So what is this thing called Texas School? Well, it's only the largest photographic school in the United States where students can come and study with one instructor for the entire week. Courses like learning about how to run your photography business, wedding photography, landscape photography, working with video, family portraiture, Photoshop, Lightroom and compositing classes are offered and the instructors really take their time to share their knowledge with you. I think I have attended every year since 2008, except for 2020 when the in-person school was cancelled due to COVID restrictions. In 2021, the school was able to be in person again at the Marriott Renaissance in Addison, TX. Generally the student population is around 1000-1100 people but with international travel at a standstill, there were still about 750 people who attended. We typically teach a one day class on "How to take the FAA's Part 107 test" and we had almost 40 students in our class this year.

Check out our friends home. Pam and Keith Kisielewski just moved back to Texas to their new home in Burleson, TX. They were in California all through the COVID lock down and we got to FaceTime them as often as we could. They are the best travel buddies and we've been so many places with them. They were also very kind to invite us to stay a night with them and leave Hermione plugged into electrical power so we could attend Texas School in Addison. The coolest thing about their house is that we got to stay in the GUEST QUARTERS! That's right, there was a beautiful one-bedroom furnished home behind their house that we had the privilege of staying in. Believe me when I say, we will mooch dock with them again. Moochdocking is when you stay in your friend's driveway for free but we actually stayed in their home so I guess Hermione was the one mooch docking!!

So back to Texas School and what goes on. Robert usually is a helper and he was assigned to Doug and Laura Bennett's Landscape Photography class. You will meet them again later in our travels as we meet up with them in Capitol Reef, Utah. I wanted to up my game on how to do video and get a feel for how to put it together for using on our YouTube channel, Grounded but Still Going, so I took the video class taught by Mitch Daniels and Billy Welliver. I have to say, it's a pretty fun class. Our class project is to create a video for the entire school to enjoy on the last day of class. What a hoot! Hopefully, I can link that video to this blog.

 I'm still learning about how to use my DSLR for video and am much better incorporating my GoPro 9 Black video but it's a steep learning curve so a lot of time, I stick to my photography to get our blog out but I hope by 2022, I can up the caliber of our videos so we can get more subscribers. If you get a chance to click on the link above, please leave us some love and Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

After our last day of Texas School, we headed back to College Station to enjoy a great dinner with family to celebrate my Mom's birthday and do an impromptu Mother's Day celebration all rolled into one. 

Soon it would be time to get back on the road and officially start our "Going West" tour or as my husband likes to refer to it as "The West Coast Swing". 

Check back with us as we head to Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef, but not before we do a quick trip to the Grand Canyon!

Thanks again for following our adventures! Keep the blue side up and remember "Life is not about the destination, but about the journey!"