Don't Ride the Train!

So a couple of friends from Mexico City came to visit for a few days.  So we did some of the typical tourist things to do in Dallas.  Dealey Plaza, The Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center among other things.

However, I am not posting about those places in this post.  I do however have to absolutely warn you about the famous Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) streetcar.  In my almost six years of living in Dallas, I had never ridden the trolley before.  We figured we would give it a try this time around.

First of all, DART employees have no idea where the boarding points are for the M-line that the trolley runs on.   We left the Sixth Floor Museum and began to search for any DART employee along the line, so that they could inform us where to board the train.  Of course, we were given multiple answers, mostly due to the fact that there is construction all over downtown Dallas.

The internet provided us with yet another set of directions, so we decided to get in the car and go find the address provided on DART's website.  No such luck.  We parked, walked for at least half an hour until we found it.  ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE INTERSTATE!

So we waited...and waited...and waited.  The streetcar finally showed up.  Off we go.  Here is my friend Arturo and his wife Valerie.  Happy and excited to board the streetcar.

The "operator" was probably tired of his job, as there was no explanation of what the sights were.  Not that there was much to see.  Looking at the map of the route now, I realize it is pretty much a means of transportation for drunk people downtown, as it passes by all of the restaurants and bars down McKinney Ave.  Being that it was a weekday, there was not much action to see.

Anyway, to make a long story short, avoid the streetcar at all costs as a tourist attraction.  It really has nothing to offer unless they eventually change the route to a more scenic one.

Happy to get off of the DART streetcar!!

Time for another blooper!

This is one of our favorites, AND IT HAPPENED TWICE!!!

What is it with heat and swollen fingers!?

Exhibit A - August 7th, 2009.  The day we got married in Dallas, TX.  It took me over 12 minutes to put that ring on her finger.  It did not fit.

Exhibit B - June 19th, 2010.  The day we got married in Cartagena, Colombia.  It took me over 12 minutes to put that ring on her finger.  It did not fit.

More fossils?

No, not more fossils.  In fact, we haven't seen any fossils lately.  But here are a few more of the animals we saw at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center.

Not sure what the deal is with these animals staring us down.  All we were doing was driving through their living room!

Audad - Ammotragus Lervia.  I believe the true name is Rammus Staredownus.  At least that's what the Internet says.

Giraffe - Giraffa Camelopardalis.  This one we will call neckus longeritus.  This guy actually stuck his head in through my window.  Another hungry one.  There were about 6 of these walking around.

We've seen one of these before.  Or two?  I don't recall which one this is, but it is definitely one of the zebras!!

Axis Deer - Axis Axis.  This guy looks so mean that his scientific name is self explanatory.  He'll give you the ax, and then again.

Fossil Rim, Glen Rose Texas

So we took a little road trip about two hours from our house, down to the Fossil Rim Wildlife Preserve in Glen Rose Texas. We had been there before, only last time we took the mountain bikes to ride around certain areas of the park.

This time we decided to get up early to beat the Labor Day crowd, but as it turns out, we had some work to do here at the house & didn't leave for the park until 10pm.

We drove into Glen Rose looking for a place to eat as it would take us about two hours to drive around the park. After driving around for a while, we backtracked to a Mexican restaurant we had seen on our way there and stopped for some tacos. I'll give them a 7.

Once we got to the park we were surprised to see how many people had planned on doing the same thing. It was a holiday after all. The sign said the tour would take between 2 and 4 hours TO THE HALF-WAY MARK!

Over the hill we could see the line of cars slowly driving through the park. We figured WTH, we're already here, might as well do it.

Off we go...

Who would have thought, 2 different species of zebras. Eqqus burchelli and Eqqus canadensis tabida. Can you spot the differences? The first is black with white stripes, the second is white with black stripes.

And yeah, they are right there.  They are so used to people driving around the park feeding them that they pretty much just come in through the windows looking for food.

Peppermint Zebra

So we took a little trip today to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, TX.  There's a lot more to the story, but it's late & I need some sleep.  Here is a little preview of things to come.