It’s been a very busy couple of months with work, game season and obviously a rather epic break to the US, which has meant that blogging has had to take a bit of a back seat. That being said, I have really been looking forward to writing about my recent trip to the US and what better time to put pen to paper than while resting in the Christmas break. Victoria Knowles-Lacks (Founder and owner of The Shotgun & Chelsea Bun Club) and I travelled out to the US in November for an unbelievably brilliant whirlwind multi-stop tour to Dallas, Kansas and Missouri. Our good friend Barbara Baird, from Women’s Outdoor News managed to get both Victoria and I invited on the Governor of Kansas Annual Pheasant Hunt ‘The Ringneck Classic’ in Oakley, earlier in the year and so the seedlings for our trip had been sown.
As we were heading over to the other side of the pond Barbara also arranged for us to meet the wonderful Judy Rhodes as well as allowing Victoria and I to drive across states to impose on her hospitality in Missouri and Jim Millensifer, Board Member for the Ringneck Classic, gave us a once in a lifetime opportunity to have a day hunting on Prairie chickens! Vic and I had been looking forward to it from the moment we were first discussing it. Not only as a holiday and opportunity to hunt, but also being able to spend some time with some pretty awesome ladies from whom we could also learn a thing or two. As there is so much to write about, I will be writing blogs about each different part of the trip – so watch out in the coming weeks for the follow ups to this blog!
We flew out to Dallas on Saturday 12 November. On the Sunday (13th) afternoon, we were due to meet Michelle Cerino, a rising star in the shooting and fieldsports industry in the US, who would also be accompanying us to the Ringneck Classic. Michelle is managing editor for Women’s Outdoor News and also runs her own website Princess Gunslinger. Both Michelle and Barbara are so passionate about getting more women to enjoy the outdoors and are ambassadors for women’s shooting.
So, after a 10 hour flight, Vic and I arrived in Dallas Fort Worth a day earlier than we needed to land, but having both had hectic schedules recently, we thought we could take an extra day to relax and recover from the jet lag. After finding our hotel and dropping our bags we headed off to the Dallas mall for a mooch and some dinner. We stumbled across a TexMex restaurant and decided to get stuck in. Most of the food here was awesome although we were both rather traumatised by ‘queso’ – when you’ve eaten your body weight in fajitas the last thing you need staring back at you is a bowl full of guaranteed cardiac arrest! Victoria took much delight in the fact that I tried to order ‘refined’ beans oops. I genuinely thought they were called that and not ‘refried’! Also, with hindsight, if I’d have known how much margaritas, jalapenos and cheese we would end up having during our time in Dallas I would have spent more time in the gym and made sure I packed some Gaviscon…
The Women's Outdoor News, aka The WON, features news, reviews and stories about women who are shooting, hunting, fishing and actively engaging in outdoor adventure. This publication is for women, by women. View all posts by The WON
