Friends along the way

Currently In: Hot Springs
Heading further North next week

We met some great people in Mercedes Texas when we were there last month.  They live outside Fort Worth, so it was a great stopover point for us.

We stayed in Glen Rose, TX at the Oakwood Park.  I didn't know when I booked our reservation that it is historic!  It opened in 1925 as a motor court catering to the needs of travelers.

The swimming pool is spring fed.  Looks like fun.

Although these pictures were taken on a beautiful day, we experienced the worst thunderstorms of our entire adventure on our first night in Glen Rose.  We pulled in the slides and tried to sleep through the  rocking and the loud rain!
We also took a quick trip over to see the Texas Amphitheater, home of The Promise, about a mile from our campground.  It is the largest permanent outdoor amphitheater in Texas.  It has a 45,000 gallon moat and a rain curtain.  For the last 30 years, The Promise has been performed from August through November.  It is a musical about the life of Jesus with a 150 person cast, live animals and special effects.  I stepped inside to snap a few photos of the amphitheater.

Another big attraction in this area is Fossil Rim, a wildlife conservation center.  We have been to wildlife areas before, but this one had more exotic animals which was different.

We took the self guided driving tour where animals roam freely around the 1800 acres.  Here is a sampling of what we saw.  First, this crazy ostrich. It was sticking its head in car windows!

The ostriches were hanging out in the same place as this Emu.

The Addax, complete with cool horns.

These Fallow Deer are relaxing!

A young Axis Deer.

This Wild Turkey was hiding in the shadows.  He was loud, though!

And the Barbary sheep.

The Giraffes were being fed, so we only got to see them from far away.

I had trouble identifying these deer from their guide, but I think they are Waterbuck.  Really an antelope.

These deer were cute.  Again, not sure what kind.

The zebras!  My favorites.

Wildebeests are are ugly up close.

The cheetahs are kept behind fences, but we saw several.  Fossil Rim has done a great job breeding them.

These were the last animals we saw, the Southern White Rhino.  These two were either fighting or playing, so we watched for a few minutes.

Finally, the real reason we chose this part of Texas - meeting up with Cathy and Mark McKinney.  We enjoyed Lake Granbury.

They gave us a tour of their lovely home before we went to dinner in the historic square.  The centerpiece of the square is the courthouse featuring a 3 story clock tower.  The town design reminded me of Prescott, AZ.

Most of the buildings in the square are historic including the one that our restaurant is in.  The bar is from the late 1800's.

I love the native limestone walls.

These doors are over 300 years old and were brought over from Europe.  We had a great time with more Texas friends!