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71st Stop - Dinosaur Valley (Glen Rose, TX)

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Blog Post #82 - Written August 27, 2026 Stay: November 18-20, 2025 We didn't travel far to our next stop.  But how could anyone resist a trip to Dinosaur Valley State Park! We stayed at Dinosaur Valley RV Park, just a short drive/slightly longer bike ride into the state park itself.  The kids loved riding the path into the park, as we had to pass some legendary guardians to there.  The first area we discovered was a lovely and cool river, full of clay.  The kids wanted to swim, but we were not quite prepared for a swim.  So they stripped down and jumped into the water.  Unfortunately, some of those pictures are not quite appropriate for the blog, but trust me that there was an adorable butt-naked toddler swimming around, trying to collect clay and find fish. We did have fun making clay creations that we "left to dry" along the creek bed.  The part of the park we were really excited to find was the riverbed full of REAL DINOSAUR TRACKS!!!  There we...
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70th Stop - Mineral Wells, TX

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Blog Post #81 - Written August 26, 2026 Stay: November 15-17, 2025 We pulled into Pine Valley RV Park in Mineral Wells, TX.  We didn't end up venturing into the Dallas/Fort Worth area, but enjoyed the fun excavation areas of the outer regions.  Mineral Wells happens to be home of one of the few free fossil digs in the US.  The Mineral Wells Fossil Park is home to an ancient lake, full of crinoids, echinoids, bivalves, and all sorts of other ancient ocean life.  I somehow missed a picture of most of the crinoids we collected, but here is the chart of a lot of things that we found. The coolest find of the day was this finger? of some larger dinosaur!  It was sweet!  We spent a good couple of hours digging here over a couple of days.   It was pretty hot, so we found a nice spot under a bridge to cool off in the river.  I, of course, found some fun colored rocks, so we all started making cool rock art.   We also found a crawdad hole/nes...
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69th Stop - Snyder, TX

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Blog Post #80 - Written August 25, 2026 Stay: November 14, 2025 We left the Alpaca Farm and started our journey deep into Texas. It was pretty hot and sunny, so we came up with a creative window shade for the kids. Since we didn't really have an adventure planned beyond a couple of long driving days, we broke up the monotony by stopping in Lubbock, TX at the Science Spectrum science center.  It was a pretty cool place.  We wished we had some more time to explore, but we only had a couple of hours.   They had multiple floors with different themes across.  The sports area was one of our favorite, where you had to jump and see how high your vertical was by smacking a basketball.  D loved the hot air balloon ride.  Gary was determined to build this archway , but alas, he was thwarted every time haha.  We pulled into our campground in Snyder, TX at Country View RV.  We pulled in just as the sun was setting.  We set up and rested for the night...
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68th Stop: Windrush Alpaca Farm, Clovis, NM

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Blog Post #79 - Written August 25, 2026 Stay: November 13, 2025 Our last stay in New Mexico was at an Alpaca Farm.  Our wonderful host was getting ready to retire from the business, so she wasn't acquiring new alpacas.  She still had around 25 alpacas that she was caring for, sending their wool to South America for homemade wool goods.  We bought a nice pair of winter socks (which I think I used for the first time in Mississippi of all places), and a wool laundry ball. My funny story from this Harvest Host was actually meeting our host.  My jaw almost dropped when I saw her, for she was a dead ringer for my childhood piano teacher/family friend!  I thought she must have been some long lost sister, except when she opened her mouth, a British accent came out (my piano teacher is a Spaniard)!  It was uncanny! We enjoyed feeding and watering the alpacas, as well as learning about how they care for the various ailments and conditions on the farm.
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67th Stop - Albuquerque Pt. 2

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 Blog Post #78 - Written August 25, 2026 Stay: November 12, 2026 Our last leg out of Utah had a very sweet moment between D and Q.  Q was reading Green Eggs and Ham to D .  D later was "reading" it to herself. We pulled into Albuquerque early enough for one last trip to the science center.  We enjoyed a massive Keva Block creation, some fun giant lego builds, and one last trip to the very fun bubble room.  And we couldn't resist one last ride on the tightrope bike. Also, just another shout out to this amazing science center.  They have a puzzle section which they frequently switch which puzzles are out.  Here are just a  couple  that Gary solved (and Megan frustrated herself to no end...) They also have a fun stop motion video maker.  Here's Q's short little video . The kind family that invited us over for dinner when we first were in Albuquerque graciously allowed us to come back and stay the night with them, so we would not have to ope...
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