MIDWAY PARK, WACO, TEXAS April 1-8, 2013

Rich and Dickens at the covered table

Midway Park was in the middle of town, on the edge of Waco Lake. One loop of the campground had full hookups, but was along a very busy road.  The other loop was along the lake and looped back into an area that was forested with juniper trees, which is where we were. It is the first campground we’ve been to that has covered picnic tables – presumably because of the very hot summers here.  We had some beautiful sunsets over the water and for the most part, beautiful weather. The juniper made a wonderful aroma when burned – I’m a real fan!  

We managed to get to the Texas Ranger Museum, and, in spite of feeling miserable with our colds, we enjoyed all the memorabilia. There was a wonderful film that documented the Texas Rangers, famous captures,  and other high points in their history. There were some wonderful old guns, typical clothes from the period, and Indian artifacts along with sculptures and paintings. In reading about the West, I had read about “batwing” style chaps” and they had a pair here so I could see just how they were different from standard chaps. Standard chaps are leather protection for the cowboy’s legs and are usually laced up along the outside length, covering up the legs of the jeans. This was time consuming and in order to speed the process up, the lacing was removed and instead, the chaps were held together in several places by ties. To add protection to the side of the leg, where the chaps gapped open because of the ties, an extra five or six inches of leather was added to the length of the front part of the chaps. This piece would drape over the ties and cover the gaps to increase protection. The mesquite, which seems to be all over this area, and through which cowboys would have ridden, has three inch long spines which can puncture sneaker soles and even tires. Mesquite is an invasive plant and can survive drought, taking water away from less hardy but more welcome shrubs and trees. 

After our trip through the museum, we drove along the Brazos River (all the western books I read are coming alive here!) and I saw the prettiest house I’ve ever seen. Of course, the setting didn’t hurt! We even turned around and drove past it again so I could get pictures. 

Nolan, Anna, and Kevin

Notice the Texas-shaped sink in the wet bar?

We were camped only about 5 minutes away from our friends, Kevin and Anna’s home, so were lucky enough to spend quite a bit of time with them and their three beautiful children. Nolan is nearly 5 and the twin girls, Emmy and Livy, are 3. Kevin came by camp shortly after we arrived and we slid right back into our friendship as though it had been last week rather than more than ten years since he was a grad student and a regular at our home. After catching up for a while, we followed Kevin to his home and got the tour of their newly purchased home, which is wonderful – lots of unexpected, cool features including a wet bar with a Texas-shaped sink!  We had dinner, reminisced, and caught up for hours, then headed back to camp. The next evening we met Kevin and Anna at their favorite Mexican restaurant for a great dinner. The next day we were planning on having them all out to camp, but the weather was cold, windy, and rainy, and Rich was sick, so it didn’t happen. Kevin left for Dallas for a lecture and got back Friday evening, just in time to pack for a meeting in New Orleans.  We ended up going by to spend some time with Anna and the kids, meet Anna’s mom and brother, and have dinner. We hated to add to the confusion the night before Kevin and Anna were to leave on their trip, but Anna insisted and we had a great time with them.  Kevin was a grad student at UF, where I worked, and he was the first of several students Rich and I “adopted” during their time there.  

Emmy and Dickens

Thanks to Anna as our local fount of information, we had a couple of breakfasts and lunch from a little family-owned Mexican restaurant called Leal’s. Some of the best burritos we’ve ever eaten. For lunch, Rich picked up burritos - a chicken fajita and a beef fajita – and while both were good, the beef was fantastic. The meat had been beautifully seasoned and braised so it was juicy and bursting with flavor. Makes me hungry just thinking about it!

Anna also directed us to our first super HEB store – similar to a super WalMart or our favorite Meijer store from Michigan – and we became fans. Although the bakery isn’t as good as Publix, it is far better than other similar stores. 

Waco has a population of about 125,000 – roughly the same as Gainesville – and at least three times the shopping venues. We liked Waco and enjoyed our time there, in spite of our colds!

Chef Kevin