Tyler State Park, Tyler, TX
Last night was one of the most intense thunder and lightening storms we've ever experienced. We were woken up at about 1:15 am with absolutely deafening thunder and lightening striking all around us. It went on for about 20 minutes. It was quite a show and left me quaking. See that magenta area? That was us.
Then when all was absolute quiet a very chatty whippoorwill decided to let out his signature "whip-poor-will" every 2 seconds til dawn. If you haven't read the James Thurber short story "Whipporwill" let's just say it didn't end well - I completely understand.
We were in Dallas at the auto shop, Lord of the Rings, by 7 am. Great shop, awesome owner and best news Winnie is recharged with fresh Freon. The not so good news, she does have an unspecified Freon leak somewhere so who knows how long we'll have A/C for. Time to keep rolling.
We were out of the shop before 9 so we decided to take advantage of being in Dallas by visiting the Arboreteum and Botanical Gardens.
Even tho rain was threatening we took our chances. We arrived just when the Gardens opened and had the place to ourselves for awhile. The flowers were simply breathtaking as were the different gardens and waterfalls scattered throughout the grounds.
We also came across several sculptures scattered here and there. I enjoyed them almost more than the flowers! We learned that this was part of a sculpture exhibit from Zimbabwe. There were over 100 sculptures beautifully placed among the landscape. I loved that you'd walk round a bend and there would be this art piece. The skies did open up for about 15 minutes, then we were treated to sunshine. So interesting to see the juxtaposition of the Botanical Gardens during both the rain and sun.
After spending almost 3 hours at the Gardens we decided that a bike ride around White Rock Lake would be fun. We had just gone a couple of miles when Linda and Gary asked if we wanted to meet up at the Tiger Sanctuary. Heck yeah!! A quick u-turn and off we went towards Tyler, Texas.
First, it was great meeting up with Gary and Linda our travel buddies for the next several weeks. And second...those tigers! There were pumas, servals, bengals, and lions. We spent an hour or so walking around with a guide learning about each of the cats when the skies opened up again. Fortunately, we were at the end of the walking tour so getting drenched wasn't too bad.
Note: Ned and I looking like Safari hotties.
Went for BBQ again tonight at a local place called Bodacious. It was the usual meat and 2 sides. You know the drill.
We were joined by Gary and Linda and Butch and Gail. Gary attended flight school with Butch 42 years ago. Butch is a real character and a great story teller. He kept us in stitches telling stories about growing up in Texas. He's also an amazing artist and woodworker.
Tomorrow we travel as a posse and the adventure continues. Louisiana are you ready?
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