Spring Break in Texas for Becky, Lindsey and Brandon

We picked up the happy travelers at the DFW airport on Friday, March 26th, to spend a week in Texas to see friends in Waco and be tourists in the Dallas - Fort Worth area. We went to Waco on Saturday and enjoyed a great reunion visit with Kevin and Kelly Brister who lived in the Yakima area for about 3 years in the mid 1990's. We met their daughters, Katelyn (13) and Kamryn (9) for the first time.

We stayed at Airport Park on Waco Lake. The first afternoon we took a walk to the dam on Waco Lake and were treated to some Texas redneck fun - sliding down a hill on cardboard. We got some laughs while watching the kids. Katelyn and Brandon tried to get going but only got a few feet. They had fun anyway.

On Sunday, Kevin prepared a pot of southern food for us. It was so very, very good. He boiled everything in one pot with his special seasonings over a propane burner at our campsite. There was crawfish, shrimp, two kinds of sausage, corn on the cob and red potatoes. They covered the picnic table with butcher paper and just piled everything on it. We dug in and enjoyed some good southern cooking. Thanks, Kevin, it was a huge treat for us.

This is Kamryn getting ready to enjoy her dinner. She is quite the character.

Around the table (from left to right) are Kamryn, Lindsey, Becky, Kelly, Kevin, Bill, Brandon and Katelyn.

Kevin's dad and mom joined us, too. Bob is chowing down next to Kevin and I only got Judy's hand. Sorry. We enjoyed meeting them and hope to see them again.

Kelly drove us all over by their home town of China Springs, TX. Above is the house (they called it a cabin) that Kevin and Kelly lived in when they returned to TX from WA. Katelyn was born while they lived here.

Kevin took Bill, Brandon and Katelyn fishing on Monday - the only day the wind didn't blow while we were by Waco Lake. They caught 11 bass but Brandon was disappointed that he didn't catch a fish. He wanted to be able to say he caught a fish in TX not just that he went fishing in TX. Kevin is taking Lindsey and Kamryn for ride while they go to the boat launch.

Brandon had fun with a new airsoft rifle. He was happy that Katelyn also enjoyed the wars with him. There weren't very many people at the RV park so they had lots of space to run around.

We went back to the Dallas-Fort Worth area on Wednesday and on Thursday, we did some tourist stuff. Our first stop was at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. We tried to get free samples but couldn't. Imagine this - they wouldn't let us take any pictures of them printing all that currency. I took pictures of our souvenirs.

They are constantly inspecting the sheets of bills during the printing process. It's totally amazing how many bills they print each day - millions of dollars at each plant. There are only two plants in the United States. This one near Fort Worth and the one in Washington, DC (which we have also visited).

Next, we toured the Dallas Cowboys new stadium. (Couldn't help but think of my niece's husband, Sean. He is a dedicated Dallas Cowboy fan and he got to tour the stadium on its opening day.) The locker rooms were huge and expensive looking with special imported wood.

This is a picture of the nosebleed section where it is standing room only for only $29.95 per game. The field was pretty far away but you could see the game close up on a giant HD screen.

Windows and light fixtures were done in the shape of footballs.

Everything about the stadium was huge. This set of speakers was the size of an 18-wheeler semi-truck.

Here's a picture of the stadium from the top section of the stadium.

Here's Bill posing in front of Tony Romo's locker.

Brandon and Lindsey had fun running up and down the field.

Our last stop for the day was at the Sixth Floor Museum in downtown Dallas. The museum is at the Texas Book Depository where Lee Harvey Oswald shot John F Kennedy. It was an excellent museum. They had individual audio tours and outstanding displays. You actually saw where Oswald stood when he shot the President. Again, we couldn't take pictures inside the museum but here are a couple pictures we got outside.

On Friday, Kelly, Katelyn, Kamryn and Lauren (Kelly's niece) joined Becky, Lindsey and Brandon at the Six Flags over Texas amusement park. They all arrived about 10:30 in the morning and stayed until 8:00 pm. They got some rain in the morning but the rest of the day was perfect for enjoying all the rides. It was great fun for them. We spent the day getting haircuts and getting supplies for Lindsey's BD dinner.

We celebrated Lindsey's BD with chicken ceasar salad wraps, fruit salad and frosted brownies. It is a special birthday for Lindsey - she turned 13 on April 11. We are really proud of her. She is a special young lady.

Here are the travelers just before loading up to go to the airport.

They are ready to go home and see Dad who really missed them. Thanks, Dad, for sharing them with us. It was great to have them meet us in Texas.