Texas Finale (April 1 - 12), 2012

 

Cattle Drive at Stockyards in Fort Worth Texas

               Heading northward, we stayed overnight in Blanco State Park in Blanco, Texas.  Very nice campgound on the Blanco River  and a favorite swimming hole for cooling off  with the best showers we have found!!!  We then proceeded to Lake Whitney South of Fort Worth  for a few days at Thousand Trails Campground (one of our membership parks).  Very nice park which we spent the time doing camp duties like laundry and cleaning our motorhome.   Still venturing Northward to the Town of Granbury to visit with a retired friend of Mike's in the Town of Granbury. We stay at the nearby "Broken Spoke Campground" thanks to our Passport America Membership. Around the Town Square of Granbury was quite quaint with shops, restaurants, and a theater;  within the square featured Statue of General Granbury and the Hood County Court House.  While there, we visited Fort Worth to watch first hand the World's Only Daily Longhorn Cattle Drive right through the National Historical Stockyard District. The Stockyards Station has many ways to entertain and feed you. So a return trip to the Stockyards would be worth it for us. For the first-time Mike had a chance to try his hand at mechanical bulling-riding. He did pretty well until he fell off laughing. Another worth while tour was to see millions of dollars being printed at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing Western Currency Facility just outside Fort Worth.  There are only 2 printing facilities; the other one being in Washington DC.  [ Sorry No Photos or Cellphones ]       Buddy even enjoyed the time to meet and play with some big guys at Gateway Dog Park.

                                                            

Bull Riding at Stockyards

       

Hood County Courthouse Granbury

Our next destination was over to Dallas.  There was an Army Corp. of Engineer Park just north of Dallas called Hickory Creek. The sites were beautifully set on Lewisville Lake about 30 miles north from Downtown.  

                                                                                        

McKinney Ave. Trolley

In Dallas, we of course took the free Trolley along McKinney Ave. through the Art District and  to the Uptown neighborhood.

Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge

We also were lucky to ride on the newly opened Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge (oil heir) by architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava soaring over the Trinity River connecting West Dallas to downtown.  It is also the first steel bridge built in Dallas over the Trinity River.                                        
        

Location of First Shot at JFK.

Of course we had to visit the grassy knoll and the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza (Texas School Book Depository) -- to view the permanent exhibition of the life, death and legacy of President John F. Kennedy.  Here we relived that tragic moment in history and we also visited the John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza which represented an "open tomb" to symbolize the freedom of President Kennedy's Spirit.

Famous South Fork Ranch

                                        Our final destination in the Dallas Area was the South Fork Ranch in Parker, Texas where the famous "Dallas" TV Series was filmed.  From 1978 to 1991 this show kept viewers gripped as to who shot JR.  We toured the Ranch, The Ewing Mansion and saw Jock's Lincoln Continental.  They are doing a new sequel of "Dallas" with most of the original cast to be aired on TNT in June of this year.  Now South Fork is still a working ranch and has ten event ballrooms for social, corporate and convention events and sprawls over 300 acres.  We were fortunate because a baby calf was born that morning in one of the barns.
                                                                                          

President Eisenhower's Birthplace Home

         As we are about to depart the State of Texas we thought why not check out one more of their State Parks in Denison. The last time we were by this Eisenhower State Park is was Full and this time we are the only campers in their Armadillo Hill Camping Area overlooking the Texoma Lake.  This State Park, Veterans Monument and State Historic Site was named in the honor of the First American President born in Texas, Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower our 34th President.  Eisenhower was born on October 14,1890 in the downstairs bedroom of the family's rented house in the Town of Denison and now a State Historic Site.  This concludes our Texas adventures and we move northward through Oklahoma.                                                                        

Eisenhower Veterans Monument