Hickory Creek, TX

WED., JUNE 1, 2022 thru TUES., JUNE 7, 2022

Wednesday morning we left Fort Worth with the Hannafords and traveled 50 miles north on busy I-35 to land at a beautiful Corp of Engineer park on Lewisville Lake in Hickory Creek, TX. Located just north of Dallas, it’s called Hickory Creek Campground. We’ve stayed here before. This puts us near my nephew Mike and his family in Krugerville. Plus (brother) Bob & lovely Deb who live nearby will be joining us in their motorhome in just a few days. 

Thursday, June 2nd, Cheryl & Joe and Gary & I traveled into Dallas to visit the George W. Bush Presidential Library & Museum. I’m always fascinated by these museums. I’d forgotten about the “hanging chads” in Florida and the tight race between Bush and Al Gore. Of course, the 911 display was gut wrenching. In addition to 911 and the subsequent war, there was also Hurricane Katrina and the Financial Crisis during Bush’s time in office. On a more positive note there was also the “No Child Left Behind” program and Laura Bush’s focus on literacy. I also didn’t realize that Bush had made real inroads in reducing AIDS in Africa.

High up in the lobby, there is a 365-degree screen. It has a rotating 4-minute display with varying images showcasing individuals working and playing. It’s entitled “We the People.” Beautifully done. It also has various landscape scenes from Texas. Many of which we recognized. 

My favorite finds in these presidential libraries are the letters that are displayed. One was dated 2/5/2001 from Ted Kennedy thanking the President and Mrs. Bush for their graciousness as they all worked together on getting a bill passed in regards to the No Child Left Behind legislation. Another letter was dated March 10, 2004 from daughter Jenna explaining why she wanted to work on her father’s re-election campaign. (She’d had a dream the night before which she went into detail about in the letter.) Priceless gems. 

Post Presidency, Mr. Bush has gotten into oil painting using a cold wax process. There was a video of him talking about how he paints and the process he uses. The museum had several of his paintings on display. The library also had a special exhibit on “Liberty & Laughter” i.e. humor in the White House which was entertaining. 

This was another interesting visit to a presidential library. It also houses over 70 million pages of textual material as well as 80 terabytes of electronic records, including 200 million emails and AV materials, and over 4 million photos. That’s about how many photos I take. Heehee. 

Afterwards we came back home. Later that afternoon we noticed there was a Red-Tailed Hawk that was hanging out on a tree branch behind our tiny home. We texted Cheryl & Joe to come over. We all watched him/her and Gary and Joe took numerous photos with their better cameras. So cool! Then it got too hot and we headed back inside! 

Friday, June 3rd, we had my nephew Mike, his amazing wife Leigh Ann, and their three kiddos Drew, Alison, and Amanda and Drew’s beautiful girlfriend Kylie join us for dinner. The original plan was for a cookout outside. Mother nature had other plans! It rained pretty much the whole time they were visiting! We managed to fit 10 of us in our tiny home for dinner and game playing! Lots of laughs! We also had cake for dessert for an early celebration of Cheryl & Joe’s anniversary.

Saturday, June 4th, we celebrated Cheryl & Joe’s 39th wedding anniversary! In the morning the four of us did a long walk around the campground. Then we parted ways and re-convened before dinner for a champagne toast at our tiny home. Cheryl & Joe provided the champagne! That was followed by a delicious dinner at Don Camilo Tuscan Grill celebrating the happy couple. Afterwards we did some game playing and enjoyed dessert at our house. Thanks guys for letting us celebrate with you! It was a special night!

Sunday, June 5th, Bob and Deb arrived. We hosted dinner at our house for the six of us, followed by game playing. As always a good time! Monday we played some games in the afternoon, then the six of us visited Mike and Leigh Ann and their beautiful family. So great to see their gorgeous new home and spend time with everyone! The kids have grown so in the two years since we’ve seen them last, and it was wonderful to finally get to know Kylie on this trip! Thanks for the great dinner, the conversation, and the fun games! Loved the fur babies, too! We wish we could see you more often, but we’re grateful for the time we can spend together.  

Tuesday, June 7th, was our last day in the area. The six of us headed to the historic town of Grapevine, TX. Big thanks to Bob & Deb for suggesting this! Utterly charming town! Grapevine has an urban wine trail so there are wine tastings all over the place, a vintage railroad that actually operates on weekends, a Glockenspiel (a large clock with moving figurines that tells a story… in this case it was cowboys having a gunfight!), an impressive model train exhibit at the visitor’s center, and a thriving downtown with shops and galleries. We all loved the town! We enjoyed lunch, wandered into several shops and galleries, and admired the historic buildings. A few of us bought chocolate to bring home, and I also bought peaches from the farmer’s market. We always manage to find food to buy! 

In the evening we enjoyed Deb’s pasta dinner and played games. Brother Bob was the big winner… again. Tomorrow we’ll have to say goodbye to Bob & Deb and head to Abilene, TX for an overnight. It will be our final night in Texas for many months.