Creation Evidence Museum

Sorry, but this post has been deleted because it is a part of our new book called Napkin Dreams!

 

Campground review - Dinosaur Valley State Park

I have been looking forward to our stay at Dinosaur Valley State Park for months. I was not disappointed! How amazing to walk in a stream and put your foot in a dinosaur track!

Cleanliness - 8 - State Parks are usually clean. No exception here.

Bathrooms - 8 - Hot, spacious showers and clean bathrooms.

Facility fun - 8 - Small playground. Dinosaur tracks throughout park near river bed. Hiking trails. Two giant fiberglass dinosaurs. There is also a small visitor center that has some displays and info on the tracks, the types of dinosaurs they think made them and the excavation of the tracks themselves.

Facility usefulness - 6 - Dump station, no full hook-ups, showers, dinosaur novelty store. No laundry.
Nearby attractions - 7 - Dino World (didn't go too expensive), Creation Evidence Museum and Fossil Rim Safari (did not go here either) are all very close. Fort Worth is 90 minutes away.

Staff - 6 - Rangers were helpful, not so much for the camp hosts.

Natural surroundings - 8 - Lots of great nature including the river running through the park.

Roominess 8 - Can't beat state parks for roominess. Of course they rarely have pull-through sites.

Value - 5 - we paid $25 a night. We also purchased a Texas State Park card for $60. This saved us $45 in entry fees, plus 1/2 price on the third night, for a total savings of $62. This card will also get us savings and wave all entry fees at future Texas State Parks.

Overall - 8

Sunset's First Report

This my first report from the road. I know you may be thinking how am I writing this report when snakes don't have arms and hands to write with. Well of course I am having one of those humans that feed me write. So next you are asking yourself how can I tell the human what I am thinking when I do not speak the human language. Let's just say I have ways to make my thoughts known that the humans are finally catching on to.

Life on the road has been pretty good for me so far. My home has been conveniently located next to a window so I get plenty of sunlight during the day and I can see the sites as they go by. I also get a nice view of the lovely wildlife around such as squirrels, chipmunks, sparrows, moles, baby armadillos, and well you get the idea. The humans still feed me the sleeping rats, but you can't blame a snake for dreaming.

I also sleep close the human boy who calls me his pet. This is nice for him, and nice for me because he always remembers to shut my light off at night this way. It is nice for another reason, I am high enough so that the youngest humans cannot reach up and bang on my glass walls.

I am still getting held a lot and we have been visiting some more of the humans recently and their young ones have wanted to hold me a lot. I have had a few baths in the RV bathtub, but the humans we are visiting have a big bath they offered to let me swim in their giant tub. I liked this so much I left them some surprises in their tub. This caused quite a stir for the humans. I do what I can to add excitement to their boring lives!

SUNSET BEING HELD BY DESS

Well that's all for now from the road. Stay tuned for more Sunset Reports as we travel the US!

Abilene

At the moment we are staying in the driveway of our good friends Dave and Kandace Raymond in Abilene, Texas. We know the Raymonds from when we both lived in Roanoke. The Raymonds are one family that we know that have adopted more kids than us! We are at three (and holding) and the Raymonds have adopted all four of their children.

Today we went with some of the family to the Abilene Zoo. This zoo is on our reciprocal membership so we got in for free We saved at least $40 this time with our membership. This was a great little zoo. We got some crackers at the entrance and got to feed some of the animals. The giraffes were the highlight of the feeding trip. Check out the video below of the giraffes and the other highlights. We also loved feeding the Colobus monkeys leaves and special grass they wanted. Brendan enjoyed being the prey for the mountain lions who were thinking he looked like a yummy snack. Thank goodness for the bars! Another great highlight was getting to see the five baby lions! All the kids and parents were cooing over them.

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Dublin Dr Pepper

If anyone knows me I am a man of simple and well-known tastes. Among those tastes I have is a strong affection for pop. And two pops stand out head and shoulders above the rest, Coke Classic and Dr. Pepper. These days I mostly drink Coke Zero or Diet Dr. Pepper, but they are simply a cut below the big two.

So when I heard about the Dublin Dr. Pepper Bottling Plant in Dublin, Texas, my curiosity was naturally piqued. You see in the early 1970s the Dr. Pepper bottling company, along with most other major soda companies, switched from using pure sugar cane in their soda to the cheaper corn syrup. The Dublin plant's owner didn't like the new taste. Since her owner had an original franchise dating back to the turn of the century, she had the right to keep using the first recipe.

Today the Dublin plant is the only plant to use real sugar in their Dr. Pepper, and you can tell the difference!

So not only do they give you a tour of the factory and the adjoining mini-museum, you get a free Dublin Dr. Pepper with each ticket, for our family that totaled $10. Then I bought a six pack for the road. Oh, and before I forget, they come in glass bottles. Pure American heaven!

Campground review - Austin Lone Star RV Resort

After our last bad experience in Dallas the Austin Lone Star RV Resort was like an oasis of relief! We would go back if we are ever back in Austin!

Cleanliness - 9 - Good crew working hard to maintain this park

Bathrooms - 8 - Lots of them and all were very clean. almost all of them worked great, a couple of the shower faucets had issues, but that was no big deal, just move to one that worked

Facility fun - 7 - A very nice pool, warm because they used a heating pad, and it had a nice kiddie area at 1 1/2 feet deep. Very small playground.We didn't visit the game room area. On weekends they have all you can eat pancakes for $2 each.

Facility usefulness - 7 - Dump station, full hook-ups, showers, laundry and a decent store. We had to get a new hose and they had several to choose from. Huge speed bumps and narrow roads make it hard to drive a bigger rig.

Nearby attractions - 7 - Austin nearby. San Antonio farther down the road.

Staff - 7 - Nice folks.

Natural surroundings - 7 - A ton of bushes, trees and and other green things separate the sites.

Roominess 6 - Not a ton of room, but after the last place we felt like it was acreage.

Value - 7 - we paid a little $21 a night. We used our Passport America membership card.

Overall - 7

Eating large in Texas

Today we tried to be adventurous with food and set off as culinary tourists to some moderately well known places. First we hit the Lone Star Bakery in Round Rock, Texas where they have donuts as big as your head , or bigger depending on the size of your actual melon! We were not disappointed! For $6 you can buy one big donut, which was as good as buying a dozen regular sized ones! It was pretty tasty too. Not that I had much because of the five ravenous wolves in my pack. You can get either glazed or chocolate covered. We got one of each and saved one for tomorrow's breakfast!!

Then we went to Louie Mueller's Barbecue in Taylor, Texas. This little hole in the wall restaurant has been featured on the Food Network's Diners, Dives and Drive-ins. When you drive into this dusty little town you can scarcely believe that some pretty famous people have come from all over to eat at this place. But we smelled some good BBQ as we walked up the sidewalk to the diner. We arrived to an empty restaurant and very apologetic manager who said they had to evacuate the building because they had just called 911 due to a fire in one of "their pits!"

Next thing we know a fire truck and police car are pulling up and are dreams of good Texas barbecue were up in smokes! So we punched in barbecue on the GPS and saw a place called Salt Lick back in Round Rock. We went there, but it was too nice, too pricey and not enough meat or BBQ! Maybe when we are back in the area in December we can come back! My mouth is already watering.

Zilker Park

Today’s Family Friendly Free-bee is probably one of the most family friendly of our free-bees so far. It is Zilker Park in Austin, TX and it is 100% kid friendly. The whole park is set up in several different sections, so that there is something for everyone. There are extensive gardens for those who enjoy quiet walks through beautiful backgrounds of riotous color and flowery fragrance. (That doesn’t happen often with young boys, but we did manage a little bit of peace in the rose and oriental gardens.)Another part of the park is called the Austin Nature Center. It is packed full of things to see, feel and experience. We looked through the little building full of bugs, skins, bones and rocks with the help of the vast quantity of magnifying glasses provided to us. Then we went outside to view the animals in their little zoo. The bobcat was in a playful mood and the birds of prey were beautiful. It seemed that many of these animals had once been pets and were now donated to the Nature Center. Because of this, they seemed to be much more friendly than most animals you see in a zoo.
One of the boys’ favorite parts was the dinosaur pits. These are huge pits filled with sand and buried in the depths of each of them are large replicas of dinosaur bones. Of course, there are many shovels and brushes lying about to encourage the children to dig up the bones. My sons needed no encouragement, give them a shovel and a pile of sand, and they are in heaven. When they had finally finished digging and re-digging every fossil in the pits, we brushed them off and headed back home.
There was virtually nothing in the entire park that they were not allowed to touch or explore. It’s a kid’s paradise, and the cost makes it a parent’s best friend. It’s 5 thumbs up again from the Martin boys. (Well, all except maybe the time I spent in the rose garden, but they did love exploring the oriental garden with all it’s paths, streams and bridges.)

Enjoy the picture show. We liked so many we took we couldn't choose!

Austin Bat Colony

Today’s Family Friendly Free-bee is actually something that only happens at night, so I guess it should be called Tonight’s Family Friendly Free-bee. In Austin, TX there is a bridge downtown on Congress Avenue. This is the home of some rather interesting creatures. There are more than a million and a half of them, and they make their home under this bridge. What are they? Bats.

That’s right; over a million and a half urban bats live under the Congress Avenue Bridge in downtown Austin, TX. Now, going down to the bridge and looking for the bats is not very productive. They are well hidden and asleep all day long. However, if you want to see something truly amazing, sit on the grassy hill in the shadow of the bridge and wait for the beginnings of sunset. Then, as if magically orchestrated, the bats suddenly begin to immerge and fly in chorus around the columns of the bridge and along the bank of the river. Tonight’s performance began at 7:20 pm and lasted for more than 5 minutes. It was amazing.

Our sons were full of questions about why the bats all waited until the same time to appear and why they all followed the same flight path. Was there a leader they all followed? Did they all communicate and vote on when they would be going out for the night? Why didn’t they break off into groups to go hunting? Wouldn’t there be more food if they weren’t all together like that? We will probably be scouring the internet in order to satisfy their curiosity.
Our family gave this one 5 thumbs up. The waiting wasn’t even bad since you can call the bat hot line to find out approximately when the bats will be taking off. They tell you when to expect the bats based on the habits of recent days and the time of year. It’s pretty cool, but don’t forget your camera.

Campground review - Sandy Lake RV Park

Had our first bad experience in Sandy Lake RV Park in Carrollton, Texas. Not recommending this park for all you travelers out there!

Cleanliness - 3 - Lots of people living there full time had junk out at the their sites. Dogs ran around loose. We had broken glass on our pad.

Bathrooms - 4 - The guys thought the boys bathrooms were not too bad. Patsy hated the girls bathroom. She said there was no privacy and the bathroom wasn't marked woman so she was afraid a guy might come in by mistake. Also there was no soap in the dispenser the entire three days we were there.

Facility fun - 5 - A decent size pool, but we found it to cold. A game room with pool table, foosball and ping pong. No playground.

Facility usefulness - 6 - Dump station, full hook-ups, showers, laundry (bring your own coins, no change machine) They did have a little store.

Nearby attractions - 9 - Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.
Staff - 6 - Only met one lady. Office wasn't open over the weekend much.

Natural surroundings - 4 - Lots of trees with plenty of acorns, close to major interstates.

Roominess 1 - Packed in like sardines and we could barely get out it was so crowded. To top it off there was huge curb to go over to get out. Had to hook up the toadie after we got out.

Value - 7 - we paid a little over $26 average a night. Sunday night was the cheapest at $17. We used both our Passport America and Escapees membership cards.

Overall - 4

JFK Assassination site

So I'm one weird dude who puts visiting the JFK assassination location on the top of his must see list when visiting Dallas with his family. With a passion for history that I hope to pass on at least to some of my sons, I will continue to bring my kids to these historical sites. So far it this love of history has rubbed off on Patsy and at least one of my sons.

The JFK site is a strange one because the city of Dallas for so long tried to

ignore the place because of people blaming the city for the former president's murder. Plus they have to continue using the area for the every day life of downtown Dallas. This is another site you can spend more money on than you need to. Of course you have to pay for parking, but beyond that you walk around and see the sixth floor window of the old Texas Depository building, Dealey Plaza, the Grassy Knoll and the JFK Memorial. You could pay for an informational magazine that explains some of the history and conspiracy theories, and you could pay even more to go into the 6th floor Museum and/or the cell phone walking tour.

We took some time to find the two "Xs" on Elm Street where the bullets hit JFK, the enigmatic drain that perhaps the mysterious 2nd shooter escaped in and listen to a couple of conspiracy buff with pictures on a poster board share their insights. all while trying to keep five boys safe from downtown Dallas traffic (thankfully on a Sunday afternoon).

Fort Worth Stockyards Auctioneer

Everyone was in awe o this fast talking man!