A Texas Vacation

Marion had mileage on United that would expire in August, so we decided to visit Texas. As luck would have it, the week of March 15 was Noel's school vacation, which coincided with Barre's vacation from teaching a course this semester at MCLA. We looked forward to warmer days since Paul had told us the days in early March had been in the 70's. We took no heavy coats with us, and looked forward to wonderful sunny days for the week.

Our first excursion was to the Dallas Arboretum. The weather was wonderful, and the gardens and flowers were spectacular and so colorful. Spring had arrived! Noel really enjoyed the gardens, and taking pictures with her own camera. The cowboy hat and bandana were part of a costume from her dance class, and she really looked like a native Texan, but speaks without the accent.

There were massive plots of many various flowers like tulips , daffodils, hyacinths, etc. with a variety of colors, all so beautiful. The weather was perfect. Because it was school holiday the parking lots were full, so we were shuttled by bus from a parking lot in a nearby mall.

The trees and shrubs were also beautiful, and Barre could identify them when we had a question.

The Arboretum is very large, and the walking is easy. It borders a large pond, and the plantings near there also include water features, and koi fish, which Noel enjoyed watching. By the end of the day, we realized we had done a lot of walking, enjoyed all of the beauty around us, and were a bit tired!

On Friday night Barre and I attended Paul's hockey game. He is the fellow in the yellow shirt, playing goalie. It was our fourth day in McKinney, and the temperatures had gone done enough to make us wish we had brought a heavy coat. The game time is shorter than a college game, and we survived. His team won.

Sunday morning found us looking out the windows at six inches of snow! Noel was excited, and after breakfast she went out to play in the backyard. She loves snow, and spent quite a while playing. The snow was quite wet-- good for snow balls, and snow men. In the afternoon, Noel returned to the yard, and already, the grass was visible, and much snow had melted, but there was enough to make small snowmen.

This is the view from the front porch on Evergreen Drive. We didn't expect to have snow on our visit, but it had completely melted by Monday morning. Noel had to go back to school and we flew home, so Barre could teach on Tuesday.

It was too cold on Sunday to visit the Dallas zoo, so we went bowling, and had lots of fun. This picture was taken when we returned home. Paul, Michelle, and Noel had better scores that Barre and I. Our week also included a tour of Paul's work place at Gearbox, which was very interesting.