by Texas Homesteader ~
RancherMan & I love our home in our Northeast Texas paradise. But sometimes a road trip is in order and we love to travel to West Texas to visit our favorite aunt and uncle. Recently we had just the opportunity after viewing our calendars and seeing it’s about to get super busy at the Taylor Household. So we prepared our animals for our brief absence and headed west for a weekend of fun in Amarillo, Texas.
Sights Along The Road
Although there’s no shortage of folks that love traveling, I’m not one of them. It’s a long 6.5-hour trip and I really don’t like being cooped in the car staring blankly out the window for so long. Thankfully RancherMan has a traveling office set up for me so I’m able to work in the car (as I’m doing right now!) But occasionally I glance out the window and enjoy the view.
We passed huge fields of vibrant yellow flowers and they were absolutely beautiful. We did a google search to find out they were probably blooming canola. How awesome, I had no idea West Texas hosted canola harvests!
I also loved seeing the fields of huge energy-generating windmills. Man these things fascinate me! Occasionally we would pass a large 18-wheel truck carrying a replacement blade to one of those windmills and it really brings home how huge the blades are – maybe 50 feet long or so. Crazy!
Frozen Treats At Dairy Queen
And of course no road trip is complete unless RancherMan & I stop at what’s referred to as the “Texas Stop Sign”, Dairy Queen for a delicious and decadent Blizzard frozen treat. As always the workers prove its thickness by turning the Blizzard-filled cup upside down for a few seconds while handing it to us through the drive-through window. Now THAT’s thick!
I always opt for Chocolate Extreme flavor, which is their signature ice cream blended with hot fudge, chocolate coating and chunks of brownies. Delicious!
Rest-Stop Rattlesnakes??
Every now & then we stop at a rest area to stretch our legs, use the facilities and let Bailey do her puppy thaaaang. I’m always shocked to see this warning sign at the rest stops out here – Watch for RATTLESNAKES?? Yikes.
Amarillo, Texas At Last!
Finally we reach my aunt’s house and are welcomed warmly as we always are. My aunt is the most amazing hostess ever – all needs are met before they’re even realized. She thinks of EVERYTHING! She already had a homemade pork roast supper complete with carrots and potatoes to satisfy our appetites after a long road trip. Delicious!
Garage Sale Finds
The next morning we rise early – when we come to visit we enjoy getting up early & hitting the numerous garage sales. Now I like garage saling as much as the next guy, but this location coupled with these crazy family members really take it to the next level. They’ve already mapped out the garage sales that are advertised, noting what item of interest they have advertised and the time they open, and they’ve already plugged all the addresses into their GPS so we can make the rounds with lightening-fast efficiency. My uncle is so funny he kept us all in stitches the whole time!
OMGosh we had so much fun and came home with some great things for shockingly little money out of pocket. My favorite find for the day was a huge roaster, the bottom will double for RancherMan’s grilling tray that we recently had to trash (recycle) due to its age. The cost? FOUR dollars, baby!
We came home and relaxed after our day-long garage saling session, convinced that the next morning would be even better. My aunt & uncle charted out the Saturday-Only sales the night before and once again plugged the addresses into their GPS. We were all ready to enjoy a repeat performance of the fun.
Saturday morning the weather was perfect and we hit the sales again. OMGosh the sales were even more numerous! Today’s favored find was this hideous harvest-gold and very crappy vintage stadium seat that was so tattered they basically tossed it in for free with our other purchases.
RancherMan’s been looking for one to go up in his hunting stand and even buying them used the price was more than he wanted to spend. My aunt assured us that recovering this one would be cheap and easy, I was skeptical. (note, she proved right again, and be sure to check out how we did it)
Live Musical At Amarillo Little Theater
That night our aunt had yet another super-fun surprise for us. She knows how I love to attend live performances so she treated us to the Amarillo Little theater to see the live musical ‘Aladdin‘. I especially love this theater because it only holds 453 people – there’s not a bad seat in the house!
This performance had some adorable scenes where they included children acting as the twinkling stars as Aladdin and Jasmine glide on the magic carpet through the night. OMGosh what a wonderful performance!
Finally Sunday morning it was time for us to head home. This is always the most bittersweet time of our trip – I’m anxious to get home, but I hate to leave. My aunt packed up enough food for us so we wouldn’t have to stop and buy anything on the way home and hugged us goodbye.
At last we reached home-sweet-home. I love how I feel inside when we see those familiar gates of home. I’ve never loved ‘home’ quite as much as I do living here – what a blessing! But what a great weekend we had, filled with lots of laughter and fun with those we love most.
~TxH~
Other Fun Trips
- Broken Bow, OK
- Ft. Worth, Texas – Big Fun In Cow Town
- Austin, Texas Visit
- Fun trip To Minneapolis, Minnesota
- New Branfels, Texas
- Laughlin, Nevada Fun
- Heading To Amarillo, Texas
- Fun Trip To Red River, New Mexico
- Romantic Stay In Granbury, Texas
- Beach Vacation: Surfside Beach, Texas
- Lower Waste Hotel Stays When Traveling
- Travel Bag Organization Trick
- Peace Of Mind Before A Trip
- Using My Hand Basket When Traveling
- Lower-Waste Hotel Stays – Easy Tips
- Less Landfill-Bound TRASH When Dining Out
- Working On The Road: My Rolling Office
I have a big roasting pan like that one and occasionally I use it to bake dirt for plants. (besides the occasional large bird of the turkey variety)
LOL Lisa. That pan will get it’s Taylor Household maiden voyage at the grill tonight! ~TxH~
Thanks for sharing on Let’s Get Real Link Party.
My hubby is working all the way over in Borger Texas right now.
He drove down to Amarillo just recently on a Sunday off. ☺
Yes home is just home no matter how much fun the trip was.
Right you are, Shirley. Dorothy was right: “There’s NO place like home!” 🙂 ~TxH~
How fun! I’m so glad you got a little time away and got to spend time with family too. Great finds at the sales! And Aladdin is one of my favorites!!
Aladdin is one of my faves as well Pamela, and any time they can integrate little ones into the play… magical. It was So. Much. Fun! ~TxH~
Loved the blog. Felt like I was traveling with you all.
Oh man, Mert, this post would have been SO LONG if I’d added all I wanted to. I always get tickled at a motel we pass on the way called the “It’ll Do Inn”. LOL! Plus we passed some really beautiful scenery, oh I wish I could have shared it all. And all the garage saling finds – we usually have a list of things we’re looking for when we visit these relatives and typically find everything on our list for next to nothing. This trip was no exception! ~TxH~
It must be a southern thing but everyone south of me is so friendly. Hate to say this but everyone in my area is just plain rude and to themselves. You’re lucky if you know your neighbors after 20 years.
Absolutely love garage and yard sales. I have been able to go part time with work as I now hit the sales and thrift stores then sale them on Ebay. I once bought a Fenton glass egg platter for $3.00 in mint condition and sold it for $700.00. Love that you were able to find some great buys. As they say one mans trash is another mans treasure. I know it has saved me a fortune over the years and everything I buy is of better quality than the junk that’s sold now. Have a great week!
I know what you mean Patti, I’ve lived in the south all my life and I love it – folks are generally very friendly here. Although when we lived in the city there was much more of the ‘keep to themselves’ mindset (for me even) than there is out here in the country. I love it here, and I finally feel like we’re really an integral part of our community. Great find on the Fenton – woo-hoo!! ~TxH~
I enjoyed your travel post, thanks. Funnily enough, I took a similar picture of a blooming canola field here in north Alabama yesterday. It is so strikingly YELLOW.
Who knew, Judy? I had no idea canola was around these parts – not sure where I thought it was grown but I was surprised to find it’s grown here. And talk about beautiful – those bright yellow blooms were gorgeous. ~TxH~
Always nice to get away for awhile, but nice to be back to Home Sweet Home again.
Sounds like you really had an enjoyable little trip and what wonderful buys you got.
Yes, that stadium seat will be very easily repaired and recovered. Actually it’s in pretty good shape
compared to most I have seen. (as they say; cheap is good, but Free is better. :} )
That large roaster…Awesome and what a great deal.
I think out in west Texas more is where they have the rattlesnake hunts
I was surprised at how easily it was recovered Colleen, but to be honest I’m one of those folks that’s timid to jump into something like that. Thankfully my aunt is NOT! It turned out great, and I’ll have that post going live on Friday. ~TxH~