Travel Log Day 5 - 11/19/11

The Falls

Well, a good nights sleep does wonders for you, and a pretty good breakfast for free doesn't hurt either.  We left the hotel later than planned since breakfast on the weekend isn't served until 7:00am.  We stopped for a cup of coffee at Rooster's Coffee and Tea, and I really wish I didn't eat at the hotel, because the food looked incredible and the prices were very reasonable.  With that we were off to Dallas.

A funny thing happened the night before as we watched Lion King, but first a quick back story.  Over the summer the Disney Channel released a TV movie of Phineas and Ferb.  This show happens to be hilarious for kids and adults, and while shopping at Costco a few months ago we bought the movie for this trip and hid it.

For some reason Sean (he must of seen us packing it) became convinced the movie was with us and wanted to watch it.  We had to really carefully talk him down after Lion King finished the night before saying he could pick anything he wanted to watch in the car the next day.  Drew kept telling him we didn't have the Phineas and Ferb movie, but Sean was steadfast.  In the morning he looked through the folder and was very proud and said "see I told you we have Phineas and Ferb across the second dimension."  Drew was blown away and Sean was proud of himself.  Eva whined, and I can't blame her the drive is boring, but we managed to do well cruising through Texas.

By about Witchita Falls we were ready for food, we had packed a lunch and were looking for somewhere to stop when off the freeway we saw some beautiful water falls (pictured above) from the freeway.  I suggested we stop "There" pointing at the falls, and Cristina said "Let's Do It."  Without having a clue how to get to the falls or the park that must be near, we started driving in the general direction.  By the time we had the GPS looking we saw a sign for Lucy Park.  We stopped and I made our sandwiches.  The kids didn't really eat, they just wanted to play, but Cristina and I enjoyed our roast beef and provolone sandwiches.  The boys and Eva ran around, climbed a BIG old school slide, and Eva kept taking her shoes off.  This park is incredible, huge, lush, green and covered in trees, lots and lots of pecan trees.  We had a pleasant surprise stopping here and were glad we did.  My only word of warning, the bathrooms are more like old school camping bathrooms (no doors.)

Just like me, Eva loves bare feet

As we got closer to Dallas out of nowhere the freeway we were on turned into a parking lot.  With a little of my wife's encouragement we hit the "off road" button on the van and were following a few cars jumping curbs to get off the freeway;  like Cristina said, "when in Texas."  The hotel, a Homewood Suite again, was perfect. 

Cristina and I had a few family friends we wanted to see here and fortunately Luisa was close by and up for our Triple D adventure (Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.)  Luisa is a very old Family friend of mine, I have known her as long as she has been alive and her Dad was in my wedding.  Luisa works for a two local colleges as a Campus Minister and I really looked forward to the conversation and chance to catch up.  

We went to Downtown Dallas which surprised me, not just by size but by how incredibly gorgeous it was.  Of all the downtowns I've seen, Dallas topped even San Diego in my opinion for sheer niceness of streets and buildings, and while San Diego has the beauty of the environment, Dallas was clean and stunning, I'd go back in a heartbeat for that alone.  We decided on a burger joint, Twisted Root Burger Co., and the fare was just as I expected, tasty.  The Fried Ride, while WAY over the top bad for you wise was great, and the burgers were awesome; I had "The Spicy Goat".  We ended up moving outside because the restaurant is a seat yourself LOUD place and definitely not kid friendly (Drew was covering his ears), once we were outside away from the one table with smokers were able to talk with Luisa.

Drew though was tired and whining and I was not very patient so back to the hotel we went, he was asleep in minutes. Luisa graciously was able to stay and the three of us were able to talk about life; over a cup of coffee, I found that very apropos.  We were able to talk about faith, being catholic, reaching college students and the different needs we had as Catholic College students, versus her students which are at secular schools.  We talked about our families and hobbies.  It was good adult conversation about life, and we didn't rush.  When Cristina and I finally tapped out it was late, but even with the long drive, long day and even later night the day felt perfect, and I was glad that we where able to meet up with life long friends over dinner and coffee.