Dudleys Diary

we went to eat Bar B Que and I have to mention that he bought my lunch. Ok I confess, I gave him a one hundred dollar bill before hand and told him he was buying. I guess that doesn't really count does it? After we ate we went to the Academy store and he bought himself a birthday present. He bought a forty dollar white cotton shirt made for Saltwater fishing. It has A&M in maroon accents and is vented and a lot of the guys wear them at A&M football games. I think Dudley may need to get one of those as well. He drove Dudleys truck, he did not want to use his gas don't you know and we headed out west. We went through Weatherford, the photo just above is of the Parker County Courthouse. I think it is one of the most beautiful courthouses in the state. Weatherford goes back to the Pioneer and cowboy and indian days and there is a lot of history in the area. We continued out west on the old Bankhead Highway to Mineral Wells. We saw the historic Baker Hotel which some say is haunted. I took some cool photos of the old Mountaineer Bowling Lanes and the signs and we went by and I took a photo of an old Dairy Mart sign as well. We went on to Lake Mineral Wells State Park and I obtained a Texas Parklands Passport that will enable me to gain admission to any State Park in Texas at a reduced rate. I guess there are a few advantages to being disabled after all. I have been meaning to get one for several years and finally got around to it. We drove around the lake and enjoyed the sights. We did not see any deer during the middle of the afternoon but they are out there. We then drove back across the old spillway, the lake was impounded around 1920 I believe and then we went up the road that curves around on top of a high ridge that rises a good 200 feet above the lake below. The road dead ends at the Penitentiary Hollow trail head. The last time I hiked down that trail was over ten years ago. Given my disability, I could not make it down there again. It is a beautiful hike down into a deep canyon with sheer rock walls rising up on both sides I would guess about forty or fifty feet high. It is an amazing place. There are some fully mature trees rising up from the canyon floor. A lot of people who are into rock climbing and rappelling go there especially on the weekends. It was great spending time with my son. He is leaving today to go back to college. It sure was fun getting to spend the day with him. If you want to know how much he means to his father, click here to read a poem I wrote prior to his birth.