Griffin and I finally made a trip to visit Nan and Juan in their new home: Dallas, Texas. We were lucky to have Leah and Brad there at the same time. It was a blast. I’ve never been to Texas before so it was great to see part of the state.

The weather was cold and cloudy for most of the trip so we didn’t “get to” experience much of the legendary heat and humidity but I got enough of a taste of it to know that I can’t imagine what living here is like during the summer. Just stepping outside was like walking into a wall of moisture. My hair was out of control with the high humidity.

In addition to seeing Nan and Juan’s lovely home we also visited the 6th Floor Museum in Dallas (chronicles the assassination and legacy of JFK, located on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository), the Texas State Fair, and the historic Fort Worth Stockyards.

Griffin with Boxster and Cooper

The Texas State Fair is FULL of fried foods. Anything you could imagine. We saw fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fried jellybeans, fried bacon, fried butter, fried peaches and cream, fried pecan pie, fried ice cream, fried Coke, fried Snickers bars, fried Oreos, fried cookie dough, fried banana split, and of course, fried Twinkies.I think most of the items are frozen before they are dipped in batter and fried to prevent them from totally disintegrating in the hot oil.

We sampled a few things including a corn dog, fried Oreos and a fried Twinkie. The fried Oreos were by far my favorite.

Fried Oreos

Fried Twinkie

One of the main attractions at the fair is “Big Tex” a giant animatronic cowboy that has been greeting fair-goers since the 50’s. Every half hour he starts talking in a very loud, very deep voice with a healthy drawl. He talks about the fair and then concludes with “Big Tex says Hoooooowwwdddyyy” in the most comical way. Blogging does not do it justice, you’ll have to take my word for it…

We also visited the historic Stockyards in Forth Worth which was a major hub for the sale and slaughter of cattle starting in the mid 1800’s and continuing to the 1960’s. It’s now a historic district with a twice daily “Stampede,” weekly rodeos, and tourist shops.

Fort Worth "Stampede" (AKA walking some big longhorns down the street.)

Leah and Nan enjoying an authentic horseback ride in Fort Worth

We had a great time visiting with everyone and hope to make another trip again soon!

Brad and Juan hunting a skunk in the backyard from the upstairs balconey with a pot of water. (They never found the skunk, only smelled him.)

One of

ddsafdfaasdfthe main attractions at the fair is “Big Tex” a giant anamatronic cowboy that has been greeting fair-goers since the 50’s. Every half hour he starts talking in a very loud, very deep voice with a healthy drawl. He talks about the fair and then concludes with “Big Tex says Hoooooowwwdddyyy” in the most comical way. Blogging does not do it justice, you’ll have to take my word for it…