Dallas – Fort Worth, Texas

We spent two wonderful weeks with family over Christmas and New Years. It was an opportunity to slow down from the higher paced traveling life and enjoy the holidays. The kids spent their time on Christmas craft projects, playing with cousins, watching holiday movies, and just enjoying all the love from the grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins.

We didn’t miss an opportunity though to explore the area… but they didn’t need to fill out their journals or complete a math assignment until after break. Merry Christmas, kids!

That said, a number of places we would liked to have gone were closed for the holidays so we’ll have to come back when they’re all open and see if we can finish our list for the area.

Of the things we did get to see, we were able to get the last tour of the Texas Motor Speedway before closing for the holidays, saw a rodeo at the Fort Worth Stockshow, visited the site of the JFK assassination and the 6th Floor Museum, and the kids got some playtime at the newly opened Bolder Adventure Park.

Texas Motor Speedway

The Texas Motor Speedway is home to a 1.5 mile long NASCAR racetrack. The facility is capable of hosting crowds up to 200,000 spectators during the events. That the population of the entire city of August, Georgia or Salt Lake City, Utah! They have the land for it as well. When it’s racing season, people can come and park their RV’s on the land, have groceries delivered, and spend their time enjoying the race without ever having to leave… all for a price, of course. 

When it’s not race season, they rent out the track to other interested parties. One such example that our tour guide shared was a car company who had rented it for an entire month in order to test out the performance of their vehicles. 

We were able to see different areas of the speedway on the tour. Our first look was at the member’s club. They had an events room, gym, and special viewing areas for members. Another area were the box seats. This room was heated (and I assume cooled in the summer) and the seats were comfortable. These seats would have been more pricey than the stadium seating below but both were actually decent seats for watching the race.

Do you see Pit Road? How about the finish line?

We then got into our own vehicles and followed our tour guide into the center of the speedway. Pulling up out of the tunnel and into the central arena was a real treat. (We pretended the seats were filled and the fans were cheering for us. The kids loved that!) It felt like race day. 

From the inside, looking back up at the seating, you can start to get a feel of the immense size of the place. 

Below, on the left, is a better view of the member’s club viewing areas. 

Now I was not expecting this part of the tour… we got to ride at 90 mph around the track! How cool is that?!

Our tour group took turns doing a couple laps around the track. Each ride began with a pleasant squeal of the tires and backs against the seat as the driver burned rubber out of the pit and onto the track. The driver stopped on one of the banked turns so that we could feel the immensity of the 24 degree slope of the track. 

On his next lap, he crossed the finish line and the crowd went wild – at least the kids did! And around once more to let us out at the pit.

Jaden was a little hesitant to take a turn around the track, but after he came back he said he was glad he went because it was a lot better than he was expecting it to be.

Ellie thought it was pretty cool as well. Best part of the tour I have to say!

Fort Worth Stockshow

Any good cowboy will tell you, if visiting Texas, a rodeo really should be on your list of things to see. 

This was the first rodeo any of us had been to and it pleasantly opened with a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem and a prayer.

(and now I can properly use the phrase “it’s not my first rodeo” in conversation). 

Just getting the bulls ready in the stalls would have been enough for me to say “nope, not doing that!” but those cowboys were more daring than I would have been. Over and over again they came out riding the bucking bulls and somehow managing to stay on for much longer than seemingly possible.

There was a roping competition with maximum points given to the competitor who was able to capture a calf at both the head and the feet. Kids had their chance at the fun as well when they got their chance to enter the arena to grab the bandana that was tied around a lamb’s neck.

Cowboys rode again to try their hands at taming the bucking bronco. 

All it all, it was a great evening escapade into the culture of Texas entertainment.

JFK 6th Floor Museum

In 1963, John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. As his open-air convertible turned from S. Houston Street and onto Elm Street, Lee Harvey Oswald was taking aim from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository.  

It is believed that three shots were fired from the sixth floor and a fourth from an unknown location. This is the corner window of the book depository that has been sealed off to tourists to preserve the history of the event.

The view from the sixth floor would have been nearly the same as the one below besides the presence of the trees. The ‘x”s on the street mark the spots at which the bullets hit the President according to the video recordings and photographs taken at the scene.

This was not Lee Harvey Oswald’s gun used in the shooting, but a similar gun to the one that was used. 

I’ll leave the conspiracy theories to those who wish to delve into it. The museum on the sixth floor presented the known facts of the case, while trying to stay neutral on any conclusions that remain open. We did, however, take a keen look at the grassy knoll for any suspicion that the fourth shot may have originated from there.

Bolder Adventure Park

The Bolder Adventure Park is a newly open playplace in Grand Prairie, Texas. The kids wore themselves out climbing through the ropes course, ziplining across the wide open spaces, playing ball tag, riding in bumper cars, ice skating, and tubing down a fast rubber-grass slide. (I’m not sure how to express that last part!)

The kids got out all their energy running around the grounds. The ball tag area was scored as a team sport, similar to playing laser tag.

They said the bumper cars were difficult to control and you could see them struggling with the controls, but if anything, that made it more fun. They indiscriminately ran into everyone!