All roads lead to Dallas and Fort Worth

Here we are at the entrance to the stockyard
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Ann woke up at the crack of dawn today which was better than 3:00. She actually waited until 7:00 to start her walk. When she returned, Sue took the initiative to rally Christie and Matt with a rendition of Rise and Shine. Matt immediately got up to stop the mornings opening hymn to no avail. Sue sang all four verses with Christie slowly rising on verse four. We began driving towards Dallas after our morning devotional -  which we forgot our first two mornings, but we will do from now on to get our minds right for the day(shades of a Jeanie trip). Sue and Ann decided on a late brunch at IHOP(since Matt doesn’t like breakfast except for the stuffed French toast at IHOP, so that was the best choice) with the promise of a Texas steak for a late lunch. Matt proceeded to get in there and order a philly cheese steak (so much for the stuffed waffle we had planned on) and the rest of us ordered great breakfasts . Christie has found how tourists behave as a man broke in line in front of her to pay the bill. However, she handled it with class and only vented in the car. We then with the help of Garmin continued towards Dallas and the JFK Museum. Again, Garmin directed us off the beaten path we would have chosen using the map, but we got there in record time. Garmin knows best about city driving if it does lack culinary expertise. For those who had been before the addition of audio headsets to conduct the tour was a pleasant change, and for first timer, Matt, he found it interesting and informative. Two highlights of the tour were (1) Sue’s standing 3 deep to watch the assassination video and getting the olfactory experience of people who had not bathed for 3 days (not any of us) (2) With signs everywhere saying no cell phones – a woman tapped Christie’s technological expertise while watching the JFK movie asking her how to turn her cell phone on. Making us all wonder what was she doing with it in the first place if she didn’t even know how to turn it on. The kids are learning it takes all kinds to make a trip memorable. Now 3:00 Matt was aching for that promised steak. Sue of course knew all about the Fort Worth Stockyards and the excellent fare there so off we headed. Talk about perfect timing Garmin directed us to the stockyard area where we saw enough bikers to make the Myrtle Beach convention look small in front of the first saloon - where the horses were supposed to be in the old west.  Just as we parked the car the cattle stampede began. It was fate. We arrived 4:20, parked, and “the running of the bulls, I mean the meandering of the Texas longhorns started. The herd consisted of 9 bulls with horns that looked like they belonged on the front of a cowboy’s 56 Chevy. The four horsemen (of Fort Worth not the Apocalypse) led and or pushed the cattle to the Pawnee Bill Wild West Arena. The entire procession lasted 5 minutes. So, we asked our parking attendant where to get the best steak and she said Riscky’s right next door . Oh, great, the biker spot. However, he was right. Sue and I shared a steak for two with the accoutrements including calf fries, a local side dish. Matt had a big steak and Christie had chicken fried chicken.. When it came, we could not quite determine what calf fries might be. Some suggestions were chicken livers, chicken tenders, mashed chicken, and we still weren’t sure. So Matt tasted one. Still not sure. So…. We asked a waiter and he asked if we had ever heard of Rocky Mountain oysters. HELLO!!!!! Matt only turned one shade of green knowing he had tasted one, but we told the waiter go no further we knew what they were. Everyone ate all their food, and stuffed we proceeded to leave. Christie and Ann were talking to our waitress and she noticed Christie’s ECU T-shirt. She was from Gastonia NC and had a friend at ECU. She asked Christie if she knew her and she said no, but it still is such a small world. Back to the car, parked beside a huge manure pile by the way (we wanted local stockyard atmosphere) we headed towards El Paso and our next destination The Grand Canyon. 5 minutes out of Fort Worth, Matt and Ann had to go to the bathroom again. Ann has been 12 times today. Love that phentermine  Drinking tons of water and going to the bathroom hourly. We stopped in Santo, Texas and now Christie is driving and Sue and Ann are distracting ourselves by updating the blog. Sue and Ann have tried to show many skylines and vistas to Mathis today and his response to many have been ok but most of his responses have been "if you’ve seen one grassy hill you have seen them all". He also stated thatthe word vista is Texan for big hill. I now know how Billy Grogan felt when the Grogan girls told him that if you had seen one rock in the Painted Desert you had seen them all. I guess we should have been more impressed. Mathis does say, wistfully,that the Texas I-20 roadside with its low lying shrubs for miles and miles in the distance is very reminiscent of the African countryside just missing the warthogs and impalas.Matt made his driving debut and he and Christie can both continue driving as long as they can stand Ann's constant nagging.  We are spending the night in Big Spring,Texas and since they don't have a fitness room, we are playing Scrabble and other games to exercise our minds UGH!!!!!  sue will now add pictures.  Tomorrow night the Grand Canyon drive.  Long day.