Lex's adventure with Granny
On December 28, I got to have Lex come over so we could try the A-train and its connection to DART.
It was a COLD day, but we both dressed warmly. I was carrying a small bottle of water and some peanut butter crackers for provisions. Tickets were $10 for a day pass for me and only $2 for Lex!
We started out early enough to catch a train before 9:15. After that, the next train leaves after 11:00, so getting there fairly early is important for an adventure. We were headed to downtown Dallas, probably to the Perot Museum. While we were on the way, Lex was studying the map and discovered a stop called Dallas Zoo. He suggested we go there first. When you're having an adventure, it's important to be flexible, so we went to the zoo. That meant we had to get off the green line and take the red line instead. While we were waiting, Lex started chasing the pigeons without any luck. Then I showed him how to become very popular with them by dropping cracker crumbs. We did NOT share all of our provisions with the pigeons.
After getting on the red line, I watched anxiously for the Dallas Zoo stop. I had noticed that the stop called Inwood/Love Field was actually almost a mile away from Love Field! I was afraid that the Dallas Zoo stop would be so far away from the zoo that I wouldn't even recognize which way to walk to get there. Didn't have to worry. The stop was right across the street from the zoo parking lot.
The lady at the zoo counter told us up-front: the monorail is not running today, the animals will probably all be inside where we won't see them and the concession stands are closed. Did we still want to go? Lex said, "sure". The she told us that tickets were half-price. We had a good time. The workers were really happy to talk to us. We heard about the raccoon that pulled a koi out of the pond and up the hill. We saw where the goats were gnawing on the wood of their shed. We petted an opossum. We played a board game about animal homes, food and locomotion. The tiny mongooses didn't seem fazed by the cold.
We had lunch in the only cafe open in the zoo. I didn't mean to, but I ordered a "basket" for each of us. Between us, we got SO MANY french fries. I almost threw them away, but instead I asked for plastic bag to carry them in. They gave me a paper bag.
In the reptile house, we startled a rattlesnake when Lex jumped up to see him...he was still rattling when we peeked back at him two or three minutes later. I've never seen a rattlesnake ready to strike before; I was very glad he was behind glass. The we went to an exhibit called "Ghosts of the Bayou". The main attraction was an albino alligator! Fascinating. I was so focused on the albino that I almost didn't see that there was a regular alligator in the same exhibit: it was the same size and color as the logs.
We thought that it would be good to go and see the penguins, but they turned out to be warm-weather penguins, so Lex and I were done with the zoo. Most of the animals were inside, as expected. By the time we left we actually saw at least 15 other people in the zoo.
Next we did head to the Akard stop, and from there we walked to the Perot Museum. It was PACKED! When I had gone early in December on a weekday with Kyrie, it was empty. Now we had to get tickets with an entrance time on them! While we waited for our turn to go in, we finished off the french fries. It was a good thing I saved them. There were so many things to see and do. Lex's favorites were a Prey Vs. Predator computer game which he didn't want to leave, and a 3-D eagle flight simulator. The participant wore 3-D glasses and leaned forward or back to make the eagle soar or dive. The screen was about 6 foot by 6 foot. He would have done that several times, except that the line was so long.
About that time I noticed that Lex didn't have his jacket with him anymore. It was a black jacket with a glow-in-the-dark skeleton design AND an orange mohawk. We retraced our steps and couldn't find it. I asked a teenage docent about it, and the docent behind me overheard. He asked "Did that jacket have orange on it?" and said that the jacket had already gone down to lost-and-found with a security guard. So I thought, why retrieve it now? It can sit in lost-and-found until we are ready to go.
Well, I don't remember what else we saw; I just remember that I suddenly realized that we better head for the train soon. So we went down to retrieve Lex's jacket, but it wasn't in lost-and-found after all. The nice volunteer looked twice, thoroughly. Then I mentioned that security had brought it down, and she looked in the security room, and then she CALLED security for us. I told security my story, and then he asked "Did that jacket have orange on it?" and said that it was still in the security closet on the fourth floor. Well, we went and got it, and then headed quickly for the train. From about two blocks away, we saw the train we needed to be on as it pulled out of the station. So twenty minutes later, we took the next green line train north.
The last A-train of rush hour leaves Carrollton at 6:36. The next one leaves at 8:06. We got to the transfer station at 6:50 (I think). Over an hour to wait, no nearby places to buy food, and it was getting COLDER. Lex sat on my lap and I wrapped my jacket around him as far as it would go and told him stories. I had been telling him stories all day, whenever we were travelling. I remember telling Aladdin and the Magic Lamp and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. He wouldn't let me tell Beauty and the Beast. He said that it freaked him out. Well, it was getting colder, when suddenly we noticed that a train was coming down the A-train track. Hooray!! We went over to get on, but as soon as the passengers got off, the signs changed to "Out of Service". It went north without us.
Adventures are not always comfortable. If everything goes according to plan, it is not an adventure. So we made the best of our wait in the cold. Then we noticed another train coming down the A-train track. It stopped and we went over to see if we could get on. This was about 7:30. It was so nice and warm on the train. We waited to see if someone would tell us to get off, but they didn't. This was the 8:06 train! It just got there early. AHHHH, we didn't mind the wait now. Comfortable seats and the WARMTH. We sat there until 8:06 and then headed home.
Lex really needed to go to the bathroom by the time we got to Denton. We stopped at McDonald's and got some hot chocolate and Lex played for just a little while on the play equipment. The chocolate was too hot, so I drank mine after we got home. Our adventure was fun, we learned some good things, and had some fun times. Lex is an excellent companion for an adventure, but next time he needs to learn some stories to tell ME.
It was a COLD day, but we both dressed warmly. I was carrying a small bottle of water and some peanut butter crackers for provisions. Tickets were $10 for a day pass for me and only $2 for Lex!
We started out early enough to catch a train before 9:15. After that, the next train leaves after 11:00, so getting there fairly early is important for an adventure. We were headed to downtown Dallas, probably to the Perot Museum. While we were on the way, Lex was studying the map and discovered a stop called Dallas Zoo. He suggested we go there first. When you're having an adventure, it's important to be flexible, so we went to the zoo. That meant we had to get off the green line and take the red line instead. While we were waiting, Lex started chasing the pigeons without any luck. Then I showed him how to become very popular with them by dropping cracker crumbs. We did NOT share all of our provisions with the pigeons.
After getting on the red line, I watched anxiously for the Dallas Zoo stop. I had noticed that the stop called Inwood/Love Field was actually almost a mile away from Love Field! I was afraid that the Dallas Zoo stop would be so far away from the zoo that I wouldn't even recognize which way to walk to get there. Didn't have to worry. The stop was right across the street from the zoo parking lot.
The lady at the zoo counter told us up-front: the monorail is not running today, the animals will probably all be inside where we won't see them and the concession stands are closed. Did we still want to go? Lex said, "sure". The she told us that tickets were half-price. We had a good time. The workers were really happy to talk to us. We heard about the raccoon that pulled a koi out of the pond and up the hill. We saw where the goats were gnawing on the wood of their shed. We petted an opossum. We played a board game about animal homes, food and locomotion. The tiny mongooses didn't seem fazed by the cold.
We had lunch in the only cafe open in the zoo. I didn't mean to, but I ordered a "basket" for each of us. Between us, we got SO MANY french fries. I almost threw them away, but instead I asked for plastic bag to carry them in. They gave me a paper bag.
In the reptile house, we startled a rattlesnake when Lex jumped up to see him...he was still rattling when we peeked back at him two or three minutes later. I've never seen a rattlesnake ready to strike before; I was very glad he was behind glass. The we went to an exhibit called "Ghosts of the Bayou". The main attraction was an albino alligator! Fascinating. I was so focused on the albino that I almost didn't see that there was a regular alligator in the same exhibit: it was the same size and color as the logs.
We thought that it would be good to go and see the penguins, but they turned out to be warm-weather penguins, so Lex and I were done with the zoo. Most of the animals were inside, as expected. By the time we left we actually saw at least 15 other people in the zoo.
Next we did head to the Akard stop, and from there we walked to the Perot Museum. It was PACKED! When I had gone early in December on a weekday with Kyrie, it was empty. Now we had to get tickets with an entrance time on them! While we waited for our turn to go in, we finished off the french fries. It was a good thing I saved them. There were so many things to see and do. Lex's favorites were a Prey Vs. Predator computer game which he didn't want to leave, and a 3-D eagle flight simulator. The participant wore 3-D glasses and leaned forward or back to make the eagle soar or dive. The screen was about 6 foot by 6 foot. He would have done that several times, except that the line was so long.
About that time I noticed that Lex didn't have his jacket with him anymore. It was a black jacket with a glow-in-the-dark skeleton design AND an orange mohawk. We retraced our steps and couldn't find it. I asked a teenage docent about it, and the docent behind me overheard. He asked "Did that jacket have orange on it?" and said that the jacket had already gone down to lost-and-found with a security guard. So I thought, why retrieve it now? It can sit in lost-and-found until we are ready to go.
Well, I don't remember what else we saw; I just remember that I suddenly realized that we better head for the train soon. So we went down to retrieve Lex's jacket, but it wasn't in lost-and-found after all. The nice volunteer looked twice, thoroughly. Then I mentioned that security had brought it down, and she looked in the security room, and then she CALLED security for us. I told security my story, and then he asked "Did that jacket have orange on it?" and said that it was still in the security closet on the fourth floor. Well, we went and got it, and then headed quickly for the train. From about two blocks away, we saw the train we needed to be on as it pulled out of the station. So twenty minutes later, we took the next green line train north.
The last A-train of rush hour leaves Carrollton at 6:36. The next one leaves at 8:06. We got to the transfer station at 6:50 (I think). Over an hour to wait, no nearby places to buy food, and it was getting COLDER. Lex sat on my lap and I wrapped my jacket around him as far as it would go and told him stories. I had been telling him stories all day, whenever we were travelling. I remember telling Aladdin and the Magic Lamp and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. He wouldn't let me tell Beauty and the Beast. He said that it freaked him out. Well, it was getting colder, when suddenly we noticed that a train was coming down the A-train track. Hooray!! We went over to get on, but as soon as the passengers got off, the signs changed to "Out of Service". It went north without us.
Adventures are not always comfortable. If everything goes according to plan, it is not an adventure. So we made the best of our wait in the cold. Then we noticed another train coming down the A-train track. It stopped and we went over to see if we could get on. This was about 7:30. It was so nice and warm on the train. We waited to see if someone would tell us to get off, but they didn't. This was the 8:06 train! It just got there early. AHHHH, we didn't mind the wait now. Comfortable seats and the WARMTH. We sat there until 8:06 and then headed home.
Lex really needed to go to the bathroom by the time we got to Denton. We stopped at McDonald's and got some hot chocolate and Lex played for just a little while on the play equipment. The chocolate was too hot, so I drank mine after we got home. Our adventure was fun, we learned some good things, and had some fun times. Lex is an excellent companion for an adventure, but next time he needs to learn some stories to tell ME.