Last Day in Texas: Prairie Dog Town

Hannah and I had our morning all figured out....once we realized that our flight was leaving two hours earlier than we thought. We would go to Walmart, pick up some fresh fruit, have breakfast at the Cast Iron Grill one last time, and then go feed the Prairie Dogs at Prairie Dog Town.

This is an actual memory I have from my childhood. At some point, I rode a school bus out to Prairie Dog Town to see the prairie dogs. At the time, it felt like we drove forever (even though I know now it couldn't have been more than 20 minutes), and it felt like the town was HUGE even though it's smaller than a suburban house lot.

From what I understand, prairie dogs were endangered in the mid-1900s from farming and chemicals used to farm. So two men had the idea to trap two couples of prairie dogs and bring them to a safe plot of land to do what prairie dogs do. I mean, it's not like they eat bamboo or anything. Over the years, the population has naturally multiplied, and no one foot high brick wall has kept them from expanding into the surrounding park and baseball fields ;-)

We had read that you can feed them if you bring fresh fruit. But first we had to wait for the sun to come out as it seems that they don't like the cold or overcast skies (aka they are the original Texans) ;-) So we decided to go to the Cast Iron Grill first, but when we looked up directions, Maps said they were CLOSED! So not only are they only open from 7 a.m. - 2 p.m., but they are only open Monday through Friday....and it was SATURDAY! UGH! So we went looking for a McDonald's (the first fast food we'd eaten on the trip), but we found Pancake House, a step back in time to my youth. Yep, there was chicken fried steak on the breakfast menu, but I opted for good ol' Southern biscuits and gravy. Are you surprised to know that I could order orange juice? ;-) The waiter was a doll, and I sure wish he hadn't been so busy and would've thrown Hannah a look or two.

But onto Prairie Dog Town. There were a few dogs out, and they are just so dang cute. Hannah had a fun time trying to convince them to take the fruit from her hands, but the best she got was them chasing after the grapes she threw and sitting up and eating them. We seriously could've sat there all day watching them because they're pretty dang funny.

Hannah was wearing her "special" $5
Walmart shoes that she picked up in Carlsbad ;-)

But in the end, we needed to get to the airport to return our faithful Buick Encore steed (we put over 2,000 miles on him over ten days), and to get on the plane. I don't know when or even IF I'll ever go back, but it was a trip of a lifetime.

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