Waco Weekend

Before my sister and her husband made the decision to move to Waco this fall, most of my interactions with the town had been driving around Baylor campus and down Valley Mills Rd. While Baylor has a nice campus right next to the Brazos River, the city that I saw left something to be desired. When my sister announced this would be her new home, I was determined to venture off my well-beaten but ugly paths and find some of the more beautiful attractions Waco has to offer.  This weekend I got to revisit some of those places.

One place I did not revisit was Health Camp. This is a local burger and shake restaurant that began in 1948 to serve military personnel at the local air force base.

It's located in Waco's traffic roundabout. (Why they build roundabouts in America, I have no idea. I do not like them.) Employee's even wear shirts that say, "I survived the circle." You can order inside or at the little walk-up window outside. I had recommended the local joint to my sister and she tried it when she moved into town. She wasn't so impressed and prefers the burgers at George's. I, on the other hand, had thoroughly enjoyed my chocolate, peanut butter, banana shake.

I was scheduled for a hearing in Waco on Monday and decided to drive up Saturday afternoon to spend a little more time with my sister. We had discussed renting a canoe at Outdoor Waco located downtown and just across the road from the Brazos, but with the threat of rain and waning sunlight we opted for a quick trip to Lake Waco instead.

Lake Waco is man-made lake created by a dam on the Bosque River. Bosque means "forest" in Spanish. (FYI: There's only one natural lake in Texas - Caddo Lake near the Texas/Louisiana border.) When we pulled up to the lake we saw a fisherman with his catch of the day displayed proudly on the bed of his 1980s Chevy truck. The fish were lined up in order of size from smallest to biggest . He caught 1 catfish and about 7 buffalo fish. The biggest weighing 30-35 lbs.

We didn't bring a fishing pole, but with two geologists in tow we soon began looking for brachiopods and gastropods. I just thought they were called shells and bivalves.

When all the specimens were identified, we skipped rocks. Chloe was a natural, but I required a few lessons from Tanner. Apparently, skipping rocks has more to do with rotation and form then pure arm strength. Not that our form looks all that graceful.

After dinner, we got in the Halloween spirit by carving pumpkins. Chloe and Tanner had picked out three the night before at an over-priced, charity pumpkin patch. Supposedly, there was one large pumpkin selling for $100.

Photo taken by Tanner

While I stuck to the traditional form, Chloe decided to get a little creative. Instead of the intended mustache she got something more akin to a cleft palate. Tanner went an alien route.

On Sunday afternoon we headed to Cameron Park. This is by far my favorite part of the town as it has several hiking and biking trails, look-outs, and even a zoo. Our first stop was Proctor Springs.

At the springs, a geology lesson was given as to how and why the water trickles down through the rocks. Regrettably, my non-geologist mind has since forgotten the lesson. All of my Texas geology knowledge comes from four years of teaching Texas History. This spring, and others like it in central Texas, were created by the Balonces Fault which serves as a border between the hill country and coastal plains.

The fault can more easily be seen at Lover's Leap. The banks of the Bosque River differ in elevation before joining the Brazos River just a few hundred feet downstream. (See also photo above.)

In addition to geological sites, I saw a lot of this throughout the weekend...

...newlyweds.

Monday, before I had to take off for my hearing, we went to see the Baylor bears. No, they are not stuffed like I had originally thought. They are actually living black bears housed on campus at the Bill and Eva Williams Bear Habitat just down the street from the Baylor bookstore. Bears became the official Baylor mascot in 1914 after competitive alternatives like bookworm were voted down. The first live mascot came to campus in 1917. In 1974, it was decided that all bears would be given the name "Judge" followed by a surname.

Meet today's live mascots, sisters named Judge Joy Reynolds ("Joy") and Judge Sue Sloan ("Lady").


I'm not sure which is which.

This one was pacing in circles the whole time we were there which made me sad.

The bears are one year apart. The oldest will be thirteen in January. They will live the rest of their lives at Baylor, which will be a longer life than a wild bear ranging between 22 and 25 years as opposed to 18 to 20. Fortunately, the practice of feeding Dr. Pepper (a Wacoan creation) to the bears ceased in the 1990s.

One place we didn't make it to this weekend was the Ansel Adams exhibit at the Baylor Museum of Art. The museum is closed on Mondays. But that's no problem, because I'll be back in Waco next Tuesday for more wac-o fun with my sis. And oh, maybe a little work as well.