Travels Across Texas--Waco Mammoth National Monument, George Bush Presidential Library and Palo Duro Canyon State Park

After Christmas Kent and I rode with the Stinson family and the Lee family followed behind as we drove to northern Texas for a Carson family reunion. Along the way we stopped at Waco, Texas. It's on the map now because of a popular tv show called "Fixer Upper" which is filmed in Waco. Below is a picture of the bakery in Waco, but it was too busy and crowded to stop (that's the line to go inside!!) We just drove by and took a photo.

Outside of town was the Waco Mammoth National Monument, so we went to see it. It's where many mammoth bones were discovered.

                                           

An artist's rendition of what the mammoths looked like.

Some of the bones that were found there.

Our next stop was the George W. Bush Presidential Library, which is near Dallas, Texas.

I wanted to go here especially during the Christmas season because I'd heard they set up some of the decorations as they were during the years the Bushes lived in the White House.

     

It was a great display and fun to see some White House  Christmas decorations in Texas!

I thought this was interesting, pointing out that the only other father and son presidents were the Adams, two hundred years ago.

There was a mock Oval Office, so Kent took the opportunity to sit behind the desk.

Some quotes by President Bush that I really liked:

Unfortunately, the kids weren't as interested in the displays as I was. This picture was taken in the entry way of the Presidential Library.

The Stinsons, Lees and we spent the night at a Residence Inn in Fort Worth that night, and the next morning the Stinsons and we stopped at Palo Duro Canyon State Park.

It's nicknamed the "Grand Canyon" of Texas, and had some unusual rock formations and canyons.

It was difficult to get pictures that really did it justice.

Our last stop was Cadillac Ranch outside of Amarillo, Texas.

It's a copy of Stonehenge in England, made with Cadillacs stuck into a field. The day we were there it was clear, but it had been snowy previously, so the ground was super muddy. Savannah and I looked at it from the car but we weren't interested in tramping through the mud to go out and see it. Kent and the rest of the Stinsons did brave the mud and wind and got a few photos.