Trip to Dallas

 I took this past Friday off and we went up to Dallas for a three-day.  Of course, when I say we went to Dallas, I don't think we actually entered the Dallas city limits.  We were pretty much confined to Arlington and then drove some through Fort Worth.  But you know what I mean!  The main purpose of the trip was to go see a Rangers game and check another ballpark off my list.  We invited our friends, the Dummars, and I can officially say that great food was eaten, funny stories were told, and good times were had by all.  Here we are in front of Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, just to prove we made it.

 

  

  

The drive was a little long, but Caleb and Carter were well-prepared and well-fortified.

 

 The hotel had a great pool.  Luckily, they had no problems with our European ways.

We had a trolley adventure on the way to the stadium.  It was a little cramped, but the kids liked it.

 I was hoping to get a picture of the field that included our family, but our seats ended up being the second row from the top.  So, you just get a picture of the field instead.  The game was against the Tigers and it was sold out.  It was a good game to go to.

 Yes, that is the top of the stadium right behind us.  But the view didn't diminish our enjoyment one bit!  At least not Caleb's enjoyment.  And doesn't Lorein look pretty with her windswept hair?

On the drive home, we made a spontaneous stop at the Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco.  It was a little underwhelming, but I still enjoyed it.  The museum is housed in the original bottling plant from the late 1800's, so you don't get to see any active bottling, which is where our disappointment stemmed from.  They did have the old bottling and bottle cleaning machines, so that was cool.  It was also interesting to learn Dr. Pepper's origin story.  It was just a soda jerk in Waco who enjoyed mixing syrups together and hit upon a delicious formula.  So, when Dr. Pepper markets its 23 flavors, it's really true; as Lorein pointed out, Dr. Pepper is the original suicide soda.  I also learned that Dr. Pepper was originally caffeine free, and they marketed it as a healthy alternative to other sodas.  The museum didn't specify when or why caffeine was later added.  The best part of the museum was the old-style soda fountain.  We got a rootbeer float and some Dr. Pepper.  There was an honest-to-goodness soda jerk who would pour the syrup into a cup and then fill it with spritzer.  It was neat and tasted REALLY good.  The boys also really liked the old delivery truck.  Carter took that last picture, which I think is quite impressive.  It's good.