River Legacy Park and Oktoberfeast

One of the best things about being married to Drew is getting to experience his sense of adventure. On our many trips out to Home Depot in the last three months, we have passed by a sign reading, “<-- Historical Marker,” and every time we drove by we wondered, “What is back there beyond that gate?” Last Monday Drew declared, “At some point this week I’d like to go check out that historical marker.” I thought it was a brilliant idea and so on Saturday morning I grabbed a water bottle and my camera and we headed out for our adventure. Drew had looked at the area on a map online and told me there were a lot of walking paths at the historical marker, but we had no idea what to expect. What a treat we found! It was a beautiful, cool, fall morning along the West Fork Trinity River. The path was lined with trees in the midst of changing their leaves from shades of green to deep oranges and rich reds and yellows. Halfway through our walk we happened upon an open area with parks full of young families, work out areas being used by the strong and brave, and open meadows begging to be enjoyed by picnickers. We didn't see the map of the paths until the very end of our walk, but fortunately, Drew brought his GPS with him and so we were able to get out of the park without having to walk an insane distance. Here are some pictures from our explorations:

This was in the parking lot!

This was just the beginning of our beautiful walk through the park.

 

How gorgeous is this?!

Be a handsome one.

Follow the red dashed path.

Drew WOULD cross the "Do Not Cross" tape to get closer to the edge of a cliff. His inability to back away from a dare often works to my advantage. "I dare you to not do the dishes!" Muwahaha!

Be adorable.

Something HUGE was swimming in the river.

Drew shouted, "TURTLES!" and half of them promptly jumped into the water.

"Bee" a good one.

I am rather proud of the composition of this one.

Be a strong one. His upper arms strength baffles me. All I can do is hang pathetically from the bar, and even only that hurts.

My exact words were, "Drew, we need to have kids while we live here so that they can play on this playground."

I love this picture so much.

Here is the whole River Legacy Parks system.

Here is the part that we explored. I think we went roughly from "You are here" to "Restrooms." Our round trip was a little more than three miles.

We wrapped up our day with what I called “Oktoberfeast.” Although Oktoberfest takes place in Munich at the end of September, I herby state that the last Saturday of October occurring before Halloween should be dedicated to eating German inspired foods, thereby called "Oktoberfeast". We had sausage cooked in beer, warm potato salad, sauerkraut, green beans, and a balsamic and basil tomato salad. We sipped on beers as we ate and for dessert we indulged in a creamy pumpkin ice cream.

It was an absolutely perfect day. I told Drew that we had the kind of day I always imagined we would have after we were married . . .  exploring new places together and simply enjoying one another’s company (and eating good food!). We are so blessed!