Hey Y'all! I'm in Texas!

Alex and I have been in Texas for about a week now and it has been good. I probably should have updated sooner, but you know how that goes. I'll start off with West Texas; West Texas was not fun to drive through; it was a whole lot of nothing. Totally flat, dry nothing.

Our first stop was in Abilene, Texas. It’s a smaller town and the people have the distinct Texas “Twang” accent. In Texas they have the Texas “Twang” and the Texas “Drawl.” Twang accents are in West Texas and Drawl accents are in East Texas.  We actually learned the difference in Abilene. Now every time I hear a Texan talk I try to distinguish what accent they have. The Twang is more nasally and the Drawl emphasizes the letter “A” and they seem to add extra syllables to some words. I find the different accents to be pretty entertaining. 

You’ve probably heard the phrase “Everything’s bigger in Texas.” Well, it’s true. Everything is significantly bigger. They give pretty huge portions of food at their restaurants. Most people drive a truck or SUV. Every Walmart is a Super Walmart and they have Super Targets. Oh yeah, and they give free food samples everywhere. Alex and I were walking through the mall in Arlington and every food place in the food court offered free samples.  I’ve heard a statistic that 60% of Texans are overweight and I now can see why. If people are always offering you free food and you get twice as much food for what you pay for then it is kind of hard not to gain weight.  We were at a Super Walmart in Fort Worth and I went to the Deli to buy some turkey pastrami for our sandwiches that we were going to make later that day. I asked for 0.4lbs, which is about 6 oz, of the turkey and lady at the deli over estimated. She put the turkey on the price scale and it came to 0.8lbs; she took half of it off the scale so that it was the amount I wanted, then she priced it in and once the price sticker printed out she gave me the extra turkey. So, I got twice as much turkey for half the price! I was happy that I got almost a pound of turkey for less than 2 bucks, but it was more than I needed. Alex and I ended up having the turkey for lunch and dinner. Like I said, everything is bigger in Texas.

Another thing about Texas is that Texans are really proud to be Texans. When driving down the street you will see more Texas state flags than American Flags. The Lone Star symbol is everywhere. It’s almost like Texas is its own country. 

The people in Texas are really friendly. When you walk down the street every person you pass will smile and say hello to you. At the grocery store the customer next to you will strike up a friendly conversation. It makes me feel good that the people are so open to being friendly to a stranger.

We haven’t explored Texas too much yet, but from what we have explored Fort Worth has been my favorite place. I absolutely loved Fort Worth. It has a ton of old English architecture mixed in with a ton of modern architecture. It was a really neat contrast. Alex and I walked around the Fort Worth Downtown area for a bit and went to the Museum of Modern Art.

Downtown Fort Worth

   

In Arlington we went on a really long bike ride at River Legacy Park and we saw an Armadillo for the first time. They look really weird and I was glad we got to see one.

For the last few days Alex and I have been staying with a friend of mine and her husband, Melody and Stephen Buie. They live in Mansfield, TX, which is a little southwest of Dallas. Melody and Stephen are a really neat couple. Melody has a true gift of hospitality, and it totally comes naturally. It doesn’t seem like she has to try hard to be hospitable. The week before coming to their house Melody was messaging me on Facebook asking what type of foods Alex and I like and if we drank coffee so that she could prepare in advance in order to make us feel at home when coming to their place. She even planned out things for us to do in the area. 

We went to a small town called Waxahachie, also known as the “Gingerbread Town” due to the style of houses built there. The town is very old and rich in history, which I really like. We walked around and admired the town and the architecture.

Waxahachie Court House

The next day we went to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. Even though it is winter, the gardens were still very beautiful and the weather was amazing. The whole weekend at Melody and Stephen’s it has been in the 70s and sunny. God has really blessed us with good weather for the past few days. 

We have been on the road for almost three months and my perspective on life is changing. Alex and I have experienced so much love, kindness, generosity, and hospitality from so many people and it has inspired me to want to have those same qualities in my life. Developing relationships with people and having a love for others is so important in life.  When I’m back in Sacramento I want to open my home up to people and be hospitable, I want to be more involved in my church and the community, I want to be open to meeting new people and showing them God’s love. I can even start doing some of those things on the road right now. Melody and Stephen are really involved in their church which makes me want to be involved as much as they are. They help out with the youth group, kid’s church, worship team, prayer team, and they are involved with multiple small groups during the week. They both work full time and have time to contribute immensely to the church body. They genuinely care about people and are dedicated to serving the Lord.  It really amazes me.  There aren’t very many people like them. 

We still have much more of Texas to explore. I'm looking forward to Austin, Texas. So far I've only heard good things.