We have reached our last city in this 6.5 weeks round of travels! It somehow seems like forever ago when we left Orlando en route to Atlanta to drop off our car. From there we flew to Fort Lauderdale, then cruised thru the Panama Canal to end in Vancouver, BC, flew to Las Vegas, and then started our road trip that ended us here in Forth Worth. It’s been absolutely epic!

We left Amarillo Thursday morning on one of our only gray, rainy days we’ve had this whole trip. That still didn’t stop us from making a few stops along the way, courtesy of our trusty Roadside America app. Here are Thursday’s dazzling delights:

The Slug Bug Ranch

Not to be outdone by Wednesday’s stop at the Cadillac ranch, today’s stop (clocking in only a few miles away from the famed Cadillac ranch) was the Slug Bug Ranch, which contains both VW bugs AND limousines buried face down in the dirt. As with the Cadillac Ranch, viewers are encouraged to spray paint their own art!

The World’s Largest Prarie Dog

Given our excitement at seeing the actual prairie dog town yesterday, this one seeemd like a must-stop. As it turns out, the world’s largest prairie dog (statue) is located in an equally interesting RV park complete with its own western caravan setup.

The Big Texan Steak Ranch and the Texas-Shaped Pool

For some reason, this popular steakhouse will give you your 72-ounce steak for free if you can eat it all within an hour. Rob and I declined to take the challenge, but we admire their spirit, as well as their insane parking lot with enough going on that you don’t even know where to look next. In addition, on the grounds of the steakhouse is a horse hotel, and a people hotel (presumably for those in a food coma and unable to walk after consuming 4.5 pounds of meat) with a pool shaped like the state of Texas. Unfortunately the pool is under repair right now, but I think you can get the idea from the picture.

Buccee’s

After Rob was properly inspired by the giant slabs of meat at the Big Texan Steak Ranch, we made our lunch stop in the usual Texas place for lunch for those on the road who still want to overeat red meat.

The Big Sneaker

This was a drive-by for us, and we highly recommend you do NOT go out of your way for it. 😂

Large Rubik’s Cube

And while we are on the topic of “Why does this exist, and (perhaps more importantly) why did I stop to photograph it?”, we passed this atrocity in Chillicothe, Texas.

The World’s Largest Bowie Knife

Now THIS stop was legit. I mean, the town-bonded-together and they have a Guinness Book of World Records certification -type of legit. In the little town of Bowie, Texas, named after Jim Bowie (and his large knife), a group of residents worked together to forge… ta da! The World’s Largest Bowie Knife! You may all oooh and ahhh.

A Perfdct Ending

We arrived in Fort Worth on Thursday in time to enjoy a delicious taco meal cooked by our niece and nephew Courtney and Cameron, and spend time with their beautiful kiddos Carter, Cooper, and baby Collins. Friday took our family to the Fort Worth zoo for a wonderful morning checking out the animals. Having just been to the San Diego zoo earlier this month we can definitely see why it is considered a close competition between these two zoos for best in the country.

Dinner Friday night was with Betsy’s grad school pal Patty and her family. Lots of laughter and food (and a little wine), and a fun celebration of Patty’s birthday!

On Saturday we were back to the active lives of the C family, joining them to cheer on Carter’s championship flag football game. Five year olds’ flag football is a sight to behold. And I do believe the saying is true: the only thing more fierce than Texas football is Texas football parents! The boys played a great game, and C’s team won the regional championship! Snow cones and trophies were distributed, and life was good.

After the game we met up at a local restaurant/brewery that has a great outdoor space with a playground, music venue, and grabbed some lunch and local brews while the kiddos burned energy. Loved it!

After an afternoon nap for all (not just the kids!), Rob and I spent our last night in Texas at one of our FAVORITE restaurants, Perry’s. It was (predictably) delicious.

Tomorrow we take off for Atlanta, and that ends this round of LeBeauonthego travel. It’s been a fantastic 6.5 weeks, and we so appreciate all the support and comments from friends and family. We will be settling down for the next five months, spending the summer in a rental on our beloved Hilton Head Island, and October in North Georgia as we prep for the wedding of our beloved Jenna and Connor. Beginning in November, we plan to do one more six-week burst of travel to Spain and Morocco to finish up our “gap year,” so please look for our LeBeauOnTheGo blog site to start up again then (although we may post a few “special editions” from HHI.) And as ALWAYS, thank you for adventuring with us!