Texas Recap: Fort Worth

Well, it's Monday again.  How was your beautiful, autumnal weekend?  Mine was pretty good.  My sister and I went up to visit my parents and grandparents, which was nice.  And I got a chance to see my HLP, Amanda, and her boyfriend which is always nice.  Amanda surprised me with a card and revealed that yesterday was her and my 10 year friend-iversary!  How awesome is that?!  On November 3rd, 2003 we hung out together for the first time outside of class, I was a freshman and she was a second year transfer to Xavier.  We both went to a Mermaid Tavern meeting (an English group), with my crazy roommate at the time.  Mermaid Tavern ended up being incredibly boring, but after that Amanda and I started to hangout and study together.  And once my crazy roommate went full-on nuts, Amanda and I decided to get an apartment together the following year in the building she was living in.  That was the beginning of what has been the best and most fulfilling friendship of my life.  We've been study-buddies, roommates, proof-readers, traveling companions, relationship counselors, and heterosexual life partners.  Love you bunches, Amanda!  Here's to 10 more years of awesomeness!

Alright, enough sappy friend-love (just kidding!), back to Texas.  After our relaxing night in San Antonio, we really weren't looking forward to the 4+ hour drive to Dallas, most of which was under construction.  But I had planned it so that we didn't go straight to Dallas, instead we were planning a little detour to Fort Worth because we wanted to see the cattle drive, which happens every day at 11:30am and 4pm.  So, we had a schedule to keep if we wanted to see the 4pm cattle drive, which is a good thing for us since it keeps us on track and motivated.  Luckily we made it to Fort Worth with time to spare, so we decided to check out the Fort Worth Water Gardens really quick before heading over to the Stock Yards.

I wasn't wearing the best footwear, so we didn't go to the bottom of the water gardens, but it was still cool to see.

After the water gardens we headed over to Exchange Ave to find a parking spot and check out the herd of longhorns.  Nowadays, the twice-daily cattle drive is all for show.  These guys don't have to worry about becoming anyone supper anytime soon.  I know it's kind of touristy, but it's still fun.  And coming from Ohio, where longhorns aren't a common sight, it's pretty cool to see them up close!

We visited their holding pen before the cattle drive and got to see the cowboys get them up off their butts and lead them to Exchange Ave.  (This basically just involved some whooping and once the main longhorn with the bell around his neck got up they all started getting up like old pros.)

See the black and white one with the bell, who's name is Duramax, I guess he's the ringleader of the group.

I couldn't resist a couple of black and white shots.  The longhorns are just so big and majestic and I loved the contrast of their spots and the shadows their giant horns cast on the street.

It was a fun experience and I'm totally glad we went.  I'm not sure if we'd do it again if we went back, once might be enough, but I'd definitely want to check out the Botanic Gardens if we found ourselves in Forth Worth again.  I've still got photos from the Texas State Fair to share, so please stay tuned!