Trip to Texas, Part VI (Wednessday)

Much of Wednesday was decided by the "elders" - the affectionate nickname given to M's parents and his Aunt & Uncle. Since the elders wanted to go riding that morning, they decided that we would all go to the Kennedy museum that afternoon and have dinner in downtown Dallas.

Since the elders were riding, we needed to find a way to entertain Lacey and London. It was decided that we(Lane, Jason, M, Leslie, and I) would take the girls to Chuck E. Cheese. I was apprehensive about going - I envisioned a restaurant full of kids - in short lots of noise and drama...not what I wanted for my vacation. Surprisingly, the place was pretty empty. We ordered our meal and set out with the goal of "winning tickets for the girls". But pretty soon, we were playing the games as much for our own amusement as anything else. I was racking up tickets at the "Deal or No Deal" game,while M played the "Shoot Em' Up Game". Mix in greasy pizza, a few rounds of skeeball, and prizes and you had a great afternoon.

While Jason and Lane took the girls back to Aunt Diane's, Leslie, M, and I went to pick up her kids from school. The original plan was for all parties to meet back up at the house and then head to the Kennedy museum. But when we arrived, the elders informed us that they would babysit and let the 5 of us go on our on.

We arrived at the museum at 4:30 - and spent the next hour and a half reliving one of the darkest days in our nation's history. The 6th Floor Museum is a powerful tribute to Kennedy's legacy, and a stark reminder of his death and the turmoil that followed. Once we finished up inside the museum, we walked along Elm street to take photos of the grassy knoll and the window (Photos are not allowed in the museum). While walking, we encountered a 'tour guide' who gave us the real truth about Kennedy's death. I am sure that what he told us was not truth , but it was entertaining none the less.

After finishing up our tour, we loaded up in Leslie's car and set out in search of bronze cows. Dallas has a 4.2 acre area that contains 70 6 foot high bronze cows and 3 cowboys that are herding them. It is a tribute to the Texas cattle drives of days gone by. We kept calling the elders for directions. You would think that it wouldn't be hard to find bronze cows in the middle of downtown Dallas...but it was.

While making one of loops, we were stopped at a red light when ....BAM.... we watched a man get hit by a car. The 5 of us were stunned as the accident happened less than a foot from us. We called 911, the circled back to the scene to give our statements. Once that issue was taking care of, we set off in search of those cows.

We never found them.... we finally succumbed to hunger and went in search of food instead. After all, we had another day in Dallas to find the cows.