November 15, 2019
It’s been two weeks since Dave and I left Felix, our motorhome, in Mineral Wells to have a new hardwood floor installed, and we’ve spent that time wandering around some parts of Texas—Fort Worth, Austin, and Glen Rose. We have our two senior pups, Victor (14) and Biscuit (11) in tow, and the tiny Juke is packed to the max.
We’ve stayed in four Airbnb’s so far; they’re so much homier than hotels and the cost is comparable. It’s been interesting to experience how other people live, if only for a couple of days. In the past couple of weeks, we’ve lived on a horse ranch, in an urban neighborhood, in a gated community, and on a family farm.
We hadn’t ever heard of ‘Glen Rose, the Dinosaur Capital of Texas,’ until I booked an Airbnb there. It’s about 55 miles southwest of Fort Worth and has a population of only 2,500 people. Amazingly, there are 21 churches here. I think this says a lot about Glen Rose.
In addition to all the dinosaur-related attractions here, tourist attractions include the Creation Evidence Museum and, in its 31st season, the annual 12-week run of The Promise, a live-musical depicting Jesus’ life if lived nowadays. The musical is performed at The Promise, a 45,000 gallon, moat-encircled, 3,200-seat amphitheater. I really wish we could’ve seen it.
Another event that we just missed was the Extreme Cowboy Association World Championship, which also would’ve been fun to see. It ended the day we arrived. Between our poor timing and a couple of brutally cold days, we didn’t see much of Glen Rose in the three days we were here, but there’s enough here to warrant a trip back here someday.
We really haven’t done many touristy things, mainly because we’ve had the pups with us 24/7, so our excursions have mostly taken us to parks and places where we could walk them, like the Fort Worth Stockyards. While there, we took the advice of one of our hosts and treated ourselves to a steak. The beef is especially good here. 😋
Other than temporary homelessness, our lives have been pretty normal. We’ve been able to cook just about every meal “at home,” and in the process have discovered new grocery stores in addition to recognizable ones, like Kroger and Aldi.
Believe it or not, a highlight of the trip was finding a do-it-yourself dog wash in Fort Worth, Happy K9. 🐾
The main highlight was being able to be with our son and his family in Austin. We played at the park, went bowling, and ate ice cream. Life doesn’t get much better!
We knew getting into this remodel that we’d be nomads for a while—and figured on a couple of weeks. But, in addition to the cold snap that brought work to a brief halt, there have been a couple of unforeseen hiccups that have stalled progress. Our foreseeable future is uncertain, so if ever there was good reason to practice living one day at a time, it’s now.
We arrived back in Mineral Wells yesterday, and temps are much warmer now, so work should be completed within a few days. Fingers crossed 🤞
