The Lee Family: Fossil Rim

This morning I got the girls up and headed out to visit Fossil Rim, which we haven't done in a few years. In past summers I've taken the girls to Dinosaur World and Dinosaur Valley State Park to see sauropod and theropod tracks, however, this year I decided Olivia is old enough for Fossil Rim Wildlife Center and Sofia isn't that excited by dinosaurs anymore. Plus, due to all the rain we've had, the dinosaur footprints at Dinosaur Valley State Park are under water and all of the hiking trails are closed.

The drive out was so much easier now that the Chisholm Trail Parkway is complete. It took us 11/2 hours to get there and when we arrived the cloud cover was slowing clearing and it was around 80 degrees, pretty unheard of for late June! We bought our tickets and bag of animal feed and headed to our car to start our adventure. We saw Addax, Axis Deer and antelope and the girls loved feeding them. We made our way through the wildlife grounds and saw all sorts of great African and European animals, including the Gemsbok and Blackbuck. The girls enjoyed feeding the animals, but also LOVED riding in the car without seat belts, especially Olivia. Soon, they were snacking on all the food I brought: cheese sticks, granola bars, grapes and peanuts. Just before we made it to the Overlook, which is basically the halfway point, there is a steep and long downhill, which we drove down and the girls loved it. It may have been the highlight of the day.

We saw a few baby Blackbuck and their mommies and the headed up the steep hill to the overlook. Since our last visit they have greatly improved the Overlook. Now there is a full-service cafe that has a beautiful view of the wildlife below, a huge gift shop and bathrooms, and a Childrens Learning Center. We headed to the Childrens Learning Center where the girls saw giant tortoise and were able to pet a few goats and see Emu and Macaws up close. After that, we walked over to the gift shop and looked around. The girls picked out two little porcelain animal figures: one of an owl for Sofia and a sea turtle for Olivia. They were each $6 and very cute. Of course, as we walked out of the gift shop, Olivia dropped her turtle and broke off two of it's legs and we could not find them. She was devastated! I gave Sofia $10 and asked her to go inside and buy Olivia another one while I put Olivia in the car. Sofia returned with a mermaid! Olivia adores mermaids and we never even saw them on the rack so she was very happy with the new figure.

We headed back down the hill and right into the area of giraffes! We watched as the car in front of us fed the only giraffe who was interested in eating. It was fun to watch him and we took a few good photos of him. That car moved on and we moved up to feed the giraffe. Sofia fed it a handful of pellets and got slobbered on. She decided she didn't want to feed him anymore and Olivia wasn't too sure from the beginning, so I fed the giraffe a few times and he was so gentle in taking the food from my hand. They are such remarkable animals. After, we continued on our journey and ran out of food just after the giraffes, which was unfortunate since we had several zebra very interested in our food as well as some European deer. While I drove, the girls played with their owl and mermaid and made up all sorts of stories of them rescuing each other, becoming friends, etc. They enjoyed it, but once you've seen one deer or antelope, I guess you've seen them all.

A few years ago CK, Sofia and I ate at a really cute and delicious cafe on the town square in Glen Rose and I was really craving going back. We drove into town and it's gone! It apparently went out of business a three years ago and is now the home of Pie Peddlers, a place that sells pies and is apparently one of the best in Texas. So, we decided to have pie for lunch. Why not! We'd all snacked on healthy stuff and it's not like we have pie for lunch everyday! Olivia wanted a milkshake, so we went next door and ordered her a mint chocolate chip milkshake that was incredible then returned to Pie Peddlers for our slice of key lime (Sofia) and apple pie a la mode (me). Both were delicious, although I dare say that my Uncle Steve's is far superior. We decided to take a whole key lime pie home to eat over the next few days and let CK get a chance at trying it. So, we made it out of Pie Peddlers after spending $40! Yikes!

As we headed home, we passed a park called that is right next to the Paluxy River. The river level is high thanks to all the rain and there was a pretty decent current. The girls saw several people and kids swimming and wanted to stop. I parked and they changed into their swimsuits before we headed over to the river. The rocks are so big and round and seem out of place and the riverbed is fairly smooth rock instead of sand, which was interesting. The girls waded in and then splashed and soon swam around. After about 10 minutes, Sofia asked if there are any alligators in the river. Even though I assured her there aren't any alligators in the Paluxy river, Olivia headed straight for me and wanted to get out of the water! No amount of reassurance would change her mind. Sofia swam, walked all the way up to the dam area and splashed around for a bit and then headed back to where we'd entered the water. She and Olivia had a ball letting the current take them around a little bend in the river and did it over and over. Finally, I realized that I was dripping in sweat, so we headed back to our car where the girls changed into their underwear and we drove home. Of course, Olivia fell asleep within 5 minutes of being in the car and slept the entire drive home. It was a fun visit and I look forward to the time when we can rent a tent at Fossil Rim and stay for a weekend. Glen Rose is such a cute town and there really is so much to do in the area it would be fun to explore for more than a few hours.

We made it!