Sarah's Second Significant Surprise!

Sarah pointed out to me that the title of my last blog,

A Surprise for Sarah was "alliterative."

So...how's this title for alliteration, Sarah?!

I had never been to the George Bush Presidential Library!

What better time to go than with my

Arizona/Colorado cousin?

I'll let her tell you about it...from an email she sent!

Just had a wonderful day out at the George Bush Museum and Library on the SMU campus in downtown Dallas. There was lots to see - photos and videos of all that went on in his presidency - gifts from foreign countries, displays - photos, videos, actual twisted metal , names of the victims engraved on the wall - of  911, Katrina devastation, the Oval Office replication, Rose Garden, Laura's ball gowns,and his own actual oil paintings of foreign dignitaries along with gifts from their countries  and photos. There's a huge, holographic, animated projection on all four walls high above the floor and it was mesmerizing. The technology to present history is at its highest, and it was all very interesting and impressive. AND we had a delicious lunch at Café 43.


Sarah covered our trip so well that I don't have
much to add!
Just a few pictures.


I LOVED the animated projection, which one
of you had told me about?!

 

Twisted metal remains of 9/ll
(No flash allowed)

A scary thought...

Please notice that W is holding my hand!
(I hope Laura doesn't see this.)

In the rose garden.

And...
My piece de resistance:
A photo for Sarah, who loves, loves, loves
wild flowers!  

We have had the BEST TIME this week!
How good a time have we had?
Well...brace yourselves...

We have been too busy to make our beds all week!


   

A Surprise for Sarah

My cousin is here this week to see Susannah in

Bye Bye Birdie! 

Sarah is an outdoorsy type of girl and

an animal lover extraordinaire. 

We went to Fossil Rim on one of her previous trips.

What do we do this time?

Totally unlike blabby me,

I kept our destination a complete surprise as we traveled to...

 Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge near Tyler!

There are many beautiful tigers,
pumas, bobcats, and lions

who come to Tiger Creek to retire.

They are from circuses, zoos, other sanctuaries
which do not succeed,
and owners who can no longer handle them.
Some have been injured in accidents or traps.

Michael Jackson's tiger, Thriller, came here after
her trainer was killed in an automobile accident.
She is now called Sierra and is not on display
at the present time.

These animals seem very well cared for and content.
Everything here is about them.

They lie on beds of concrete because that surface
is cooler in our hot summers.

There is no physical touching of these
 animals by the trainers and employees.
("But they look so lovable!!")
They are too dangerous.
Here is a very thick plastic barrel after a
 short time as a play toy for one of the tigers.

Our guide told us the tigers pick these up and
carry them around as though they were light.


Here I am with our excellent guide, Parth.

He is an intern from New Jersey and attended the
 same high school there as Sarah's husband!
(Several years apart!)
We could tell how much he loves his job and
the animals.

Here's Safari Sarah!!

 It was Grrrreat!!!

And the ant bed in which Sarah was standing:

But that was our only mishap of the day!
Pretty good, we thought!

Jack Stovall, Comedian

For some unidentifiable reason I thought of

this yesterday as I was driving along

and just had to share it!
 

Those of you who knew Jack at all are no doubt

wondering what in the world I could

possibly be talking about!

Serious...man of few words...maybe a tad unsmiling...

But not comedian.

Jack was on the Board of Directors of

Arlington National Bank.

The board convened monthly, but his comedic moment

occurred at a meeting 

right before Christmas one year.

Skip Leffler, bank president and dear friend of Jack's,

announced the annual Christmas party for

the bank personnel and spouses.

He asked for a count of the guys

who would be able to attend.

 One director responded,

 "I'll have to check with my wife."

Another then said,

"Well, I wear the pants in my family, so put

me down for a 'yes'."

Jack Stovall then said (in his slow drawl, I am sure):

"Well, I wear the pants in my family, too,

so put me down for a 'maybe'."

Isn't that just wonderful?

Of course, he didn't tell me about it.

One of the other directors did.


Here was the picture he had made for the
announcement of his appointment
as a director.

(With one of his bigger smiles.)
 
 

Crazy or Fun?

Unless you've been visiting outer Mongolia for months,

you know we are getting a new Chick Fil A in SW Arlington.

I actually broke the news HERE.

(Not really.  It was old news by then!)

 

The time has come!

Tomorrow is the day!!

 Would you like to see what it looks like today?

Yes, those are tents all over the parking lot!

Why?

The first 100 people in line at 6:00 A.M.

tomorrow morning get free Chick Fil A for one year!

Since they expect more than 100 to be in that line,

there will actually be a drawing to determine

the 100 winners!

Channel 11 is there!!

I'm absolutely sure most of you think this is crazy!

When you pass by, however, it looks like a

great time is being had by all!

Can you see the ball games going in the center

of this picture?

 

I'm kinda thinking that in our "Chick Fil A years"

 (essentially the ones from the time the girls were

about 2 years old until now)

I might have been in that group!

By the way, I took these photos on the way to

get my nails done.

Of course, the "event" was being discussed in the

nail salon.

I heard one lady say she had never eaten Chick Fil A!

Whaaaaat?

What's it like in Outer Mongolia, lady???

I'll try to get a picture of what it looks like

TOMORROW!

Gird your loins, batten down the hatches, practice

deep breathing, 

make sure your car is full of gas--

oh, heck, just wait a few days to go!