Texas: Dallas

20-23 April 2022

There’s not much better than visiting your too-seldom seen cousin and having a husband who sometimes gives his input but also lets you gab gab gab. There was no end of wide-ranging conversation and even after two days together, the time went too fast. Here are some photos of our time in Dallas.

Cedar Hill State Park

Our time here was perfect. Even with heat in the mid to upper 80s, there was always a breeze off Joe Pool Lake and the ridge line where we were camped. 

One of the things I wanted to see and photograph while we wandered over Texas was the bluebonnets. We timed our visit just right. In fact, I don’t know if it was the Lady Bird Johnson effect or if there are just that many wildflowers along the freeways here, but the ride was beautiful both heading to Dallas, as well as heading out of Dallas. There are the bluebonnets as well as yellow flowers and a deep peach-colored one, and lots of lots of those floppy-leafed ones that range from white to medium pink—so pretty. I “need” to get a photo of those too!

Texas blue bell—they are massed along the freeway in in fields. They’re gorgeous!

A little vignette in our camping area

Wild garlic blossom

Wild garlic blossom before it explodes in flower!

Looking back on our site 313 from Joe Pool Lake

Stemless evening primrose

Sunset at Site 313

Cousin Jackie and Meridian accepted our offer of dinner at the RoadHouse. Dan and I have developed our special dinner that consists of grilled chicken pieces with cut-up vegetables over rice and “sauced up” with a bottled sauce of some sort (Korean BBQ, Sweet and Sour; tonight it was teriyaki). I chop; he grills. We have easy leftovers for a couple of days after too!

Meridian, Jackie, Dan: the view from the door of the RoadHouse

Grillmaster! Photo credit: Jackie Maki

Dinner Selfie: Jean, Dan, Meridian, Jackie (who also gets the photo cred). This was a very fun night!

We visit the George W. Bush Presidential Center

I’m not the best historian, so when I go to a Presidential Library or Center, I like to look at what *I* like. So, of course I checked out the gifts given to President George W and his wife Laura from dignitaries around the globe. Beautiful swords and jewels. I was especially intrigued to see W’s paintings, for which he’s become kind of famous since leaving office. I could them to be impressionistic and IMHO, quite good!

Of course, I had to take a picture of this one; Freddy kind of reminds me of Fleur!

Note the signature on this one: “43”. Ignore the reflections in the glass please. Bush uses oil paint mixed with cold wax. He will paint his impression of whatever it is and then put a cover sheet over it, brayer  the cover sheet onto the substrate, and then pull the prints apart. The cold wax imparts a texture to the paint. I was so impressed with how even in abstract form, Bush captures the essence of what he’s painting. Of course, we’re only seeing the “good” ones at the Presidential Center, but when he was President, I would never have guessed that he might be a decent (good even!) artist!

A large part of the Center was dedicated to our government’s reaction to the attack of 9/11/2001.
This is a piece of the twisted rubble from Ground Zero in New York City.

Jackie said she really didn’t want to know how it felt to occupy the seat at the Resolute Desk.
But at least she got a chance to give it a try! It was fun to step into a to-scale replica of the Oval Office.

W had always been a baseball fan; here is his impressive collection of autographed baseballs.
And a brochure about one of the Tee Ball Games he had on the lawn of the White House.

While we knew W could paint, who knew that Ted Kennedy could paint as well?
Here is a signed and inscribed painting he did for President Bush. 

Of of the cases showing impressive jewelry given to our leaders. The left and center necklaces were for Laura Bush; the one on the right was given to Condoleezza Rice.

As you approach the Bush Center from the direction of Southern Methodist University, you climb stairs to go to the entrance to the center. Wildflowers were in full bloom when we visited. They were gorgeous!

A field of wildflowers at the Bush Center

A climbing vine at the Bush Center

We spend some time walking through the SMU campus

What a BEAUTIFUL college campus! Stately brick buildings, fountains, sculptures, thoughtful calming walkways. I really enjoyed it!

The mustang sculpture at one of the entrances to the campus

Big old…..OAK TREES!

Jackie wondered why I took this picture…just look at the overarching oak trees shading the walkway. It’s so gorgeous. Of course, if you look closely, as SHE DID, you might also notice a little white dog doing what dogs do(-do) when out on walks. 🤷‍♀️

There was some sort of festival on the grounds today. We really did not see that many students even though there’s still a week or two until final exams.

But…someone got her cap and gown and decided to have her picture taken in front of the Cox School of Business sign. What a fun and scary time to be entering the world of work!

I’ve never seen so many shiny gold domes on any campus!

We’ve now made our way to Austin; we will be exploring two more presidential libraries in the days to come—stay tuned!