Roadtrek Travels: Oct 20, Glen Rose, TX

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Oct 20, Glen Rose, TX

Thursday, Oct 20

We had a good rain last night and temps dropped nicely....even needed a sweater this morning!

Usual continental breakfast, followed by a "Living Better in your RT" seminar. People shared tricks for optimizing space, cooking, controlling insects, etc. I liked a Micro Hearth cooker which cooks and bakes in the microwave...put it on my Christmas list!

We took a look at a few rigs and then joined the crowd for a box lunch from Subway before heading off on our own to Dinosaur Valley State Park. Some folks did a walking tour of Granbury, but we plan on going there later in the afternoon.

Beautiful sunny-but-not-too-hot day. The Park was just a 10 minute drive. Both sauropod and theropod tracks are found in the limestone bed and ledges along the Paluxy river. Many were removed to various museums before the state stepped in and preserved the area.

We had to wade across the river to find the Overlook Trail. Many of the stepping stones that once existed were washed away in recent flooding.

This is the best example we could find, about 113 million years old! All are under water and most require some imagination :)

Lots of live oak and juniper trees as we hiked up a ridge overlooking the valley and river.

We went back to camp to shower and change, then opted to drive to Granbury (15 minutes) rather than take the 4:00 bus, since we weren't too gung-ho on shopping. One place, called The Wagon Yard, was interesting though. It had a large collection of antiques and new furniture, decorating pieces, lighting, stained glass and such. Good thing we didn't have a lot of time, 'cause I'm pretty sure I could have found some things I couldn't live without!

Most all of the buildings on the square are from the 1800's and are on National Historic Register. This is the old jail. All are built from local stone or brick.

We were going to have dinner at a German restaurant, but many of our group were already there and the waitress said they couldn't handle more folks and still get us served before the show we are going to at 7:15. So we ended up at Farino's - an nice Italian spot instead.

It was in an old building and had a lovely bar (Al Capone supposedly drank at it in Chicago). European castle doors and other nice touches. We had great salads, as we were still digesting lunch.

Next stop was the old Granbury Opera House, where we saw the musical "Oliver". Mostly local cast was very good, especially the actors who played Oliver, Artful Dodger and Nancy. They usually don't have Thursday performances, but did it just for our group! The theatre was elegant, with a cool balcony. Pretty nice for small town Texas! Probably would have held about twice our 100 folks. We took a few photos afterwards and headed back to camp. Nice day!