After being on tornado watch last night we were a little anxious to get out of the storm path. We left camp at 6 am heading west. It was quite dreary, drippy and dark when we crossed the 'Ole Miss for the last time on this trip. I would have taken pictures of Louisiana - but I was kind of dozing off and on for awhile. It really didn't take too long to traverse the state - most of the scenery was trees or swampy land - there weren't too many towns along the interstate. When we got to the Texas border we stopped at their information center. It was great and had every bit of information we could think of, probably even more.
We (I should say "I") missed two great pictures along the route. The first was a rest stop where all the tables had shade covers that looked like oil derricks. When I say this picture in Fort Worth I had to take it as a reminder of the earlier scene. This one was along either I-30 or I-35. The other great shot I missed was of fuel prices near Tyler, Texas. The Pilot truck stop advertised unleaded gas for $9.99/gal and diesel for $8.88/gal. We found out why - the station was still under construction! They didn't want people taking the offramp yet - we found out the hard way!
Camp was set up in Great Plains, Texas (between Dallas and Fort Worth) and then we headed in to the historic Stockyards of Fort Worth. It reminded me a little of Knotts Berry Farm before it was all fenced in. Families were enjoying the chance to walk around and maybe sit on a pony or ride a buckin' bronco machine. We actually got parked just five minutes before the twice daily "cattle drive" down Exchange St. The horns on these cattle were HUGE!
We found a roundhouse where the trains could be turned around. It looked like it would be interesting to watch the turntable in action.
Along Exchange St. we found the Stock Exchange - the Live Stock Exchange! This stockyard was at the end of the Chisholm Trail and has a fabulous history of old west cattle drives and auctions. Because it was a Sunday, and Mother's Day (a happy one to all of you mothers!) the town was crowded! We decided to walk the town and find a steakhouse to have a steak dinner. When in Texas, especially Fort Worth, we felt it was the only honorable thing to do.
After finding a Wells Fargo ATM (first one we've been to in 3600+ miles!) we had enough money to enter the door! Riscky's Steakhouse has been around for a long time, so we thought it would be a good choice to do our Texas Steak eating!
The inside of the restaurant was decorated like an old town. We had a steak dinner for two, but turned down the "calf fries" (like Rocky Mountain Oysters, aka testicles - yuck!) and opted for asparagus, salad and steak fries! It was plenty of food and we had full tummies when we left.
Remember the train roundtable we say earlier? When I went in to use the restroom, Gary found that it was being used to turn an engine around and he got to watch the whole thing. These pictures he took with his phone - pretty good! This first one shows the train lined up with the track on the right.
Now the train is lined up with the track on the left! It took off heading back to the cattle pens. Cool.
For the grandkids (and any other kids!) - Six Flags Over Texas was the first amusement park in the Six Flags series and we were able to see some of it from the freeway. We are actually only camped about five miles from it, so this campground would be a great staging point.
We had some fun trying to navigate our way to the stockyards, but the way home was a little easier. Tomorrow we expect to go see the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium and Texas Ranger Ballpark before we break camp. Ron, pictures are coming for your "8th Wonder of the World" !
I'll leave you with just one more note:
Don't Mess with TEXAS!
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