Razzmatazlady

Category: Texas

  • The Meaning of Texas-Size

    Well, we had planned to go sightseeing, today. I was going to take lots of cool pictures. Didn’t happen. First of all, we got a late start and then we didn’t want to get stuck in the Dallas traffic so we decided just to browse around the area.
    There’s a place called Cedar Hill State Park that’s not far away. We sort of found it. Didn’t actually go into the park but we found a “scenic view” area and I took this picture of the lake. Not one of my better efforts, I admit – kind of blurry. I’m still learning about this camera and I probably don’t have the settings right, yet. But I’m posting it to give you an idea about the kind of day it was because, believe it or not, this is actually a color picture.
    When I said we sort of found it, I mean we sort of got lost. Well, not really lost. We just didn’t have a very good map. At one point we wandered into a subdivision of houses that you had to see to believe. That’s what I should have taken pictures of.
    Each house was bigger than the last. Not just big – HUGE! It’s what Texas-size means, I guess. Really, really huge. Let’s see, how can I describe it? O.K., picture a homeowner looking at the newer bigger house next to his and thinking “Well, this just will not do…..” So he’d add another room. Or another wing. That’s what they are like. Big blocks attached to more big blocks. Willy-nilly. With no particular architectural definition. Sort of Contemporary meets Colonial meets Victorian meets Southwest. It was just nuts! I hate to admit it but that was the excitement for the day.
    Tomorrow we’re leaving earlier and going downtown. We’re going to the book depository where JFK was shot. Hopefully, do a little shopping, too. It’s supposed to be a nice day – sunny and warm.
    I’ve tried to take some pics of Pretzel and Kitz but I haven’t been able to get them to sit still long enough. If they see me coming with the camera they scamper right over to me, tails going a hundred miles an hour, jumping up and down and want to be patted. They do not know what “sit” means. I’ll keep trying.
    More tomorrow, I hope.
    If you go to Dallas, here’s the link to the visitors’ guide. http://dallascityhall.com/services/Services_Visitors.html

  • So This Is Dallas…

    Here we are in Dallas, Texas. We had a fairly uneventful trip from Phoenix. There was a crash of some sort coming into El Paso, Texas and we were rerouted around the city. It was notable only because the “loop” route that we took went high into the hills and we had a birdseye view of the city. That was as exciting as the trip got. Sorry.

    There can’t be a more desolate place than western Texas. Hundreds of miles of prairie with nothing growing other than an occasional nondescript shrub.

    Well, there are the refineries, too. When you’re traveling at night they look like something from another planet. Yellow lights trimming all of the refinery structures. Quite eerie, actually. Sort of like something from outer space. During the day they’re just big, industrial looking buildings and tanks and pipes and who-knows-what.

    There are a few interesting facts noted in the AAA Tourbook on Texas. For example, Pecos, Texas is the place where the first rodeo was staged. It was actually a competition of sorts between various ranches and their ranch hands. Now it’s held every year around the Fourth of July.

    Just when you think you’ll go bonkers, you come to the “hill country”. Very pretty. Lots of rolling hills and a teensy little bit of color other than beige. Must be really nice when it starts to green up.

    Then you arrive in Fort Worth/Dallas and you’re back in civilization. I think I’m gonna like it here. (Sigh of relief… )

    We met our new little charges two little mini-dachshunds – Pretzel and Kitz. They are the cutest little things (both girls) and I think we’ll really have fun with them. I’ll take some pictures today, if I can.