Five friends and I took a road trip down south to Austin, Texas to experience SXSW firsthand. This is the first in a series of blog posts that will highlight my favorite photographs and events from our journey to the lone star state.

Our trip began on Tuesday, March 16th 2010. We left blustery Chicago at approximately 10:30 P.M. After starting off in the wrong direction we finally found our way onto I-55 S. I took the first position in the driver seat. I kept driving until 4 A.M. We had some crazy conversations in the car in the middle of the night. Have you ever played "How Much Does Someone Have to Pay You to Do...?" Crazy weirdness ensued. I highly recommend it.

Despite my terrifying nightmares of the car sliding off the road and us crashing to our deaths, I managed to get a few hours of fitful sleep. Then the sun was up and we were in Arkansas. We stopped at an IHOP and had a well deserved breakfast. Our waiter had the most peculiar southern hospitality vibe and seemed like all he wanted out of life was to make our lives easier. He even offered to split the bill six ways for us! In Chicago, you'd really have to pull some strings to make something like that fly. (Take note restaurants of Chicago, Arkansas has you beat!)

You can check out some iPhone pictures from that IHOP in my SXSW iPhone Gallery on Facebook. It should be public for all to view.

What follows are the images I snapped on our daylight ride through Arkansas and Texas on our way to Austin. If you become a Fan of my Facebook Page, you will see more unedited pictures from the trip down. These are my favorites.

[Edit: The birds here are Great-tailed Grackles.]