Who says you can't go home again? (Part II)

After leaving Lawrence, I headed south again back to my childhood town of El Dorado, Kansas, and stayed with my life-long friend, Kaye. We have been friends since childhood, and are planning a whoop-te-ldoop celebration when we hit 50 years of being friends (which is closer than we both like to think!). Kaye has her own catering business, so you know that good food was part of this trip!

Maggie and Millie are a big part of life at Kaye's house!

After a couple of nights there, I returned to Oklahoma and then on to Texas. Oklahoma is famous for the geology of rocks in the Arbuckle Mountains. The strata of the rocks are almost vertical due to rifts centuries ago. I can't count the number of times I have driven through them without ever stopping, so I decided to stop at a scenic pull-over and and take a few pictures. Isn't it true that we seldom appreciate the beauty of the view right out our back door?

View from top of Arbuckle Mountains rest stop.

Now, on to Texas! Back home to my parents' house, visiting more friends and family in Frisco. I had lunch with dear friends, Judy and Bruce and their daughter Hannah. You know, I have really enjoyed eating out at all my old favorite restaurants while here. I will miss the food when I go back to Oman!

Judy and I outside Olive Garden. I love my new friends,
but also miss my old ones--not that Judy's old...........

Mom and Dad on the front porch of Cracker Barrel.

Another favorite place to eat in Texas and the Midwest is Cracker Barrel. To my dad, that means stop sign! Cracker Barrel is known for its down-home cooking--especially breakfasts. No road trip in Texas is complete without stopping there, so we did!

The other plus to eating in a Cracker Barrel restaurant is shopping in their "general store." It's set up like an old-fashioned western frontier general shop. And of course, I had to shop for my new granddaughter. She got a pair of red, white, blue, and ruffly from here!





My last stop after arriving back in Texas was visiting my cousin Matt's butcher shop, Matador Meats. (http://matadormeat.com). They were voted best butcher shop in Plano, and I can testify as to the wonderful beef and other meats that they sell there! If you live in the area, you MUST stop by and give them a try! Tell them Debi sent you! You can also find them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matadormeat?fref=ts&rf=184969851524071