Category: Roadtrips

This was our second try of the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park (first try was in 2016) - and we got fogged in again. Although this time was a bit better, and we did end up with a few views along the way.

This year's roadtrip started in Washington, DC. We started on the National Mall, checking out a bunch of the Smithsonian museums. Luckily things weren't as crowded as I had feared.

During a work trip to Washington D.C. this past fall, I went to check out a museum I hadn't seen before - the Udvar-Hazy extension to the National Air and Space Museum. This is the place where they keep all the stuff that is too big for the main Air and Space Museum on the National Mall. They've got the Blackbird (SR-71) there, plus a Space Shuttle! It was pretty amazing. They've also got a place where you can look in on the workshop where they do all the restorations before things go out for display.

Our last stop on the trip before heading home was dinner at Medieval Times in Dallas. They give you a 3 course dinner (which you can only eat with your hands!) and you watch a medieval tournament with jousting, sword fighting, horsemanship, etc. It's all choreographed, and was really entertaining. It was very dark in there and we took almost no pictures, but Carter did take this one (fuzzy) panaromic shot of the arena.

In Fort Worth we stopped at something called the "Museum of Science and History". We weren't really sure what to expect, but decided to give it a go. Turns out is geared to much younger kids than Carter, so we didn't stay very long. But Carter did try out this bed of nails that you can lie on.

We had planned to stop at Cameron Park in Waco, Texas for a walk around to stretch our legs. When we parked though, we saw signs for a zoo. So we decided to check it out - even though we'd already been to two other zoos on this trip, and one is usually my limit. But surprising the zoo at Cameron Park was the best one we saw this trip. The enclosures were really well designed - they didn't look like cages. They used natural features to disguise the fact that the animals were in captivity - similar to how they do it at the San Diego Zoo, if you've been there. For example, all of the lemurs and gibbons were on big islands in the middle of a pond, with no fences or glass around them. It was very cool, and the animals seemed to like it as well - they seemed very calm and happy, as no humans could get right up close to them.

Austin has a kitschy old mini-golf course that we decided to check out as we passed through. It was full of old-school sculptures and features, and was pretty cool and funny. Unfortunately, we forgot to take any pictures - so I borrowed one from the internet.

Texas is known for their bluebonnets (it's the state flower), and in the Texas Hill Country (if you catch them at the right time) they line the highways in thick carpets for miles at a time. We didn't see any along the main highways, so I thought we had missed them. But the clerk at the hotel told me about a great spot to see them, and even drew me a map. He said they were the best he'd seen in 20 years, and they didn't disappoint. I wish we had gotten some better pictures, but this one is pretty cool and will give you an idea of what it was like.

Cibolo Nature Center is in Boerne, Texas - where we used to live. We used to take the dogs - and then later also the kids - here all the time. This is the park where we learned that Sean loved the water. He would wade out into the creek until he was knee-deep, then sit down and play in there for as long as we were willing to stay. Some of my favorite photos of him as a baby come from this spot.

We used to take the kids to this zoo when we lived near San Antonio, and it was fun to go back with Carter now that she is old enough to understand what's going on. :)