Texas – Yee – Hah…..

Northern Mockingbird

Northern Mockingbird

On the 10th of January we flew from San Francisco via Phoenix to the Dallas Fort Worth airport in Texas. We were transferred to an un-Texan sounding suburb or town close to the airport, Grapevine.  The Holiday Inn Express was quite a nice place and the staff were friendly in a Texan way that we soon realised was common.

Despite the built up area and the concrete area there were a few bird species near the hotel – both Northern Mockingbird [abundant] and Cardinal. Juncos, House sparrows and Finches made up the rest.



The children and I in front of the Sixth Floor museum - a display of President Kennedy's life and times

 We chose Dallas as our arrival in Texas as it was here we could pick up a RV for our cross country trip [pun intended]. On the first morning I got a cab to the Holiday Inn for a transfer to a town to the north named Denton. The transfer, sadly, failed to arrive.  So a few phone calls later and we arranged to take 2 for the following day. Thankfully the time was easy to fill with a wander around the historic central part of Grapevine. Haircuts for all the kids and a quick view of a few large flocks of Large tailed Grackles – yet another life bird. There was also a good range of restaurants near the hotel so we were well catered for with Mexican and Texas B B Q.

The following day delivered a wet and cold day making it easy to want to leave Dallas. And by the time we got into the centre of Dallas it was pouring and the skyline was covered with clouds. We wanted a quick visit to the Kennedy museum which interprets his presidency and, of course, the assassination.

Dowtown Dallas with the infamous Book Depository in the background

First drive through we missed the turnoff and found ourselves on the wrong freeway heading south from Dallas. By the time we worked out where we were and where we should go and how to get back some forty minutes had passed.  We finally turned around and got back to the centre and through a small miracle we found some parking and soon after the museum. It was professionally done and worth the visit.

Then a quick drive down to Huntsville.