Texas...Part Two

Loaded up with kolaches for us and our hosts, we finished the journey South to our final destination for the day...Waco.

Waco is home to all sorts of things and we were blessed to see several. Since we had almost an hour before we could check into our house rental, we headed toward a pilgrim site of a different kind... Check this out if you think I'm joking.

Yes, it's the actual store of Chip and Joanna Gaines, of Fixer Upper fame

the now-famous silos

You may notice that the pictures were taken from the passenger-side window. From this you can conclude that we did not go in to tour ourselves. I have nothing personally against these people or the show but it was a fantastic example of how we have made TV into a god. First you pay $10 to park within a reasonable walk (because the neighborhood is not great...but kudos to the Baptist church who charges this sum to use their lot and makes their own bundle in the bargain!). Then you go inside and purchase all sorts of stuff, mostly to say they were from Magnolia Market...DH's friend who lives there said when he went to check it out an older husband was following his wife around complaining, "I threw out a bunch of this stuff thirty years ago!" lol.

For instance, you can purchase one "small" cotton stem for $6 (you would need many to fill the standing vera vase that sells for $58) Take note as the cotton plants will come up again in a future post.

Can't beat Capitalism, right? The woman who rented us the house told us the Gaines's had to pull their kids out of school because pickup became somewhat of a mob scene. Fame and fortune have their costs; good and bad.

We checked into the house and headed out to meet DH's friend from graduate school (whom he had not seen in a quarter of a century...bad friend) and who now teaches at Baylor University. He was still teaching when we arrived so we headed straight to the Mayborn Museum on campus. 

The GIANT green thing is a ROSEMARY plant...yes, they use them as shrubs down here. Man, I want to live in Texas.

We made it an hour or so before closing so we had to rush right in because there was a special exhibit going on...

Yes! It was all about Pilgrimages! AHEM. Sometimes I just shake my head and laugh at the Holy Spirit (and I am so very grateful that He continues to present us with such amazing opportunities.)

They throw this god in the Ganges to purify the river

It was such a wonderful time, in the middle of our journey, to show the kids that other people actually do this...we're not crazy in our faith or our desire to travel to see holy places! It is such an innate desire that even those of different faith traditions do similar things!

As if that wasn't enough to cover the price of admission, they had one of the greatest children's play areas I have ever seen. A great way to occupy the kids while the two friends caught up on the last 2+ decades.

NUTRITION....YAY!!!

Navigating the Brazos

He was so sweet "driving" this little girl around :0)

We spent the evening at DH's classmate's home with his lovely wife and beautiful girls. What amazing people these are...they traveled to China on two separate occasions to rescue these sweet girls and give them a home to grow. I wish I had pictures but, alas, there was too much fun to be had. Good, fun, simple times with good people. What a great respite.

The respite was important because about 2 AM #3 decided to vomit all over his little brother, and his bed, so mom was hanging on the couch, washing laundry all night. It was all good. We only had a 3-hour journey the next day and we had a washer and dryer right there in the house.

Besides, it was the cutest little Texas house you could hope to see :0)

Next time; popes, Holy Doors and the Gulf of Mexico! Stay tuned! We are blessed.