A week or so ago, we asked for some help identifying the beetle pictured below.
We had a few humerous entries like Sherri’s “Dalmation Beetle”. But the first correct response came from our friends Dan and Myra with the identification of the Ironclad Beetle. Thanks for the help.
Some people just can’t rough it. As we were pulling out of Cedar Hill State Park last week, we noticed this family arriving for the weekend.
I guess they didn’t want to walk to the 50-yards to the lake.
The Dallas/Fort Worth area has mixed blessings with the Barnett Shale gas field. On the pro side, the DFW has not been hurt as badly as most of the nation during this economic downturn. Also, real estate has not dropped too badly.
Luckily, we sold our property a couple of years ago at the peak. We drove through our old neighborhood the other day and found NO houses for sale in the entire subdivision.
The downside of the gas field boom is that many of the rural roads are being beat to death by the heavy equipment being moved to the fields. This is the typical view of a gas rig.
We’ve even seen them drilling in McDonalds parking lots.
The noise is extreme and if it is in a residential area, the din continues 24/7 until the project is complete. In Grand Prairie, a suburb of Dallas, we noticed that the companies are trying to ease the irritation by building sound dampening structures around the rig.
You can see the houses in the background above. I bet they don’t get the best sleep. That is unless they own the mineral rights. In Texas, usually the original farming family maintains the rights. So, at least they sleep well.
The side facing away from the houses is open.
We have had a wonderful time, but were also glad to see this day arrive. Our final day with the girls was to be spent at the Firewheel Hawaiian Falls Waterpark in Garland, TX.
I’ll have to hand it to Tinka, she planned things and kept everyone moving the entire week. I don’t know how she kept up the energy level. I positioned myself for the day under a small palapa with my book and didn’t really move except for a float on the Lazy River.
Tinka also took advantage of the Lazy River which makes a slow 1/4 mile circle.
The girls exhausted themselves moving from one attraction to the next.
Fountains
Half-Pipe
Playground areas that give you a surprise soak.
Waiting for the waves a the wave pool.
Small Slides
And large tubes.
The fun continued until park closing time at 6:00 PM. Then we picked up some happy meals for the kids and delivered them to their parents. We realize, once again, why young people have kids.
On the way home we ordered take-out from Olive Garden, grabbed a bottle of wine and went home to collapse.
Swim Day, also known as “Regain Our Sanity Day”, turned out to be another beautiful day.
Cedar Hill State Park is located on Joe Pool Lake just minutes south of downtown Dallas, TX. The park is quite wooded and prior to our arrival, in order to insure TV reception, we wandered the entire place with a compass to determine satellite-dome-friendly sites. In other words, RV sites that open toward the south and are long enough for our rig. Many sites are quite short and can handle a car for tenters. All site areas are large and most have a covered picnic table. There are several clean bath houses with toilets and showers. Most sites have 30 AMP electric and water. There are two large dump stations.
We selected several sites and, upon arrival, found our third selection available. We had a long site and lake access. We have a path that extends about 50 yards to our “private” beach.
The girls love the spot and spent quite a bit of time there making “rocks” which consisted of mud and shells.
We had planned to tour the Penn Farm, which is located on the park property, but it was too hot.
Tinka decided to take the girls over to the designated swimming area near the park’s yacht club.
The girls had a great time, but mentioned that they like their own little beach just as well. After dining in style on hot dogs, the girls were spent.
Now for the test, under the 5th wheel, I spotted this beetle.
I’ve never seen one like it. It was about an inch long and just crawled around slowly. If anyone knows the name of this critter, please let us know.