September 23, 2021

#TravelThursday continues, and in this edition we return to one of my favorite cities in the great state of Texas – Wichita Falls. It’s one of my favorite cities for one main reason – I have 5 family members (and their pets) who live there. I visit them every year.

And if you haven’t already guessed by now – I was there last weekend ! #Vacation

I was there from last Thursday morning through Monday morning (96 hours). I spent quality time with family and pets, and we celebrated my Aunt’s & Uncle’s 65TH anniversary together with a quiet spaghetti dinner at home. (Normally we go out to eat dinner at a nice restaurant (usually a steakhouse) to honor the occasion, but this year we decided to go “low-key”.)

As I wrote about last #TravelThursday we embarked on our traditional Saturday road-trip of a few hours away from the metro area. We went eastward this time along U.S. 82. We stopped for Lunch along the way at Tres Niños – a Mexican restaurant in Nocona. It was pretty good. I enjoyed my plate of a sour cream chicken enchilada, a beef enchilada with chili, a guacamole tostada, rice, and beans. Eating Mexican food has become a tradition within the tradition. I didn’t know that we were going to eat Mexican food on our road-trip, but I had a pretty good idea of it. Once something works – we just keep doing it, and the tradition continues to grow.

Nocona is about 52 miles east of where we started on the south-side of the Wichita Falls area. (We previously visited Nocona on our 2015 road-trip.) From there we proceeded another 22½ miles southeastward to downtown Muenster Texas (our final destination for this road-trip). Muenster is a very German-Catholic town of a little over 1,600 residents. More than 90% of its residents are of German descent. It was founded by settlers 132 years ago. It’s named after Münster Germany. They host German festivals year-round, and tourists come to visit to enjoy the eating and drinking fun. Much of the architecture of Muenster looks very German:

That’s actually a Glockenspiel. Read more about it.

On the return trip back from Muenster we drove the backroads through “Wine Country” where multiple vineyards dot the picturesque hilly landscape. We also drove through the Henrietta area, and we visited a couple of large gift shops / “tourist traps” adjacent to gas stations along the highway. (This has also become a tradition of our road-trips.)

It was a fun 4-day visit to the #Texoma region along the Red River. The sights and sounds on the road were fun as usual. The food was abundant every day. But most importantly I got closer to my family there. Above all – family always comes first.

Join me next #TravelThursday as we visit another location on the face of this earth.

They keep you safe on your way, and your feet will not stumble. You can go to bed without fear. You will lie down and sleep soundly. You need not be afraid of sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked, for the LORD is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap. (Proverbs 3:23-26 NLT)