Abilene to Dallas, Texas – 11/26/2014 – http://fulltimetimeshare.com/blog

NOVEMBER 26, 2014 (Wednesday)

Another long day that was supposed to be a short day. We left the Courtyard by Marriott at around 11:00 AM. Our drive today was to Prosper, Texas to see my niece, Natalie, and her family. It was a little over 200 miles and was supposed to take only three hours.

First thing found a B of A. Went inside and there was no ATM. The only one they had was a drive through. Strange.

We stopped for gas and food at a little restaurant called Chicken Express. Chicken Express had the best yeast rolls, right out of the oven. Yummy. We also stopped for Michael to go to the bathroom somewhere along the way.

Good chicken, good cole slaw and a killer yeast roll.

In the chicken parking lot, the dirt in this part of the country is so red.

On the road, an interesting brick chimney.

The traffic was horrible starting in Fort Worth and it took four hours to get to their home.

Fort Worth skyline, we think. This is worse than LA.

Like on any big city freeway, we came to a complete halt.

Around the curve and to the highway below, crawled.

We got to Natalie and Justin’s new Texas home at around 4:00 PM. Justin wasn’t home from work yet, but Justin’s cousin, along with Natalie and Noah (their oldest son) were home. Aiden and Glorida (Justin’s mom and their youngest son) got home from walking the dog shortly after we arrived. The boys are now young men. They’re both really handsome and tall.

Natalie and Justin moved from California to Texas a few months ago. Their new home is absolutely gorgeous. They all seem very happy and adjusted to life in Texas. So glad for them.

Niece Natalie showing... — Niece Natalie showing…

Huge beautiful kitchen, with Tish and Noah visiting.

Upstairs man cave, the domain of Justin, Noah and Aiden.

Shadow, a really happy puppy of only 5 years.

I watched Gloria put a large glass in here, push a button and it filled perfectly. I asked and Natalie confirmed the refrigerator knows how big any glass is and fills it perfectly automatically.

Time for us to head out, one last family pose. Beautiful Mom and handsome sons.

We had a quick but wonderful visit and as we were leaving, Justin got home so we got a quick visit with him in the driveway.

We left around 5:30 PM. We drove towards our home for the night, The Southfork Hotel, and Michael had a hankering for Outback Steakhouse (as he saw one down the road). We pulled in and had a very good dinner – a special with three courses – salad, entree, and dessert.

More birds. — More birds on the building and traffic light pole.

Then we drove a few miles and in another intersection, birds.

Pretty woman's petite sirloin. — Pretty woman’s petite sirloin.

grumpy's prime rib. — grumpy’s prime rib.

We haven’t eaten the dessert yet (got it to go), but the salad and entree were delicious. We got to our hotel room and it’s very nice but I was under the impression it was on the land where the Southfork Ranch (from Dallas fame) was located. Not. It’s about a ten mile drive. So bummed. Would have liked to have stayed on the land where the Southfork Ranch was. Maybe next time.

Anyway, that was our day. Hope yours was great!