Not Suffering The Damage of a Cattle Stampede

---

I was up early again and went to a similar location to yesterday for some photographs of the Dallas skyline. I was not the only one today as I walked across to a different bridge to see what that looked like and there were four other photographers there with their tripods. This particular bridge had a tramline going a across it, alongside the road. A tram came along, stopped and blew its horn at one of the fellow photographers who was apparently too close to the line - he didn't think he was and I would agree with him. Anyway, bloody photographers getting in everyone's way.

We were leaving Dallas today and ultimately heading back to Houston to catch our flight home. First, however, we thought we would pop across to Fort Worth and go to the Stockyards - that's "stock" as in cattle, not "stock" as in shares. We aimed to get there before 11.00 as that is one of the times when a cattle drive takes place.

We ended up driving on that mega-complicated junction we saw from the tower yesterday (see Ashamed to Mention JFK and Trump on The Same Page) and it was, indeed, extremely complicated and stressful. The Americans have not helped with the very unhelpful signs, the worn-out road markings, the inconsiderate drivers who don't help anyone change lanes and the short time allowed to get into the correct lane or be dammed. I have to say they could learn a thing or two from how clear the signs are in the UK - those 3, 2, 1 count-down signs would be very much appreciated. Not to mention the British good manners when people are changing lane!

We got there, found a parking space, parked and then proceeded to try and pay as it was one of those absolute pain in the backside "pay-by-phone" carparks. It made no allowances for non-US phone numbers, but just as I was about to have a hissy-fit, we discovered that the road we had parked on (alongside a number of other cars) was about to be used as part of the route of the cattle drive and it was too late to move. We had images of a herd of rampaging, long-horned cattle in a stampede totally trashing our car. How would I explain that one to the car rental company?

I needn't have worried. First it was not a herd, in fact I could probably have counted the number of cattle with my fingers (plus a couple of toes maybe). Second, neither was it a stampede, in fact it was very sedate and the cattle seemed well under control. Phew. I guess that was to be expected given the crowds of people along the route.

Once the car had survived intact, we decided we would move it, given that we didn't want a ticket for non-payment. We drive out of the stockyards slightly and found a carpark nearby with an actual person who you could pay actual cash to. $5 and job done.

One thing we have continuously noticed about Texan men is that they very often seem to have a beer in their hand - a cliché that I have seen on some TV programmes. I have even been offered a beer a couple of times, presumably, as I looked out of place without one. It's especially true here. I saw one particular guy in a cowboy hat, with a beer in his hand and standing in front of a huge pick-up truck. That is Texas summed-up in one image, unfortunately I thought it inappropriate to photograph him.

Maybe, the only addition should have been the "Don’t mess with Texas" or the "Come and take it" slogans written on the pick-up truck (see Texan History Day).

I debated a cowboy hat, but whilst it's part of the scenery here, it would look so out of place back in the UK, although I'm sure no one would laugh at me?

After the excitement of the cattle run, we had a look round. It is clearly not such an active stock yard as perhaps it used to be and has been largely taken over for tourism now. What used to be the cattle-shed, with a railway line through the middle to unload the cattle, is now full of the tourist "tat" shops.

After we had had a look round, we headed into Downtown Fort Worth as we had a directive from our daughter to come back with some cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. The contrast to Downtown Dallas is stark. It just seemed so much more civilised as there was no crazy shouting going on, there didn’t seem to be such a sad homeless problem and we were not being asked for money every few minutes. There were just children playing in water fountains in the sedate town square.

We took the cheesecake order from back in the UK and tried to ensure that it was as protected as possible, given that it is going to need to go in the hold of the plane.

The drive back to Houston was long, but nothing compared to some of the journeys we have done previously on this holiday. We had just booked into an airport hotel so we would be in the right place tomorrow when it's time to leave.

---

Photos

Cattle Drive
Thankfully sedate and under control.

Downtown Dallas
Another early morning skyline.

Fort Worth Stock Yards
Entering the Stock Yards.

Buffalo Bill
One of the stars on the Stock Yards' Walk of Fame.

Downtown Fort Worth
Sedate and with fountains.

Cheesecake Factory
Ready to take the orders from back home.

Cheesecake
Chocolate Caramelicious Cheesecake.

Road Ice Warning
I cannot believe that it gets that cold here!?