We bought the tickets for the tour that would take us down to the dinosaur dig site. It was back in 1978 that two guys saw a bone sticking out in the creek bed. Expecting it to be a cow's leg bone, it turned out to be a three-foot-long leg bone. That is considerably longer than an adult human's leg bone.
Our tour ticket included a golf cart ride for Denisa's Mother to the large (and thankfully air-conditioned) building that completely covers the area where that first bone was found.
The ranger described the animals that roamed Waco thousands of years ago, including the owner of the bone--the 14-foot-tall mammoths.
Scientists can't determine what caused the death of an entire herd of mother and baby mammoths. But they have been perfectly preserved in the mud. We could look down to see "Female W,"
still lying on her side in the dirt that preserved her bones all these years in the same position she died.
One of the most impressive set of bones was that of Male Q. The ranger politely explained why he was found in this female herd--he was probably there "looking for a girl friend." He died in a belly-flop position. That's his rear legs on the left, and his head and long tusks on the right. The rib and vertebrae bones are in the middle, still oriented the same as the day he died.
We had a very interesting ranger, who complimented us on making it to the first tour. We saw the third tour of the day was crowded with about 25 people crowding to hear their ranger.
Our next stop of the day was the Heritage Craft Village, a few miles north of Waco. The village is home to a self-sustaining religious group that settled here in the 1990's. We noticed the heat as we walked between buildings. But it was nicely air-conditioned in the fibers house, where visitors were working at the looms.
The blacksmith shop was not air-conditioned. In fact, this guy was heating it up with his coal-fired stove that was cooking his metal to red hot temperatures.
We also spent time at the woodworking shop. They were readying for a group of people that had paid to learn the fine art of making furniture. For example, anyone can spend 6 days here at the village, and have any of these projects finished when they leave.
We visited the grist mill, where the water wheel was turning the gears to run the mill stone to make wheat flour and corn grits.
The view of the mill and its water wheel was a picture-perfect serene scene in the village.
We made a purchase at the grist mill. But the hand-made baskets, hand-woven scarves, wood items, and pottery were terribly expensive at some of the other buildings in the village. All this walking worked up an appetite, so we headed to the Village Cafe for a delightful lunch. It's not a great picture, but two of the meals we ordered were turkey wrap and fruit cup, and chicken tacos and spicy cole slaw. And of course, we followed it up with a piece of carrot cake. (We obviously are big fans of dessert.)
Just down the road is the Brazos Valley Cheese Company, where they make tons of cheese each year. We enjoyed samples in the store, and then took the cool trip down to the cellar where these cheese wheels are chilling while they age.
Waco is also home to the Texas Rangers Museum. Perhaps we were all tired by this time, but Denisa's favorite part was the impressive statue out front.
Waco, Texas, is the birthplace of a famous drink--Dr. Pepper. So it is fitting that a Dr. Pepper Museum is another place to stop. It was too late to go to the museum, so we took the obligatory pictures in the courtyard of the old sign . . .
and the delivery pickup. Then we went into Frosty's Soda Shop, and ordered a Dr. Pepper float, a Dr. Pepper ice cream soda, and a syrupy fresh Dr. Pepper. Our compliments to the soda shop chefs! (Sounds like we enjoyed even more desserts today.)
We also made a stop at Baylor University, home of the Baylor Bears athletic teams. Even with the hot weather, we found the two sister bears, Joy and Lady, hanging out at their habitat on campus.
They are obviously used to having guests at their window. With the students gone for the summer, they seemed happy to have our company.
A more academic stop on campus was the Armstrong-Browning Library and Museum. It was interesting to go to a library filled with stain glass windows. In fact, it houses the world's largest collection on secular stain glass windows in the world.
Every window in the building is a pictorial tribute of the poetry of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Robert Browning is famous for works like "The Pied Piper of Hamelin."
His wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, is more romantic with poems that start with phrases like, "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." This window is more theological, illustrating her poetic words, "I say the acknowledgment of God in Christ accepted by thy reason, solves all questions in the earth."
We also made a trip to the Collin Street Bakery. We ate the goodies before a picture could be taken. (Have you sensed a trend yet?) But we can confirm that the prices are cheaper and the lines are shorter here than at the Silo Bakery we went to yesterday. After two full days in town, we feel we have conquered the sights and tastes of Waco, Texas. The picture below was taken at Spice Village, a craft mall that is also popular among the tourists pouring into town.
We made the long trip back to Oklahoma City, with a stops for Smokin' Joe barbecue and fruit pies near Sulphur. That was a good and tasty stop (with yet another dessert option) to cap off our girls' trip of 2018. It's another batch of good memories in the record books!
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