Down in the west Texas town of El Paso...I fell in love with that fine Texas beef!

Yes, in the land of Jesus, big boxes, tumbleweeds and Mexican shanty-towns on the horizon, I managed to find true love--and the reason human beings were meant to eat meat.

A lean, six-ounce "lady" filet that melts in your mouth and packs a solid protein punch. I have never felt so contented in my life (with a few exceptions, wink wink) as I did peering into the rattlesnake pit at Cattleman's after I wolfed down that grade A top choice morsel.

And props to my little 140-pound brother for picking clean the T-bone of a 32-oz (yes, people, that is two full pounds of red meat) cowboy steak.

It was an experience that buffered the Wildcats' crushing loss at the Sun Bowl. A heartbreaking loss of which I will no longer speak! And from that I only have minor scars--a Northwestern N etched into my face where the sun burned mine alabaster skin around the temporary tattoo I put on my face to show my allegiance. Only I could get a freaking sunburn in December.

It could have been worse too--I could have been seared by the debree of fireworks that rained down on us at the Fan Fiesta in downtown El Paso the night before the game. Magnificent display of pyrotechnics...unfortunately launched a little too low in the sky, straight into the wind that blew over the hundreds of NU/UCLA fans watching. Wolfie was filming the event for NU while a flaming piece of firework shot straight into his ear. RM got a hoodie full of ash. I escaped unscathed...but I still have a huge white N on my face...

And oh my the weather was fine! The people of the southwest may dress like it's winter outside when it is 70 degrees, but I broke out the flipflops and capris. It was a grand old time, until I stepped off the plane into the cold New York air on our return flight.

During my next Texas adventure, I will return from that neon, corporate world on the edge of a dust bowl peppered with trailer parks wearing a cowboy hat and turquoise boots...and nothing else.