Tour of Texas - Day Three

On Saturday, we ventured north to Dallas to partake of the food, sites, and food of the Texas State Fair. Yes, yes, yes, it was also the grounds of the Red River Rivalry that day. We weren't so lucky as to score tickets to the awesome OU/UT showdown, but could listen to the game and see highlights as we passed by many TVs on the fairgrounds. What a glorious day of football, and Cooper had the best shirt to say it all.

Since we couldn't get into the game, the day became about the FOOD. Daniel kicked things off with a turkey leg as soon as we entered the fairground gates.

But, we really hit the jackpot when we stepped into the Texas Food building. Free hamburger bites were awesome! They were made with the Nolan Ryan beef, and I've got to find where to buy that stuff. It was delicious! Then, it doesn't get any better than free ice cream. Needless to say, we parked ourselves in front of the free cone line for a bit while we all enjoyed the gift.

We did try the chicken fried bacon and couldn't pass up on the famous Texas State Fair Corn Dogs, but we didn't punish ourselves. Our will power was intact and we were able to pass up on the fried treats, including PB&J sandwiches, moonpies, lattes, coke, s'mores and cookie dough! I have to say, we all gave ourselves a nice pat on the back for that display of willpower.

There were sites other than food...

Abigail showed us her "Hook 'em Horns" sign atop a longhorn.

We were all impressed with the African Acrobats. They danced, made pyramids, and flipped around. But, this guy's limbo skills were amazing. He was actually walking on his ankles as he cleared this crazy-low limbo bar.

The auto show was interesting, as usual. Maggie and Abigail decided they were going to get the 2009 Hybrid Tahoe. I checked out all the new hybrids, and Daniel was happy to find a beer vendor in the second auto show building.

The kids enjoyed the animal displays. Daniel, ever the rulebreaker, ignored the many signs instructing not to handfeed the animals, and led Abigail to do the same.

Cooper was obviously excited about this ostrich.

And, both Abigail and Cooper enjoyed petting the pigs. (Ironically, it was just across from this building that we bought chicken friend bacon. Coincidence?)

We aren't much for the midway, but when the game was over, we made our way into the midway to escape the crowd of very unhappy OU fans and ecstatic (and drunk) UT fans. Abigail was the only rider, as she rode her first roller coaster. Not a bit scared, she waved fromt he second caterpillar cart every time she came around to our view.

To end the day, we took a ride on the landmark ferris wheel. Here, you'll see Daniel looking highly annoyed at me for being afraid of heights and not trusting a 212-foot ferris wheel, most likely not operated by the smartest engineers the state has to offer.

We did make it around the wheel a few times safely, but it was almost a tragedy. When Daniel was the most annoyed with me, he decided to prove to me that I had nothing to worry about. As we were resting atop the wheel, he jostled the door of the cage planning to prove we were safely locked in. BUT... we weren't! The door easily opened, and his point was not anything close to proven. Making me look silly, the kids enjoyed the ride and weren't a bit scared.

We capped the day off with an impressive bird show off with an impressive show of exotic and rare birds. A few even swooped down on the show, descending from atop the massive ferris wheel!

Overall, the day was a success! UT climbed atop both national ranking polls, we enjoyed the sites of the fair and especially the food, and still had some cotton candy left over for the three-hour ride home.