YEEHAW!!! Ft. Worth, TX

The Historic Stockyards in Ft. Worth was a blast! The area is only 5 square blocks or so but it was enough to keep us busy for 5 day. We'd definitely go back given the opportunity! It was packed with real cowboys (there's an authentic rodeo every Friday and Saturday night), swanky (overpriced) country restaurants & bars and cowboy history. Just the right blend of authentic and touristy to make us happy.

We pulled into the Stockyards RV Park Friday night around dinner time. It wasn't actually an "RV Park"; it was simply the dirt and mud lot behind the stockyard stables where all of the cowboys parked their fifth wheels and horse trailers. However, it was enough for us as everything was within a few minutes walk. Location is everything.

After we found out "spot" and hooked up (they did have water and electric) it was getting late so we headed downtown (just through the parking lot) and found a cool restaurant called H3 Ranch with saddles for bar stools, huge steaks and huge beers. Everyone had a blast and afterwards walked around town looking at the sights before hitting the sack fat and happy.

It was Saturday and we had big plans for the weekend. Sharon was coming up from Hamilton, TX and Brittany and Chelsea were driving down from Ft. Sill. Everyone arrived around lunchtime and we walked downtown looking for food and drink. After wading through a sea of anti-abortion protestors with loud speakers we wound up at the "Love Shack" on Main St. sitting up stairs on picnic tables in the sun underneath the gigantic "Fort Worth Stockyards" sign. We had a blast for a couple of hours drinking beer, eating burgers from paper bags, catching up with Brittany and meeting Chelsea for the first time.

After lunch we all went back to the RV and played card for an hour until we realized that the cattle drive was starting within minutes. So we rushed back into town just in time to see the cattle coming down the street. They had a couple of photo op spots on the side of the road with long horn steers and everyone took turn getting their pictures taken. It was typically $5 per person for photos but the guy was our neighbor in the "RV Park" and let everyone on for free! #lovecowboys

We spent the afternoon walking around doing the tourist thing before dinner. We stopped back into H3 Ranch so Cathy could get a jalapeño margarita and sit on a saddle barstool while waiting for our table across the street at Riscky's Barbecue. Chelsea even ran into a couple that she used to wait on during High School. Dinner at Riscky's Barbecue was a bad experience. We waited over an hour as they had given our table to a different party, the service was slow and Cathy had partaken in a few too many beverages which made her cranky and belligerent.

We had tickets to the rodeo that night so we had to rush through dinner before heading across the street. The rodeo was fun but a little too long for us at over 2 hours. Afterward we went back to the RV and played cards again while Hali did her meds. Everyone stayed the night with us so we packed them in like sardines and went to bed. Tomorrow would be an early morning.

Sunday I was flying back to Sarasota to renew my driver's license and grab some important paperwork from storage. Cathy took me to the airport for my 6am flight and then headed back to bed. After a late lunch everyone headed back home and Cathy was left alone with the girls. It was a sleepy day as Cathy was still recovering from the previous night. I arrived back in Sarasota and met up with the family for my father-in-law's birthday party. Great to see everyone!

I took the day off Monday to run my errands and got back on the plane for Dallas around noon. Cathy took the girls on an all day field trip including the Cowboy Hall of Fame, Cowpen Maze and mechanical bull riding. Hali loved the bull, Lexi was scared to death and Kira hated everything about it. I arrived back at the RV around dinnertime just in time for our next guest.

While in Ft. Bragg we had become friend with Tyler's roommate's girlfriend, Skyler, who lives in Dallas. She happened to be free so she stopped by for dinner and to hang out for a couple of hours. She's so cute and the girls really love her. She stayed and talked till after bedtime and reluctantly said goodbye.

The next we packed up around noon time and headed north to Ft. Sill to stay for awhile with Brittany.

Dates: January 23rd - January 27th
RV Park: Stockyards RV Park, Ft. Worth, TX