Watch out for falling METEORS and Stonehenge!!!!

Being the typical tourist everywhere we go the first thing we do is check the areas visitors centers and websites for area attractions.  We will be in the Odessa/Midland area for 6 weeks so we definitely wanted to find some fun stuff to do.  Today we headed out with my daughter and Granddaughters to find a couple of them but not before going to lunch.  We ended up at a little Italian restaurant called Mi Piaci' that my daughter really likes & I love Italian so it was a go for me.  I had the best dish I have had in a long long time... Chicken Verona

mushrooms, artichokes, asparagus, and white wine cream sauce - baked with mozzarella cheese... Yummo! To die for!!!

Mi Piaci Restaurant - Odessa, Texas ~ Ralph's Huge Stromboli ~ Hannah & her Calzone ~ My Chicken Verona (YUM)

After lunch we were off in search of the Odessa Meteor Crater.  The Odessa Meteor Crater is the largest of several smaller craters in the immediate area that were formed by the impact of thousands of octahedrites (an iron metallic type) that fell in prehistoric times.  There was a museum and the site to tour when we arrived there.  The museum was filled with meteor fragments and a lot of history about the area and crater.

It is 550 feet in diameter and the age is estimated to be around 63,500 years .The crater is exposed to the surface, and was originally about 100 feet deep. Due to subsequent infilling by soil and debris, the crater is currently 15 feet deep at its lowest point, which provides enough relief to be visible over the surrounding plains. Still, the site offers an excellent opportunity to view a relatively uncommon impact feature close to a major transportation artery near a major city.

 

It was a fun visit and good to do some walking after such a big lunch.... After we finished checking out the Meteor site we headed to Stonehenge ~ no not in England but the full scale replica over at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in Odessa.  About 20 stone blocks, similar in size, shape, and appearance to the ancient Stonehenge in southwestern England, were unveiled in the summer of 2004. The replica matches the original Stonehenge horizontally, but it falls some 14% short in height from the English monument. The tallest stone on the original is 22 feet, while the highest in the Odessa is 19 feet. 

While the original may have taken 2000 years to complete, the replica was placed at UTPB in six weeks. The stones were moved two at a time on tractor-trailers and lifted into place on footings made of reinforced concrete. The original Stonehenge marked the summer and winter solstices. Each stone weighs more than 20,000 thousand pounds and is composed of limestone slabs donated from the quarry of TexaStone of Garden City in Glasscock near Big Spring, Texas. It was a fun visit and the best part is that it is FREE.

 It was a great day with our family and I sure wished our other daughter could have been with us.

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Have Fun & Travel Safe

 

A Rabbit in the Bush????

We tried to see as much as we could find in Midland while visiting our daughter & her family.... we were surprised at some of our finds.  The first was George W. Bush childhood home... we stopped and visited this home but didn't get a chance to see The Presidential Museum in the Midland/Odessa area -  We found it amusing that the house was also occupied George H. Bush, Jeb Bush & Barbara and thought that it should be just called Bush Presidential Home.

Bush's Boyhood Home

George W. Bush Childhood Home is a historic house that was home to former U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush from 1951 to 1955. It is located at 1412 W. Ohio Ave. in Midland, Texas. The home was built in 1940 and was purchased by the Bush family in 1951 for $9,000. They lived in the 1,400-square-foot home until late 1955. It was also the earliest childhood home of Governor Jeb Bush. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

Information Signs & Childhood photos

We also went out to find the "World's Largest Jackrabbit" which is mentioned in Roadside America.

Built in 1962, the eight-foot-tall rabbit was the idea of Odessa Chamber of Commerce president John Ben Shepperd, hence the rabbit's official name of "Jack Ben Rabbit." It was Shepperd's way to pay tribute to the city's unique jackrabbit roping competition, held every year during the Odessa Rodeo. The competition ended in 1978, when The Humane Society shut it down for good.

The jackrabbit was displayed for years at the old Prairie Pete Park, then moved into storage in a maintenance yard -- until the public raised a fuss and forced it to be returned to a new location, in front of the downtown Ector County Independent School District Administration Building. Someone tried to steal the jackrabbit in 1997, so it's been bolted to the sidewalk ever since.

Several official Texas historical markers flank the rabbit, including one with a recipe for Jackrabbit and Dumplings. Click on pictures to enlarge.  Still way behind on my post but will try to catch up soon.  Thanks for following ♥

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Have Fun & Travel Safe

Trekking Through Texas

Day 5 of our trip had us driving through Louisiana & Texas. We had one small rain shower that was just enough to get road dirt on Tassie & Silvie ~ After Ralph spent 2 days washing & waxing them... lol  When we went through Shreveport on I-20 we were just behind a small tornado that turned over several travel trailers at a dealer, many trees knocked down and bent many interstate road signs. I think if I had seen that tornado I would have messed my britches....

Other then that it was a smooth ride and after about 500 miles we started looking for a RV Park for the night.  After checking out our travel books and internet we found a small RV Park in Mingus, Texas.  Cactus Rose RV Park was an easy on and easy off back onto I-20 so we decided that was a pretty good pick... we didn't expect much and was pleasantly surprised to not only meet very friendly owners but a clean well kept park with all that you could want in any campground !  Click here to go to our RV Park review blog.  This park was so restful and nice we decided to stay an extra day and just enjoy it.


Cactus Rose RV Park ~ Mingus, Texas 

Our site at Medessa Oil Patch RV Park

After being well rested up we headed out to Midland, Texas where my youngest daughter & herfamily lives... We'll be staying in this area for about 6 weeks before we continue our journey.  This was only 320 mile day which is really how we like it ~ 350 miles or less on travel days.  The wind of Texas picked up for our ride and pretty much wore Ralph  out and didn't do our gas mileage any good either.  We had a horrible time finding any parks to take us and our first week was at Midessa Oil Patch RV Park.  Click here for our RV Park review... Because there are so many oil workers in this area they fill up the RV parks so what a time we had trying to secure a spot for 5 more weeks after Midessa Oil Patch... we finally found a RV park out in the middle of nowhere filled with oil rig workers but they had one spot left in the back and that is what we took.  Normally I wouldn't stay in a park such as this but we wanted to spend time with Jennifer and the family.  So here we are at Stanley RV Park and all and all we have everything we need. FHU, no trees so great satelite TV, Water and so far very quiet. I think we are the biggest rig here...

Stanley RV Park

So we have already been in the Midland/Odessa area for a week and already have had many adventures ~ It is great visiting with my daughter, SIL, and granddaughters ~ will catch up on the next blog.

Come on back and follow our adventures...

Have Fun & Travel Safe