May 18, 2013 - Arlington, TX

Saturday Arlington, TX Treetops RV Park Time has flown by and it’s hard to believe we leave Arlington tomorrow. We have enjoyed our time here and best of all the time we could spend with family. The location of the RV park is so convenient to numerous shopping options and restaurants, we have become very spoiled with all the choices. Here’s a list of the restaurants we visited during our stay and most of them are only about 2 miles from the RV park: Bamboo Pho & Springroll (Vietnamese) Thai House Thai Basil Black Eyed Pea BJ’s Restaurant...

May 17, 2013 - Caddo Lake State Park 3

I love paddling in the morning; everybody’s awake and out in the open, looking for breakfast, looking for sunshine, or just taking advantage of the cover of dim light. The gar dart away, and turtles… some no larger than a silver dollar, watch warily as the kayak slips quietly by. The barred owl’s calls of “who cooks for yooouuuu, who cooks for yooouuuu?” echo through the cypress trees as if carried on the wind. Back at the park, around 11:00… the skies are dark, and the thunder is deafening outside the bathrooms. My only company is a...

May 16, 2013 - Amarillo, TX

Back in Texas! Amarillo is a surprisingly large city, the 14th largest city in Texas at 191,000 people. The city is known as "The Yellow Rose of Texas", therefore taking its name from the Spanish word for yellow. I'm pretty sure the 'yellow rose' thing came long after the town was named, so I still don't know why the Spanish gave it that name. Amarillo has one of the largest meat packing industries in the United States. Pantex, the only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility in the country, is also a major employer. There are...

May 16, 2013 - The Big Texan Steak Ranch

Up and on the road early. No problem getting up the hill and around the curves out of the canyon. Headed for Amarillo, Texas. Easy drive. Stayed on I-40 as Rte 66 disappears in this part of Texas. Stayed at the Amarillo Ranch RV Park. Interesting place. Lots of semi-permanent residents. Most of them seem to be transient workers associated with the oil or cattle industry. They buy RVs instead of staying in motels or hotels. Dinner out at The Big Texan Steak Ranch. The restaurant picked us up at our campsite in a limo-van and took us to the...

May 16, 2013 - Dallas, TX

Day 1 Tour of George W. Bush Library, Dallas Cowboy Football Staduim and the Glockenspiel Gun Fight in Grapevinw. Day 2 Tour Dealey Plaza. JFK Assassination Trail, Pioneer Cattle Drive, Tour of Southfork Ranch and Dinner at Southfork where Dallas was filmed. Day 3 Bureau of Engraving and Printing where they make the US Paper Money, Tour of the Horse Country and Working Reining Horse Ranch, Nascar Texas Motor Speedway with a ride in the Pace car. Day 4 Longhorn Cattle Drive, Stockyard Station, Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, Cowgirl Hall of...

May 15, 2013 - Cedar Hill State Park

We're now living in a gated community - well, if you call a state park a community, but it does have gates. And they close at 10, but we're never out that late. We have a very nice spot in Cedar Hill State Park just 20 miles south of Dallas. As much as we enjoyed Austin, we really do prefer the state parks as most state parks have generous sites. This one is no exception and as the name would suggest, is covered with beautiful Cedar trees. The campsites are very private and lush by Texas standards. Even with our privacy, we have a view of...

May 15, 2013 - Texas Civil War Museum

Texas Civil War Museum, another amazing museum. Divided in half, left side contains Union objects, artifacts, pictures and explanations while the right side of the museum contains the Confederate items. Further in the museum the Texas battles are explained. Toward the end of the museum, there are cases of gorgeous Victorian gowns and dresses on mannequins.

May 14, 2013 - DAR Meeting

This morning I attended the last meeting of the 2012-13 fiscal year for my chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. It included a memorial service for the six members who have passed away this year. After the meeting, a number of us attended the new-member luncheon at Opal Divine’s. We walked over there from our parking lot. While we waited for our food, there was a discussion of various topics of interest to new members. New members who have been in the chapter for two years or less (“little sisters”) were paired with...

May 14, 2013 - Dallas, TX

Tue, 14 May: A short day distance wise but somewhat nerve wracking due to the traffic. We departed the MCD Innovations facility in McKinney a few minutes after nine. A quick (1.5) mile drive to a nearby QT Service Station where we topped off our diesel tank at "only" $3.499/gallon. Guess this is the "new normal" where $3.499/gallon for fuel is something to celebrate? After filling Carpe's tank we connected Carpe Dinkum and jumped on US 75 southbound. We encountered some late commute traffic, but it was nothing too serious, just nettlesome....

May 13, 2013 - George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum

Kay and I spent the afternoon touring this presidential library and museum. It examines the 911 attacks, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, various domestic programs (Social Security, Medicare, Immigration, etc.)and other major events and initiatives of the Bush Administration. There is a full-size reproduction of the Oval Office, the Texas Rose Garden and a view of Life in the White House which allows visitors to experience the public and private areas of the First Family's home. The Museum employs immersive interactive features that tell...

May 12, 2013 - McKinney, TX

Sun, 12 May: Happy Mothers Day to all... Our Sunday Drive took us 97 miles from Lindale to McKinney. McKinney is a northern suburb of Dallas and the home of MCD Innovations. We're at the MCD factory to have our MCD shades looked at and, hopefully, correctly adjusted. We love the shades but they've never been adjusted correctly since we had them installed. We're hopeful the folks at the factory can do it right. We left the Lindale Lowe's parking lot a bit after eight following a very restful nite. The traffic on nearby US 69 quieted down...

May 12, 2013 - Mothers Day at Galveston Beach

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms. Don and I had a wonderful Mother's Day at Galveston Beach. A bit cloudy but lots of "people watching" to do. I have been pleasantly surprised with the gulf coast of Texas; Corpus Christi is my favorite but I like Galveston too. I especially enjoyed yesterday celebrating our 45th wedding anniversary with my sweetie. As usual, he spoiled me rotten; a dozen red roses, creamed chip beef for breakfast, shrimp for lunch and (all cooked at our campsite) filet mignon, salad, twice baked potatoes and strawberry...