunger and blisters on my feet. Now anybody that knows me or has seen me at shows know I like to hang out with everyone I come into contact with but if you were to seen me at THW you were either walking and talking with me or I was waving at you while I was walking bye. I apologize to those of you that I walked paste without saying anything to but yall seen how big that place was. After a hard days work it was time to head to my buddy's place where we where staying for the weekend. Saturday night was different for me this year; we kind of did the family thing by going to a nice restaurant and D&B before we met up with the guys to drink all night. Sunday came even morning came around and I was still tired as hell from the day before but I pressed on and headed back to the show to finish up what I left out. I picked up a feature that yall will see soon enough, and I hung out with the guys from tailgate while checking out the bikini contest. Once I saw that I was running low on beer and energy I said my goodbyes until next year and headed home. From what I could tell THW was a success and that everyone that went had a blast with no major complaints, there where no cops hassling us, I didn't see one fight, and I even heard that the awards where finished in a record breaking hour and a half. So there you go folks that is my story from THW and for those that didn't make it out due to prior experiences with the show, YALL MISSED OUT. Hopefully I will see you next year because the THW is back on top of the badass show list.By Chas Nichols
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