4th July Road Trip

Destination points:

Belton Texas
Mother Neff State Park (Moody Texas)
Meridian State Park (Meridian Texas)
Stephenville Texas
Dinosaur Valley State Park (Glen Rose Texas)
Temple Texas

Yesterday for the 4th of July, my family took a road trip. We visited a total of three Texas State parks, passing through several small towns, and wrapped up the evening with fireworks.


Unfortunately, when I uploaded all these pictures on Blogger, I realized I got them backwards. Sooo, our trip is logged backwards! We didn't get home till after midnight, and we ended up eating our dinner after 11pm at DENNY'S... (Not exactly a pleasant experience, but at least the food woke us up.) I had a breakfast burger that consisted of ground beef, fried egg, hashbrowns and cheese. With a side order of fries. (Yes, I've had my cholesterol tested, and it's always been normal!)

Firework display in Temple Texas. We couldn't believe our luck! Not only did we snag a quick parking spot, but we had a nice view. On top of that, we made it back on I-35 in record time, skipping the traffic jam. (Basically, we shoved everything (folding chairs, etc.) as fast as we could into our trunk and high tailed it out of there.) It paid off!

We are in Glen Rose Texas, visiting the Dinosaur Valley State Park. This is my family's second trip to the area. As you enter the gates, to the right is the Creation Museum.

To cool off, we took a dip in the Paluxy River.



This area is full of fossils and prehistoric footprints. When the water is low, you can spot the dino tracks.

















When we first arrived, a large group of tourists bombarded us to take their pictures. I had 3 camera's in my hands taking snapshots, and everyone else in my family was shoved a camera too. To return the favor, they took our family picture.




Leaving Stephenville.

A very nice couple invited us to climb into their award winning Galaxy 500 model convertible and have our pics taken. I pressed Josh and Caitlin to jump in instead and I'd snap their picture! They happily obliged!



Remember those Sonic trays?


























The auto show was in Stephenville.




We arrived in Stephenville and was impressed with the friendliness of the people. This is the small town that made national headlines over the UFO sightings that were spotted by several dozen and very credible town folks.

Lawn mower races in Stephenville.



Josh and Caitlin sneaking a quick nap inbetween towns.

The skies, before we hit Stephenville. It was hot, but we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!

Pamela overlooking Lake Meridian.

We swam for awhile at Lake Meridian, and had a picnic lunch.

Lake Meridian State Park.



Leaving Crawford Texas

Don't blink while passing through. We had just passed the road to President Bush's ranch.


Interesting spider nests at Mother Neff.

Mother Neff is the oldest state park in Texas.

Natural undergroud spring feeds into this small water hole used by native indians and traveling pioneers.



At the parade in Belton Texas.

We coudn't resist stopping to watch the parade. Before we left, we stopped at the food booths to snack on some hotdogs, brisket, ice cream, and funnel cake.






Caitlin, overlooking the Leon river at Belton.

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!