This is about as far north as we are looking to move, any further and then it gets cold, they can even have snow! We want 3 seasons, and maybe a day or two of some light snow where it melts within 24 hours then goes back to the 50's at least! Using a fireplace would be really cool! My moms family lives outside of Fort Worth, my Aunt Dawn and cousin Tanya. It would be nice to live close to family, distant family that isJ
We decided to continue staying at Texas State Parks since we have had such good luck with them so far. Cedar Hill State Park was located just on the outskirts of Dallas Fort Worth area and about 30 minutes from Tanya’s house. We drove through a congested area on the high way to get to Cedar Hill State Park where the road ended. It was an oasis outside of the hustle and bustle. You were close enough to everything you needed but far enough away to hear only the crickets outside.
Our sight was on a hill and the view below was breathtaking. Morning or night. Our campground was on the water, not our site, we were walking distance to it. But we had the view of it.
There were only 2 other campers in our area when we got there and they were only there for 1 night. We weren’t going to be spending much time there anyways. To much to see and do. After hooking up we took a walk to the bath house. Needed to see what our options were. Yes we do have a full size shower and toilet in our Camper. But the water pressure isn’t so great and with 4 of us, it tends to be easier and quicker if we all separate and get our showers done. Except for Gabe. He only likes the Camper shower. I don’t blame him. I take more in there than I do in the bathhouses.
My cousin Tanya invited us to stay at her house, but with 3 dogs and Gabes allergies, it was better to stay in the camper, plus we had our cat Kasey who we couldn’t leave alone. She also offered for us to park in her driveway if we wanted. She even measured it for us;) Her driveway measured 38 feet. We are 39 feet, without the tow dolly and the car. And we couldn’t park out front as we would of blocked 2 other driveways. It was so thoughtful and the fact that she did that amazes me, as most people wouldn’t of gone that far for someone else, family or not.
Tanya is a few years younger than me. We hadn’t kept in touch for the last 15 plus years, but when I contacted her a few months ago that we were going to be out in her area the first thing she said was come stay with her and anything we needed to let her know. Her dad, my Uncle Stan, passed away about 8 months before my dad did. Tanya, an only child, gave up her independent life and moved in with her parents to help her mom and to spend more time with her dad while she was able to. She is an amazing lady and I am so grateful that she is in my life again. She is the type of person you know will be there for you without question and you will do anything you can for her. I told her I would trade 3 of my siblings plus their spouses for herJ My time with her was a true blessing.
We spent the day on Saturday at Tanya’s house. Gabe hadn’t met her yet. She has no kids, but has 3 awesome dogs which he fell in love with, (thankfully no allergy issues), an in ground swimming pool with water guns, PLUS she had WIFI and a TV! According to Gabe it was heaven on earth! He loved being there and didn’t want to leave! Tanya and her fiancé Kerry made us an amazing dinner of stuffed jalapenos, steak and chicken fajitas and homemade guacamole and salsa. The homemade margaritas were a really nice touch. I didn’t want to leave either! Plus it was such a comforting feeling to be around her. Family. I loved it.
At this campsite there were a lot of rolly pollies. They are harmless and you mainly find them around water. So in the bathhouse shower, guess what we found? All over the walls and floor. I just used the shower head to push them away. Again, they are harmless, just a little unnerving that there were so many of them. The water pressure made up for them ! But the amount of privacy was an issue as there were only little curtains again. But we ended up being the only campers there so it didn’t make much of a difference. The reason why I stopped using the bathhouse on the 2nd day out of the 4 that we stayed?
This friendly looking guy was hanging above the bathroom door! AND he had a guest in his arms:) Each time you opened and closed the door it would rattle his a little, to the point of almost dropping his "guest". When you came out of the door you didn't have any idea if he would just be waiting for you to walk out or not! So I just assumed as not take a chance and used the camper shower instead.
Sunday came with a list of places we had to go visit. We toured around the Fort Worth area, but nothing really jumped out at us. We stayed off of a lot of the main highways as that wasn’t where we wanted to be, so driving to some of these town we were interested in we were on the small back roads. The surroundings was intermixed with rolling hills and homes spotted through out and then complete desolation.
We had read about and Tanya had told us about the “Fort Worth Stockyard”, a must see and visit. It is a small town with old western stores and restaurants, an old steam train runs through the middle taking you back and forth to the next town over with a few open air cars to enjoy the scenery in.
There was a cattle crossing down main street led by some real cowboys twice a day and re-enactments through out the town. We were able to see a real “shot out” in the old Cattle building that the train runs through.
We ate at the “Love Shack”, an outdoor restaurant that had a tree growing through it and big fans to help cool you off, it was in the high 90’s and HOT! An added bonus was a guitar player up on stage playing old country songs. They were known for their burgers, so we each ordered one. Joe chose a burger with pablano chilis, avodacos, jack cheese, lettuce and tomato, all grilled together, I had a bite and it was delicious. They grilled the burger and then put on the fixings and the bun and heated it all through. Sounds weird, but each of us are still talking about how good they were! I wish I took a picture!
Cool old buildings!AND with my name on it:)We went into Fort Worth on Monday to visit the CR Smith Museum located at the airport. CR Smith was a primary person in the start of American Airlines. It was a fascinating museum holding a lot of history. Originally American Airways came about to deliver mail across certain sections of the country, during war the planes were used to move our military men from one place to another,. They had replicas of the uniforms the flight attendants used to wear, food that used to be served and even copies of the gift bags that children used to receive when they would fly. There was a full size Douglas DC 3 that we were able to tour, I can’t imagine flying in one of those! It was a different time period flying back in the 50’s through to the 80’s. You used to be able to smoke on the plane, you had more access to the pilots and flight quarters, it was a special experience to fly then, dressing up to go on an airplane, it wasn’t an everyday thing.
It was time to head out West, towards Midland to the CAF museum, Monahan State Park known for their Sand Dunes, Ballmorhea State Park known for their 2 acre spring fed swimming hole and of course the town of Marfa where there are un explainable lights at night……hmmmmm. We came out empty handed on our search for a place to live, but enjoyed what we learned and the time we spent with my family.
No comments:
Post a Comment