This past weekend was Marcus' vacation in East Texas. We took a long weekend mini-vaca and headed out to Tyler, Palestine and surrounding areas. This was Marcus' fun with a little throw in for my mom and I.
Friday was full of animals....big cats mostly. Marcus loves his tigers and lions...they are sooo cute...how could you not? First stop was the Tiger Creek Refuge Camp. Lions and Tigers and Tigers on my!!!! Up close and personal...so much closer than any zoo type setting I have seen so far. Standing a good 3 feet from the Kind of the Jungle is quite amazing. My mom adopted a 1 year old white bengal tiger in his name. He will get regular updates and has to send periodic money to the refuge camp to help take care of his tiger. He was estatic and is very proud of his tiger cub. Next stop was the Caldwell Zoo. This zoo is the best by far for the most natural settings within a zoo. The African overlook scene was AMAZING. It looks out as if all the animals were on one plain roaming wild together. We walked up and had to look 3 or 4 times seeing the lions lazing nearby the zebras...don't the zookeepers know that lions eat zebras?? lol
Friday night my mom and I visited the Tyler Drive-In theater. It was great fun and definitely not an everyday experience. Marcus was in awwww of the big screen outside. He slept some and hung out in the backseat with his portable dvd player. Nothing beats the movie from the comfort of your car, cheap snacks including homemade rice krispie treats, or your own volume control and steaming up the car windows...yes with my mother...LOL
Saturday was a short drive to Palestine. Driving over Lake Palestine was gorgeous. This another summer spot for my list! So much to do on the lake and beautiful surroundings. We finally boarded the East Texas Railroad for a roundtrip to Maydelle on the steam engine. My first true train ride...and it was great. Walking the cars takes practice!!!! I looked as of I had been downing Tequila the morning before...lol Marcus loved it and was even witness to a train robbery! (No worries...all money stolen was donated to charity) We got to Maydelle and got to watch the train engine spin on the Maydelle Turntable....full 180 degrees. Definitely a cool thing to see. We finished up with a sleepy ride back to our home depot...the gentle rocking of the train was easily putting us to sleep. Marcus was zonked when we got back to the depot. We found a hole in the wall diner for lunch then headed back to Tyler. We stopped by the Tyler Rose Garden for some roses. Marcus enjoys walking around the flowers. They have some great picturesque scenes there and some awesomely colored roses. No wonder they are the Rose Capital of TX!!!
Saturday night concluded with a trip to Dairy Queen for ice cream for dinner...only on vacation!!!
Sunday was spent at Moore Farms visiting the animals, pumpkin patch, hay ride, and corn maze. Marcus was GREAT at the corn maze. He was a natural at following his instinct to get out of the maze, not once but twice. He was on a roll and would have gone back in by himself if I allowed him to do so. From there we visited the pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin. He had to carefully look and inspect to find the right one! Thank goodness it wasn't the monster size pumpkin! lol Lots of picture ops for the harvest fun. Marcus' favorite part was the corn box....literally a box full of corn kernels..similar to a sand box. Marcus laid down and tried to bury himself in corn!!!! Now if he would only eat it!!!! We made it home with a bed tied to my hood...yes a BED!!!!
It was great vacation and mini-rest. Lots of quality time with my mom. Marcus had a blast but as usual was ready to come home! He's such a homebody!!!! Pics will be posted soon.
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