We're parked in site 117 of the Cowtown RV Park. This is a rustic park that has seen a better day, but, like an aging Lady of the Night, is still dressed in all her finery. Over a hundred of the one hundred twenty seven sites are devoted to long-term residents, either transient workers, or permanent residents. The staff, particularly Ann, is extremely friendly and helpful. Ann is a former Southwest Airline employee, and has traveled all over the country. She recognized our west coast origins right off the bat, and chatted at length about living in Dallas her whole life (she doesn't like the changes she's seen). So, if you're in the area, the Cowtown will work fine for you; the sites are long, level and spacious, and the price is very reasonable.
Back to our day trip. The countryside west of Texarkana is gently rolling with numerous trees.
But as we approached Dallas, the terrain flattened out, allowing the large building of downtown to create their own unique mountain range.
The interstate system near and through Dallas, particularly I30 that we were on, is undergoing major renovation, and presented a challenge to navigate. With narrow lanes, lanes that abruptly disappeared, and traffic that seems to be coming onto the freeway and leaving the freeway at the same time, is was a bit of a white knuckle experience. The original designers of the system painted lane identification to help with directions to various destinations. Problem is, with the construction, the ID is no longer relevant, and you have to rely on the temporary overhead signage. Glad we're through that!
We thought that there was a bit of countryside between Dallas and Ft Worth. Well, there is: about a 1/2 mile of it. The rest is nonstop city! While we were in that 1/2 mile, we got a glimpse of the rangeland of central Texas.
The weather had changed over the course of the day from the low in Texarkana of the high sixties with rain, to a very breezy high in Aledo of the high sixties. We immediately changed into long pants and took off for dinner, since we had endured a very strenuous day!
A check at the office resulted in a recommendation to try Boo Rays for Cajun food. Boo Rays has another store in Louisana, so it's sort of a local place. We try to patronize local establishments wherever possible, and this was close enough. The exterior is dilapidated, needs paint, and is frankly a little scary. But the interior is warm and inviting. It's paneled in slabs of real wood and decorated in a sketchy New Orleans style.
The food was extraordinary, and there was a lot of it. We ordered a couple of Cajun Talapia dishes with shrimp and crab, and finished it off with some bread pudding. More than half of the meal came home with us to be enjoyed another day.
We've noticed the tremendous interest in high school football while we've been in the DFW area, but as we cruised around Aledo after dinner, we saw something that we had a hard time getting our arms around:
Being Saturday, we were surprised at the traffic streaming into a local stadium. We had heard on the local news last night about the high school games and the huge rivalries between schools, but we had not heard about games to be played on Saturday. Well, guess what….this is a Middle School! With a football stadium that would complement any campus on the West Coast, the teams and the fans had a super venue for today's game. Hundreds of parents/fans had already arrived, and the teams were practicing. The field was in pristine condition, and looked to be artificial turf from a distance, and the lights were on. Let the fun begin!
Our schedule has tightened up a bit, and we can't spend enough time in the Metroplex to enjoy all the attractions. We have a somewhat fluid list of things to do, but it's changing by the minute as we find new things to see. Bear with us as we try to stuff more hours into a day!
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