Howdy from Texas!

Hi Kids!

I have been in Texas for 3 weeks now. Abigail asked how long it takes to get here. We flew in a plane, and it took 2 1/2 hours. The good part of traveling that way is getting here quickly. If you drove in a car or took a bus, it would take you two days. The good part of traveling that way is that you get to see a lot of things along that way. 

I am staying with the Aplin family in Lewisville, TX. The day I got here, there was a problem with the big water pipe under the street in front of the house. Some workers came to fix it, and I think they made a mistake, because this is what happened.

Yikes! That was a surprise.Water is important. We need it to come to our homes, but not like this! Luckily, they did fix everything, and we had water again that night.

We took a trip to Austin, which is the state capital. This big building is where the laws are made. Do you know the capital of your state?

Anna asked if I got to go to a rodeo in Texas. There are plenty of rodeos, but I didn't get to see one. I did see this statue of a rodeo cowboy being bucked off of a horse.

Riding like that is called bronco-busting. I found out that part of a rodeois for children about 5 or 6 years old to ride sheep and see how long they can hang on. The children wear helmets, and they  usually can ride the sheep for only a minute or two before being thrown off. It is called mutton-busting. Does that sound like fun to you?

Dana asked about animals in Texas. I did see some unusual animals.

Another fun trip we took was to an ostrich farm. Wild ostriches live only in Africa. Texas has a hot climate that ostriches like, so they can live on farms here. Abby is holding me up for my picture.

One more animal I saw was a hippo.The town of Hutto, TX has a hippo for a mascot. It was only a statue, but it was a lot of fun to climb on. If it had been a real one, we couldn't have done that! Do you know where real hippos live? That's right - Africa again.

In Austin, under the Congress St. Bridge, there are thousands of bats. People sit on the grass outside the bridge area every evening to watch the bats fly out at dusk.  Texas also has armadillos. Ask Mrs. North and Mrs. McGuire to read you the book by Jan Brett called Armadillo Rodeo.

Talan and Santierra asked if there are mountains and canyons in Texas. Yes there are, but not in the part where I am staying. Texas is a very large state - only Alaska is bigger. The mountains are in west Texas, and I am in the east, so I won't get to see them. If you use Google to search for pictures on the internet, you can see the Davis Mountains and the Guadalupe mountainson the computer. Mount Guadalupe is the highest point in Texas. It is more than a mile high!

That's all for now. I will be back in Rock Hill next week. See you soon!

Your Friend,

Flat Stanley