I'm a Pepper!

As we said goodbye to Big Spring, we were excited to continue our trip through Texas. Our destination was Fort Worth where we hoped to hook up with different friends.


On the way we listened to the rest of The Hunger Games and completed the book  about the same time we reached our hotel. It had an exciting finish and we are looking forward to the second book in the trilogy.

Before we reached Fort Worth, we made a side trip to Dublin, Texas. Dublin is the site of the oldest Dr. Pepper bottling plant. Knowing how much I enjoy factory tours, Joe had found this little destination and suggested we go. It was a lot of fun. The bottling plant is very quaint consisting of two small rooms. It only operates one day a month, but boasts that it is the only Dr. Pepper plant that still uses pure cane sugar in the recipe (instead of corn syrup). Fans say it makes a difference. Their service area is only 44 miles, so I think most of their money comes from the cute soda fountain on the premises and the factory tours they offer daily. We had lunch there and took the factory tour which was led by the same guy who made our lunch. Turns out the entire plant has about 50 employees, and our tour guide was a bottle inspector on top of his other duties.

Just the day before, the big company of Dr. Pepper Snapple had issued a lawsuit against Dublin Dr. Pepper for breaking the terms of their contract. The employees weren't allowed to speak about it, but I think it has something to do with that 44 mile radius. There are limits to the number of cases of Dublin Dr. Pepper you can purchase and their online sales have been shut down. I bought a case to take to our family reunion.

As we got back on the road to Fort Worth, I pulled off at an Antique Mall in Cresson. I was looking for a Texas license plate for my collection in the "ballroom" (our large dining, T.V., pool table room). The clerks in the store were very helpful and scurried around trying to find my prize. They had success and I now own a Texas license plate. When they heard we were passing through, they gathered around and told us things to do in Fort Worth. One woman was an absolute delight. You could tell how much she loved Fort Worth and was a wonderful representative of the city. She told us of some restaurants that served vegan food. I think she assumed we'd like it based on the fact we were from California!

We checked into our hotel, and Joe called a friend from Biola. He met us downtown and showed us around. We visited the Water Gardens which had some lovely fountains and pools and an awesome waterfall fountain we got to climb down into. By this time, we were hungry. I thought instead of vegan food, I really wanted some Texas Barbecue. So Paul (Joe's friend) showed us to Riscky's BBQ which was in the heart of downtown. Zach got to have his first taste of Fried Catfish which he really liked.

Downtown was a very nice place to walk around. There was music and the city was lit up. As we were leaving, we got to see a few fireworks in the sky and it isn't even the Fourth yet!


Today we'll spend some more time in Fort Worth. We need to do some laundry, David wants to buy a cowboy hat, I'm going to visit with two friends, and we hope to go to the Stockyards and maybe see a cattle drive. Then it's off to Shreveport, Louisiana for the night.