The Bakers & Waco

If 1900 miles (3040 km) in 8 days taught us anything, it's envy of softer seats and appreciation of a stationary home away from home for a few days. Many thanks to the Bakers for providing exactly that!

We got up early on Saturday and drove all morning through the rain so we could arrive in time for a piano recital - totally worth it, very impressive, keep it up boys! After the morning's ride (and the week before), it was absolute heaven to be able to sit and chat and hang out by the pool for the afternoon (not to mention making smores by the fire that evening).

On Sunday we set out for a vigorous round of disc golf. And by "round" I mean five holes. And by "vigorous" I mean I'd be a scratch golfer if everything was a Par 6. But we did manage to finish our (abbreviated) game without losing a single disc and all it took was climbing a tree/throwing a water bottle to save one.

Sunday was not only a disc golf day, but also a day to see the sights of Waco. Waco, Texas has a number of claims to fame:

1. Located on the Brazos River, Waco first started to boom when they built a suspension bridge across the river. The bridge designer they commissioned was the same guy that built the Brooklyn Bridge in New York so it looks like a mini-version of that. The bridge is still there and is open to pedestrian traffic only at this point. They've also added some cool bronze cattle & cowboy sculptures at one end of it.

2. Baylor University which is a bangin' school especially their computer science and anthropology departments (but really the whole thing since Lori essentially runs the place now). Fun fact: it was apparently founded before Texas joined the Unites States, making it the only university in the United States that was founded in a different country (the Republic of Texas at the time).

3. Colombian Mammoths! Yeah, they have a site with a whole herd of them! Not live ones obviously - fossils. But that's a cool enough spot that it warrants its own separate post, so more on that later.

4. SpaceX Launch Pad! So technically this is in a nearby town called McGregor but we took a detour so we could go see it. Unfortunately, the not-entirely-friendly security guard at the gate informed us that there was absolutely no photography allowed, but you can take our word for it. We were there!

In any case, at this point, we're off on the next leg of our journey headed toward Florida. We'll give one final tip of our hats (or helmets as the case may be) to the Bakers for an awesome Memorial Day weekend, and off we go east!