Back in the Springs

Doe in the snow

December wouldn’t be complete without my annual pilgrimage to Crystal Park to visit Bek and Mr Twister. Two previous blog entries will give you more information about the area: Colorful Colorado and Springing to Manitou. Needless to say, I’m enamored of this place.

Aliens and Spiders and Dinos …Oh My!

Seuss Landing

Although we spent a fair amount of time in the Wizarding Worlds, there are 11 other venues for entertainment. And there are things to do that don’t make you risk life and limb – or at least threaten to separate you from any loose objects. Walking through the parks is a visual treat. As with the Harry Potter areas, attention has been given to creating realistic (or fantastic) ambiance. For instance, The Lost Continent is constructed from sandstone, making the statues appear realistic and creating a desert ambiance that had me looking for camels. I’m not quite sure what I was looking for at Seuss Landing, but the fanciful creatures that greeted us made me smile. Horton was there, listening to a Who, and the Cat was wearing his big Hat; lots of children were wearing t-shirts that labeled them ‘Thing 1’ or ‘Thing 2’. But in the distance we could hear something growling…

Let the Adventure Begin!

Entrance to Islands of Adventure

My birthday trip didn’t have a propitious beginning. We were an hour delayed leaving DFW airport and all the kids waiting were far beyond restless; so was I. The parents seemed to have bulging jaw muscles and rictus smiles. Once in the air calm was restored, especially when ‘Frozen’ began playing on the drop-down screens.

It was a dark and stormy night…

Well it wasn’t stormy, but it was exceedingly dark and I had been stuck in traffic for an

Grapevine spillway and fall foliage

inordinate amount of time. So knowing that I had a GPS, I turned off on a road that I thought went the direction I wanted to go and headed west. Very shortly I was driving through a warehouse district, and shortly after that a tree and field lined lane. I was exceedingly happy to see lights of what looked like stores just ahead. The signs said, ‘Lakeside’ and I still wondered where I was. Eventually, with a lot of twists and turns through rural Texas, my GPS got me back home. I was determined to find the places I’d not seen in the dark and find out if there was anything interesting in the area. It turned out that I’d been winding around through a corner of Flower Mound, a city just north of Grapevine and west of Lewisville.