After the I-70 trek for much of the first part of the trip, we switched to Interstate 35. We followed it an impossible number of miles south. Past the Flint Hills in all their green-hued glory. On roads that stretched out before us. The girls commented on the beauty and vastness during this drive.
Across the state line of Oklahoma. Before pausing briefly for the taste of Braums burgers, fries, and ice cream
Continued the trek south. Stumbled on the Chickasaw Nation Visitor Center/Rest Area adjacent to Bedre Chocolate Factory!! What are the chances of that! Jeremy grabbed the free coffee from the Visitor’s Center. The girls and I picked out some amazing chocolate truffles that were not made for the 90+ degree heat that was waiting on the outside of the factory. We enjoyed them before they melted in to a puddle of mush. They were delicious.
Finally, I-35 crossed another state border – Texas. We stopped at the welcome center to take a picture with the sign (which is a sporadic occurrence on our trip). While they say everything is bigger in Texas… their state sign is not. But here we are – new state and the state of our destination for the night.
We pulled in at some point in the day to our hotel in Fort Worth, Texas. I honestly have no recollection of what we did that evening – I don’t think we swam. (We swam… I found a picture!) I do think Jeremy brought food back from a restaurant for supper. And I am fairly certain this is where Ellie was freaking out about the tornado watch that popped up on her weather app…. which she then preceded to check every 2 minutes or so for an update. At some point, we went to bed.
The next day, we planned a spur-of-the-moment tour of the Texas Ranger Stadium (checking another MLB stadium off Jeremy’s list). I will say the girls and I were semi-reluctant participants, especially me since it was a late addition and not on our original itinerary. (I am learning to be flexible; it just takes me a few moments.) That said, I think we all enjoyed it more than we thought we would … and maybe more than Jeremy did! Madison especially like that we went behind a lot of doors that said “Authorized Personnel only” or “Unauthorized Personnel will be Prosecuted.” There were also fancy club areas with posh chairs, buffets lines, never-ending snack walls, and access to touch the dirt on the field if you sat in some seats. We learned that pitchers get to choose the uniforms the home team wears, so the mural of shirts below represents all the Rangers uniforms that are worn. Here is an overview of all the things….
The stadium is right next to the Dallas Cowboys stadium and the previous (fairly new) stadium of the Rangers, now used for a variety of other things.
It was during the tour that we received a text to pray for my nephew, Sam, who had the fingers of his right hand caught in a wood splitter. They were rushing him to the ER via the ambulance. It was a sobering text, and threw us out of vacation mode for a bit, but I am so thankful we knew and could start praying.
We left the stadium and headed to Waco, Texas, the home of Magnolia Silos, the creation of Chip and Joanna Gaines, the stars of Fixer Upper home reno show. The girls were very excited that we would be passing through and could stop. It is about a city square big. There are two big silos, two home stores, various little food eateries/food trucks, a variety of small specialty shops, a small ball field and green area for kids to play, a restored church, and a bakery. It was hot – like feels like a 114F hot. The shops were cool breaks from the heat, so we went in every one.
We left around 4pm to get to our final destination just north of Austin, Texas, where Jeremy’s aunt Lisa lives. She greeted us with a spread of veggies and hummus to much on while we talked and stretched our legs a bit. That night we had fun making our own personal pizzas with a variety of toppings. They were delicious and hit the spot.
We sat on her back patio watching a lightning storm for awhile that evening. The girls were both in awe and in fear of this, but it was quite a show!
The next morning while everyone slept soundly…
…I ventured to a walking path in her allotment. It was warm out already, but there was a decent amount of shade provided by the trees. I did a few laps around the circle, enjoying the flowers, trees, and even a small fawn that bounded out of his hiding spot when he heard me coming. (I do not run or walk lightly apparently!) The path was .3 miles and was a good place to move a bit.
After breakfast and a shower, we headed into downtown Austin. We went to the Capitol building for a self-guided tour. Capitol buildings are always so grand, definitely making a statement. This one stands taller than the US Capital building in DC. I think Texas was making a point…
From there we went to Austin Main Library. It was much newer than the KC library, but they were both fun to visit. This one also had a rooftop garden and seating area, which would have been more enjoyable in cooler weather. The girls browsed the books, taking pictures of titles that looked interesting to check out from our local library when we got home. It was a good stop.
While we were at the library, Jeremy walked to Juan Pelota’s bike shop. It is a bike shop associated with Lance Armstrong. He said he was conflicted about whether to visit since Lance kinda ruined himself with his arrogant attitude about his drug use during the Tour. He didn’t buy anything, but he did go look.
We brought BBQ and Voodoo Doughnuts home that night to enjoy with Lisa.
Then, she and Jeremy worked to conquer installing a TV mount above her fireplace.
The next morning was Father’s Day. The girls cooked breakfast – eggs, fruit, yogurt, and Voodoo Doughnuts. (They were going to do pancakes, but then we went and got doughnuts…)
From there, we packed up some swimming gear and headed to the pool connected with Lisa’s HOA. The girls were really excited when we pulled in. It was pretty big for swimming around and had TWO fun slides!! It was another incredibly hot day. We all got in and all went down the slides. I sat in the shaded area a bit to dry off, but it was too hot to just bake in the sun.
That evening Lisa made us some tasty chicken tortilla soup for dinner before we went out for the night. We stopped at a souvenir shop first.
Then, we went on a riverboat bat cruise in downtown Austin. A highly visited spot in Austin is this downtown bridge. The way it was constructed provides for literally millions of bats to roast in the crevasses during the year. Then, at night, they all exit in a spectacular, never-ending swoop of bats to go feed on all the bugs. We boarded our boat before sunset and headed out.
The tour guide was enjoyable – telling about the various buildings on the Austin skyline and interjecting with humor. Google is there, Dell. Silicon Labs. Facebook. The library. The “Flash Drive” building. The “Owl” building. The (tiny) skyscraper that was built for fire fighting practice decades ago (last picture… it looks like a tiny bell tower!).
We watched the sunset.
And then we waited for the bats. Except we didn’t really ever see the mass exodus. Because apparently the this is a female colony, and they are all pregnant. Due in early July. So, they still feed, but they exit differently. But come back in September when it is a bit cooler and they have had their babies… you will see twice as many bats flood out. That said, it was still interesting. You could hear them before you could see them. They did exit. And there were a lot of them. It was just hard to catch it in a photo. The videos we got were a little better.
And that was a wrap on Texas.
We left Monday morning for a fairly lengthy drive down a new interstate in a new direction.
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