Fun day in Ft. Worth and Dallas

May 18 - The one day we could really sleep in and neither of us did. We had a lot of sight seeing to do today so it was best to get up and get moving. I made Bill a Kelly McMuffin with grapefruit and I had grapefruit and Florentine Egg Beaters. It’s the best way for me to eat egg as it comes with cheese and spinach in it to hide the taste of the egg.

Headed to Ft. Worth first to the Camping World there. We needed filters for the inside water filter, a new snap on water connection and a new 50 AMP electric cord. The ends are pulling out of ours and our tech suggested we get one or repair the one we have. It was not that much more to buy the new one so that’s what we did.

Bill and a Longhorn Steer

In front of the Stockyards

From there we stopped for fuel so we don’t have to once we leave in the morning. Then we headed to the old downtown to The Stockyards. It’s the original Ft. Worth and pretty much looks the part. We went in some shops, watched the cattle drive of 12 Texas longhorn cattle down the main street and checked out the plaques dedicated to those in the Texas Walk of Fame. A lot we never heard of but a lot we had, such as Tex Ritter, Roy and Dale Evans, Bill Pickens and Bat Masterson. We went back behind the original Stockyard building where some of the cattle were and listened to some wranglers give a presentation to a school group. We decided to tour Billy Bob’s of Texas. They have an indoor bull riding ring and concrete squares like in Hollywood with the hand prints of famous performers who have played there. That was pretty neat to see. Bill kept checking the hand sizes compared to his.

Just one of the loop de loop exchanges

We had lunch in the famous Bugger Red’s Saloon. The brisket sandwich was excellent and the Texas fries were fresh, not frozen. That’s the first fries I’ve had in probably 2 years. Bill got a call from Pat and Ray, friends here in the area, and they wanted to pick us up at 4 to go to dinner, so we had to kick it in high gear and head to Dallas. The loop de loop roads here were far worse than the ones Kerry and I drove on in Los Angeles.

One of the X's

The traffic from Ft Worth to Dallas was horrendous, now Bill got to see what it’s like driving in it. Luckily we got off the interstate and right into town where we wanted to be and found parking right away. We went to see where President Kennedy was assassinated.  There are 2 "X"s on the road showing the points the car was between, as they don't know exactly which spot.  We learned that he was not shot from the open window, but from the "grassy knoll".  It's due to the injury being from his forhead and out of the back of his skull.  We got to see some horrible photos of him with part of his head missing and a photo of Jackie reaching onto the back of the car to get a piece of his skull that she patted back in place.  The photos are not to be released to the public for 29 more years.  I don't quite understand that.  There is also proof of coverups and that 2 shots hit him.  So I tried to get a photo of the 2 x marks on the road.

On the way back to the RV we wanted to stop at a grocery store but had some difficulty finding one. Then there was road work and Bill went over a railroad and we just kinda dropped and it was quite a bang. When we did get home he discovered that it hit so hard that the bike rack was damaged so we now have to put one bike on the bed each night til we get to CO. We did finally find a grocery as we were giving up, a Kroger. I mostly needed bread and produce so it was a quick stop. Once we got back, Bill Took Xena for a walk while I put things away and we had a few minutes to wait for Pat and Ray.

We went to dinner at Joe T. Garcia’s in Ft. Worth. It’s been in business a long time as it is now being run by the grandson of the original Joe and this guy is at least 45. They told us if we didn’t arrive early enough there would be a 2 hour line. Most of the restaurant is outside and the décor is beautiful, with fountains and plants. Some of it is covered and there are fans and heaters depending on the weather. It seats a lot of people. The only negative for me is they don’t have a menu as they don’t serve but a few items. They do have delicious sangria! We had the normal chips and salsa, then the nachos are a 6” corn tortilla with choice of topping and you order how many you want. Bill and I didn’t understand so we said we’d share an order and they said, no, you can eat at least one each. Once they came we understood. The beans and rice are served family style and you can order fajitas or enchiladas with corn tortilla. That’s pretty much it. It was good and Bill brought home a plate of food. I only had a couple of chips so I had room for my meal. Pat and Ray’s son, Mike joined us for dinner. He’s a doctor and has an RV that he and his family drove to Durango last summer, so we had a lot to talk about. They were right, as we left there was a huge line and it was expected to be longer. Cars were every where and they do not have room for more. After dinner they drove us around TCU, Texas Christian University, which is in Ft. Worth. It’s a beautiful campus. Ray, his 2 children and their 2 grandchildren all went there.

They dropped us off and wished us a safe trip and we thanked them for the dinner and told them we hoped to come again when we can stay longer. There is quite a bit to see in the area. We put things away for leaving in the morning. We were both pretty pooped so didn’t do much computering.