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| Wind Mills in Northern Texas |
As we head into Texas one can't help thinking of all the sayings "All My Ex's live in Texas", and from the mouth of drill Sargent in Full Metal Jacket "Only Steers and Queers are from Texas, and you don't look like a Steer to me!" Beside all that Texas is BIG, we drove from the top of the panhandle to Childers, TX. A long hot and extremely windy ride running through open planes with windmill farms dotting the landscape as far as you could see.
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| Texas Bull Bar |
Road temps peaked to over 103 degrees. It was hotter than hot. When we finally pulled in for the night we parked on a hot asphalt lot, our tire and the molten black top by morning almost completely vulcanized together. Pulling out the next morning a 10lbs. chunk of parking lot asphalt pulled away and stuck to our tire. In the morning light with crowbar in hand and much "OMG", I was able to pry and scrape the vulcanized asphalt piece from my tire. Blown away, we hit the road driving south east stopping for gas and huge gulps of southern, unsweetened ice tea. Farmland, trucks and scattered oil wells made up the rest of our highway run to The Colony, TX.
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| First things first In-N-Out |
This is where a life long, childhood buddy now lives with his wife. They moved here after living many years in
Long Beach CA. Why, Toyota moved their corporation headquarters here to
Plano TX. and his wife has worked for Toyota for 20yrs. So the move was a natural and only fitting that the
WeOverlander team take a southern spur deep into
Texas. Hanging out in the outskirts of
"DFW," Dallas, Fort Worth, was a trip. This area consists of three cities
Plano, Frisco and
The Colony, small back in the day but now, for get about it! This place is growing so fast that new "super" supermarkets only open for 6 months are now expanding to accommodate the ever increasing population. Box stores, strip malls and chains the likes you never heard of are springing up like weeds. Two lane roads are turning into six lane boulevards. Long time open cattle ranges now perch building cranes standing like giant erector sets. Major companies are moving operations to this area at a alarming rate. While
Texas ranks 43rd in education nation wide there is no shortage in building homes, stores, eateries and schools all are under construction seemingly on every corner. So far expanded freeways and roads are attempting to meet the increased infrastructure. This is a huge contrast to life while Overlanding on the
TAT.
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| Old Town Fort Worth, TX. |
We took advantage of the down time getting our rig checked out at the local Toyota dealer,
Lone Star Toyota. Front axles with ruptured boots, intrusion of dirt and water-make for noisy CV joints. Chalk it up to life on the road, needed repairs made, compromise is not a option when keeping our rig in top form. We took a day trip to
Fort Worth, TX. to the famous Stock Yards. Attending the age old daily cattle drive, lining the city streets we viewed a handful of Longhorn
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| Stock Yard Steakhouse Fort Worth, TX. |
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| Steaks on the hoof |
Steers driven on the original Stock Yard road by authentic looking cowboys. Down the Stock Yard thoroughfare, we heard gun shots just as a John Wayne looking character was shooting it out with a couple of would-be bank robbers. Old Texas is still alive and well.
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| The Duke ready to shoot! |
Meanwhile back at the ranch or
The Colony, we hopped on our bikes for morning rides on the
Steward Creek Park trail along
Lewisville Lake. We found comfort in the Prairies' natural surroundings and vistas. Speaking of natural surrounding or almost near-natural surroundings, with our friends we drove further into
Texas, to
Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in
Glen Rose TX. We toured the wildlife preserve in the comfort and safety of our car while Wildebeest, Zebra, Aoudad and Gemsbok to name a few roam on freely the 1800 acres. Southern White Rhino and Cheetah are also viewed from their paddocks. Many of these species' populations are dwindling and endangered and the preserve mission is to ensure their survival. We spent the afternoon cruising on Gosdin Scenic Drive a 7.2 mile winding trail through
Fossil Rim Wildlife Center throwing feed to bring animals closer, some eating right from our hands. Some how its not how I'd envisioned Overlanding
Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and South Africa.
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| Common Wildebeest, South Africa |
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| Southern White Rhino, Botswana |
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| Hartmann's Mountain Zebra, Namibia |
Being a Toyota enthusiast what can be cooler than getting a personal tour of the brand new Toyota headquarters campus. Our host a 20yr veteran with Toyota, walked us through the twists and turns navigating the different building and gardens. When it was time for lunch, cafe choices stemmed from authentic Japanese meals to wood fired pizza in an upbeat, vibrant atmosphere. .
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| Toyota Headquarters, Plano TX. |
A full gym complete with climbing wall, food, sundries and drug store, dry cleaning, dental and doctors are on campus as well as their own Credit Union. Toyota thought to meet the daily needs of the 5000 plus people employed here.
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| Minimal Gardenscape Toyota Headquarters, Plano TX. |
Although this was not a vehicle production facility, I was totally impressed with the engineering and aesthetics of the corporate headquarters. It only confirmed my choice in owning my,
1999 100 Series Toyota Land Cruiser.
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| Steward Creek Park prairie pond, The Colony, TX. |
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| Steward Creek Park Lakeside Trail, The Colony, TX. |
Really our time was great hanging out with life long friends while enjoying relaxing dinners, swapping stories, meeting and partying with new friends. Traveling and making memories, the
Weoverlander team are thankful and grateful for this experience.
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| Trixie on the streets of Old town Fort Worth, TX. |
Planning our next adventure- returning to the
TAT.......
See Y'all on the trail......
🚙........
