Texas Bucket List

Texas Bucket List

Simmons Bank

The Texas Bucket List – Seismique in Houston

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Houston – As brick-and-mortar stores continue to struggle across the state, many of these monstrous buildings remain empty as online shopping has become the norm.  But on the west side of Houston, they’ve figured out a unique way to transform a tremendous amount of retail space into something we’ve never seen before called Seismique. “Seismic means groundbreaking, earth shattering, and as you can see, everything we do is with a twist. Seismique with a Q-E-U is seismic groundbreaking with a twist,” said Josh Corley.

Josh and Steve Kopelman partnered up to put together this one of a kind attraction and it’s a far cry from Josh’s Chemical Engineering degree he earned at Texas A&M.  “It wasn’t for me. It was a great learning experience. It was a lot of fun, met a lot of great people. It was very difficult, but it wasn’t for me, ultimately, no.” This seems a lot more fun. “It’s a lot more fun. And I get to see the people, some of the work that I’ve done, I get to be around them, and I get to see the smiles on people’s faces,” explained Josh.

When people walk in here, Josh hears the same thing over and over. “Where are we? What the heck is this place,” quoted Josh. “We started noticing that there was an entirely different genre of art that we see emerging. It’s interactive and immersive. Something that totally removes the velvet rope or the glass case from the Mona Lisa and invites you to be actually part of the art and influence the art,”said Josh. “We didn’t see there was any kind of institution, any kind of museum, any kind of anything else serving that and bringing that together. So we said, “Why not us?’,” explained Josh.

Over 50 craftspeople, artists and technologists worked on this 40,000 square foot space to create this display that feels like you’re in another dimension. “What you see here is almost out of the artist’s minds themselves with a little bit of creative back and forth with Steve and I, just to make sure that it can be realized in a proper way,” expressed Josh.

“We’re walking now into what’s called Brainwasher. Brainwasher, it’s an exhibit done by an artist named Joshua Jest. There are over 200 screens here being projected onto. Everywhere, left, right, up, down, and it’s coordinated with the music, so you can dance in here, there’s a beat to it,” said Josh.

But some exhibits require full faith that the technology will work in tune with the display.

“We’re going into Acid Rain. We’re actually walking in a room with rain pouring down everywhere. Yeah, it’s constantly raining everywhere around you, except for where you stand. If you ever wanted a Houston shower, but you didn’t want to actually get wet, this is the spot to be,” explained Josh.

Of course after such a trippy trip, you have to calm things down, and fortunately there’s a room for that too. “Now, we’re walking through what’s called Eden. Yeah, we’ve got Beatles playing. It’s a relaxing environment. And if you can’t tell, it’s inspired by the movie Avatar. We’ve got benches to sit on. One of the only places you can actually sit in all of Seismique, that’s not in the lobby, and you can just sit and reflect back on everything you’ve seen here, because it’s a wild space in and of itself,” said Josh.

So if you’re looking for one of the most unique art displays in the whole darn state, trust me you’ll be in a trance with a trip to Sismique  and it is off the scale on The Texas Bucket List. “There’s no other place like this, not only in Texas, but in the whole world. It’s one of a kind,” expressed Josh.

 

The Texas Bucket List – Moontower Pizza Bar in Burleson

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Burleson – Just south of Fort Worth, we found this fine pizza joint that happens to have a pie as big as the metroplex! But before we got to baking, we took some time to get to know the owner of the Moontower Pizza Bar, Amber Rouse.

“Well, we wanted to open up a restaurant, like a bar restaurant, but there wasn’t pizza down here,” said Rouse.

Amber and her husband Paul opened up the Moontower Pizza Bar in 2016 and this is a stretch from her former profession. An accountant! “This is a 24 hour a day, seven days a week kind of job,” said Amber.

Now Moontower isn’t named for the pie in the sky, instead it’s an homage to the famous towers in Austin that happened to be in a pretty well-known movie set in the Lone Star State, Dazed and Confused. “Now, if you could find me Matthew McConaughey, I would love to have him come in. Matthew McConaughey, if you’re watching,” joked Amber. Would McConaughey get pizza here?  It’d be a lot cooler if he did.  “Well, who doesn’t love pizza,” joked Amber.

Now Moontower has your symbolic slices of pie but if you want to get something a little bigger, there’s a few options.  “We make a full moon, which is a 30-inch round pizza. And then of course the Bus. Eight feet by 32 inches,” explained Amber. I’m 6” 2”, this pizza is more than a foot and half taller than me! “Nobody realizes how big it is until it’s there. And then they’re like, ‘Oh wow!’,” said Amber.

Why create such a monstrous pizza?  Well to get put into the Guinness World Records Book of course. “When you were a little boy didn’t you want to be in the Guinness Book? All of us 80s kids, for sure all went to the library and looked for the Guinness Book. So why not want to be in the Guinness Book? And we are actually in the Guinness Book,” said Amber.

Getting into Guinness took more work than just making a massive pizza.  Turns out there’s quite a few steps to take before being considered. “You have to have it on your menu for a year before they’ll even come and look at it. And you have to have sold at least one. So we did have it on the menu for a year, and by the time Guinness came, we’d probably sold three or four. But after Guinness came, it was an explosion,” explained Amber.

To make this monstrous pizza, Amber starts off with four and half pounds of homemade dough and she makes that dough do what she tells it! This part of the process is the most tedious and takes the most amount of time.  “So there is no perfection to an eight foot pizza. You can’t throw it in the air, can’t toss it. It’s all just a little bit of love and massage, right? Just kind of get this pizza to do what you want it to do.” explained Amber.

Next up is the sauce.  Five pounds of homemade marinara sauce. That’s followed by ten pounds of cheese. When this is all said and done, how much does this thing weigh?  “I really do want to say it weighs close to a hundred pounds. It’s heavy. The dough gains weight, I feel like,” said Amber.

And we’re breaking the bus up into four different sections of toppings, but pepperoni is a must. Once it’s covered, we get to cooking. Cooking eight feet of pizza takes a little time but who doesn’t love watching cheese get all ooey and gooey!

“The pizza is amazing,” said customer Jenna Flores.

“She has her own recipe for the crust and there’s no crust like it. I’ll cut the rest of the piece away just to get to the crust,” said customer Andy Pickens.

“Because it’s the bomb. That’s old fashioned saying I know, but it just is,”said customer Sharon Rydie.

Our first pizza ever on The Texas Bucket List and I don’t know how we’re going to top this.  I definitely feel like I’m living every college kid’s dream! Well, it’s safe to say that pizza’s all right, all right, all right.

The Texas Bucket List – The Dinosaur Park in Cedar Creek

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Cedar Creek – Driving along Highway 71 between Austin and Bastrop, you never know what’s lurking in the central Texas trees.  Most of the time you’ll find picturesque Texas landscapes but if you turn on the other side of the road, you won’t find Lost Pines, you’ll find a lost world called The Dinosaur Park.

Austin Nunez and his family run the park and they are crazy about the Cretaceous period, so they created this place to see preposterously sized prehistoric creatures.  Since 2004, the Dinosaur Park has been showcasing what the world was like, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. “A very niche thing. I don’t know exactly what to call it all the time. It’s like an outdoor museum, we like to say,” said Austin.

On a short half mile hike through the hill country, you’ll come across 30 dinosaurs and you never know when one’s going to pop up on you.  “This [velociraptor] is our first dinosaur on the trail, and this is what it actually looked like. The ones in Jurassic Park were made a lot bigger, a lot more robust just to up the scare factor. He had sharp teeth, sharp claws, and he did have those things, the sickle claw that you do see in Jurassic Park,” explained Austin.

“They’re [dinosaur statues] from all over the world. It’s basically like we’ve had local artists do some, we’ve had international, we’ve had whoever will do them. It’s actually quite difficult to find artists who will do some of the larger ones. The smaller ones are generally easier. People are willing to do a six-foot, eight-foot dinosaur statue, and then you’ll see later on the trail there’s 40-foot, 100-foot dinosaurs out there that we have to just find whoever will do them for the best price,” explained Austin.

Some of the dinosaurs were even natives to the Lone Star State! “You’ll notice it [statue description] has our little Texas symbol. Those are for the dinosaurs that lived in our state, the creatures that were found here,” said Austin.

The trail consists of many dinosaurs that are unique in their own way, but we got the chance to learn more about one of the longest dinosaurs that existed! “There’s a lot of dinosaurs that could claim the title of longest dinosaur. The Diplodocus was one of the ones that is up there. They’re all known from kind of fragmentary remains, so we’re not sure exactly how big they got, but our Diplodocus is 120 feet long,” said Austin.

It seems thinking about the 66 million years since dinosaurs last roamed the earth has made me hungry but just like any good ole’ amusement park, you ‘ll have to pass through the gauntlet that is the gift shop to get “Yeah. Anything dinosaur that is sold, we try and sell it,” said Austin.

Well we’re sold on the Dinosaur Park being the perfect stop for your fossil loving family on The Texas Bucket List.

What is it about dinosaurs? Why are we so enamored by them and so curious about them from a young, age? “It’s probably just because they’re so different to what we have in terms of real animals. The closest thing we have is crocodiles or birds, and even those, there are some dinosaurs like T-Rex that doesn’t look like any crocodile or any bird out there. Same thing with the long-necks or the Triceratops. There’s just general fascination that I’ve seen with them that just… I can’t really explain it myself even,” explained Austin.

The Texas Bucket List – Trumpy The Longhorn in Dickinson

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Dickinson – Down in Dickinson, Kristy Walker is well known for her unique baby dolls she creates. Every day she meticulously works on the detailed dollies that help people with Alzheimer’s or provide comfort to those with down syndrome.  “Well, it’s about 15 layers of paint to bring up the process to make it look like realistic skin. The hair is hand-rooted, just they’re weighted to feel like a real baby,” explained Kristy.

Since she works from home, she’s able to step outside her home in the country and take in some fresh air when the time arises. “It’s a very busy, time-consuming, stressful job, and coming out here is kind of my escape from it,” said Kristy.

But when she does withdrawal to the wood, she’s got a friend waiting for her. Trumpy, the most loving Longhorn in the Lone Star State waits patiently for Kristy by the fence for her to come see him. Trumpy shares a pen with another Longhorn named Obama and I’m sure at this point you can see where this is headed. “They’re brothers from another mother, but they have hung together, and they have grown up together. Although, Trumpy is not very nice to him. He doesn’t let him get treats. He pushes them out of the way,” said Kristy.

But not to worry. “We are a politic-free pasture,” stated Kristy. For someone who doesn’t want to make this about politics, why are they named after politicians?  “Well, because they came right at the election time and their names suited them. Trumpy with his tuft of hair up here. We just said Trumpy and Bammy, and it stuck. The names stuck,” explained Kristy.

But Trumpy has a bit bigger personality and an ample appetite.  Yes, you’re witnessing what may be the only longhorn in the land to lick a little ice cream. “I got a lot of people that said this is cannibalism. It is not cannibalism, it’s recycling,” said Kristy. “There’s just something about him. There’s just a connection that I have with him that I haven’t had with any of these other cows, and he just kind of demands attention,” expressed Kristy.

Kristy decided to share her unique relationship status on Facebook and created a page just for Trumpy. As you can imagine, it’s taken social media by the horns. Turns out Trumpy’s tastebuds go for all sorts of sweet treats, especially donuts. “Give him carbs, he’ll smile and love you,” joked Kristy.

The Facebook posts don’t center around sweets, Trumpy is pretty much into any kind of food you’re will to put out to pasture, for the most part. “Taco shells, chips, doughnuts, cookies, tortillas, loves a tortilla. If you’ve got leftover celery, keep on walking,” joked Kristy.

Kristy keeps up her special bond with Trumpy because it helps people make it through some terrible times.  While visiting Trumpy isn’t in the cards, you can follow him on Facebook and cracking a smile from something as silly as Longhorn licking ice cream is always well worth a stop. “They’re so tired of all the negative stuff on Facebook. They open their Facebook and they’re scrolling past all the news and negative things, and they get to a smiling picture of him eating a piece of candy and they’re like, ‘Yay!’. It’s just spreading joy and happiness and silliness. If I make one person smile, I’ve done my job,” expressed Kristy.

The Texas Bucket List – El Arroyo in Austin

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AUSTIN – There’s a sign in Austin that you’ve probably seen a time or two on social media. You may have even caught yourself laughing at the little quotes its displayed over the years. We’re talking about the sign at El Arroyo, and we had to get the real story behind the restaurant’s greatness.

El Arroyo sits at the corner of Campbell and West 5th Streets and it has been dishing out tacos in Texas since 1975.

“I’ve always liked old restaurants,” El Arroyo Owner, Ellis Winstanley said. “I have an affinity for them.”

Winstanley has seen Austin grow around his well-known Tex-Mex joint. He’s been able to survive and thrive through the changing of times thanks in part to a sign that brings in customers from all over the country.

“A lot of people put their arm around the sign, like it’s an old friend, and take a picture with it,” Winstanley said. “It’s just kind of cool.”

If you’ve never seen this sign, chances are you are not on social media.  But, if you have ever browsed Facebook or the interesting images on Instagram, you probably have gotten a good laugh from the sign at El Arroyo.

“For the most part we’ve been able to stay in the pocket of just like, “Hey, look, this is about making people smile and have fun,” “ Winstanley said.

The funny sayings got started in 1987, when the previous owners Clay McPhail and Doug English dug out a sign and started putting witty, whimsical, wacky sayings on it to attract eyes to their eatery.

“So my personal favorite is, “Last queso stop before a bunch of yoga studios,” Winstanley joked. “I just think it’s hilarious.”

Winstanley took it to the next level by exploding the placard’s popularity on the internet.

“I don’t think we imagined it like this,” Winstanley said. “We knew people connected with it. We knew we could kind of grow the presence of it, but we didn’t think it would take off and just continue.”

Having some magnificent margaritas does not hurt, and you might just be able to thank the El Arroyo sign for starting a motion during the summer of COVID that now allows you take these tasty beverages to go!

“We put up a funny sign (that read) “Now would be a good time to legalize margarita delivery,” and we got all these comments about it,” Winstanley said. “Then it just kind of took hold from there. I didn’t change the law in Texas, but it definitely helped us get focused on the conversation. When he (Texas Governor Greg Abbott) made that legal it was a game changer for Texas restaurants, particularly Mexican restaurants.”

While the sign may have helped with recent legislation, its true nature is to give people a good laugh. Winstanley’s wife, Paige, had an idea to further its reach.

“We always wanted to do like a coffee table book with the signs because the sign has meant a lot to Austin,” Paige Winstanley said.

However, originally book companies only read the book by its cover.

“Nobody would publish it,” Ellis Winstanley said. “Everybody just said that it wasn’t going to work. So, we ended up having to do all the work to set up a publishing company to do it and then got a printer to do it. So, then my wife (Paige) put them in the trunk of her car and drove around to Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. She said, “Listen. Just keep them. Sell them. If you sell them, pay me. If not, I’ll come back and get them.”

The humor was eventually a hit and now you can find El Arroyo books in stores in just about every single state in the country, including The Texas Bucket List Store and Studio in College Station, Texas.

El Arroyo has a whole team of folks who constantly come up with the clever sayings.

“Sometimes it’s 10:30 at night and we’re just working together, and we come up with some fun stuff,” Paige said.

There are now post cards, signs for various occasions, greeting cards and even Christmas ornaments.

“The priority is to make people smile,” Ellis Winstanley said. “To kind of connect with people in a real way and to focus on current events.”

So, if you looking for the sign that takes Texas to the country with a little laugh from the Lone Star State, heading to El Arroyo for an ice cold margarita and the perfect picture for your Instagram is well worth a stop on the Texas Bucket List.

“Seeing it in person is just so much different from seeing it on our social feed, “Paige said. “It’s just nice to see the letters.”

“It’s an experience a lot of people have already connected with, and they want to put the food and the drink with the experience they’ve seen online,” Ellis Winstanley said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Texas Bucket List – Elvis Always in Wichita Falls

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Wichita Falls – Whenever we’re on the road, we never know what we’ll run into. While making a stop in Wichita Falls, that was exactly the case! I proceeded to hit the brakes realizing that it would be now or never to have the chance to wander a store dedicated to the King. Upon walking in and getting to chat with Margaret, she gushed “I didn’t know you all were going to be here this soon or I would have put a record on, or tape on, or something.” When asked about why she loves Elvis so much she simply replied with a blush “Oh, Lord, I couldn’t tell what all it is about Elvis. Good-looking hunk. He’s a hunk.”

The very first time Margaret laid eyes on her favorite singer was in 1956 right there in Wichita Falls at the Memorial Auditorium. As a young married 23-year-old she remembers every moment. When commenting on the experience, she said “Oh my land, it was a thrill. He was here in Wichita, and it was my first time to really see him then. He sung and he sung, and he sung.” However, when asked if her husband was an Elvis fan, “Uh- uh. I think he was kind of jealous because I was so crazy about him.”

Firm in her beliefs that there will never be another entertainer quite like the King of Rock n Roll himself, this proud 88-year-old embarked on the Elvis business. Now don’t let Margaret fool you, she looks much younger and is asked by her kids regularly why she doesn’t act her age. Her response? “I don’t want to.”

Her third husband bought the store before he passed in 2019. Wally, her husband, was all about following his loves’ dreams so he bought her the store. Reminiscing over her late husband, she commented, “My husband said, “You want it, we’ll get it.” That’s the kind of guy he was.” She said she does not think she will remarry since she “had the cream of the crop,” and does not think anymore will reach the standard Wally set so high. Now-a-days it’s just Margaret and Elvis and believe us when we say, she’s got all the Elvis she can handle right there in her store. Cups and matching saucers, lunchboxes, salt and pepper shakers, and so much more are within her store. Books in all sorts of genres! We asked which books were the bad ones, she quickly replied “I don’t have any bad books of Elvis. Elvis didn’t do bad.”

One of the beloved items in the store, a golden Elvis decanter, even plays Margaret’s favorite Elvis song, “My way”. “Yeah I love My Way. I’m going to have that played at my funeral when I die.” I guess we are talking about kicking the bucket on the Texas Bucket List. She jokingly responds to which she would see at the Gates of Heaven “Elvis is first.” Poor Wally! Elvis has always been first in Margaret’s life and she just knows that Wally understands that. “He knew me very well” she says.

She continues to carry on her love for Wally within the store as her dreams would never have come true if not for his love and endearment. Now, Margaret gets to live each day with the only man she now needs in her life. Surrounded by him, listening to him, and getting to share her love for him with each person she comes in contact to. Thankfully, since her store is so unique, if you ever need anything Elvis odds are you will be grabbing a trinket from her Elvis emporium. So remember, if you ever find yourself in Wichita Falls, be sure to check out Margaret’s love filled store for your next Elvis collectible.

The Texas Bucket List – The Roadside America Museum in Hillsboro

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Hillsboro— Smack dab between the Metroplex and Waco, you’ll find Hillsboro, which also happens to be the home of some very nice billboards for our favorite rest stop in West. Before we buy a bunch of kolaches at Slovacek’s we got our fill of Americana at one awesome stop. “Welcome to Roadside America… in Hillsboro, Texas. I’ve got some pretty interesting things, I would say,” said Carroll Estes. Carroll is the curator at the Roadside America Museum.

Originally from Dallas, Carroll bought the old Ford Dealership in Downtown Hillsboro and converted it to a showplace for all his possessions.“It’s mainly a hobby turned into what people started calling a museum. So, I started calling it a museum too,” he explained. A lover of all things 50’s, Carroll has been collecting a curious assortment of anything that makes him feel like he’s a kid again. “I wish I had a time machine. I’d go back to 1959 and stay there forever… Reason I picked 1959 I wouldn’t want to miss the fins on ’59 Cadillac,” said Carroll. “Such a simpler time. Before the computer age and all that stuff took over. And the cars, the cars of the 50s, come on, that’s all I need to say.

Vintage records, vintage remedies, and vintage road signs are just a few of the retro things Carroll collects. He searches the state looking for this stuff, but also finds some of it on the internet. “I do find things on there now from time to time… I guess… there’s some advantages [with computers]. The spell check is good,” he commented. Fortunately, U-S-A is easy to spell and this place sure showcases that it’s proud to be American.

“I know some collectors they collect great stuff, but they just build rows of shelves and stick things up on shelves… But you could give some personality,” he said. Carrol’s collection includes massive cartoon characters that are colossal in size. Pepe Le Pew, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Sylvester the Cat! “My goal is to get the entire Looney Tunes cast someday…Foggy, you got to have Foggy [Foghorn Leghorn]. I’m looking for a Foggy,” he said. “The eight foot Big Boy over here, which was my first fiberglass statue…I just found out a couple of years ago that he came from one of the first two Big Boy restaurants,” said Carrol.

Grape soda known as Grapette also means a great deal to this gatherer of all things 50s.“I got what I think may be the largest Grapette soda collection in existence,” he claimed. “I got started on the Grapette because that was my favorite drink as a kid, for one thing. I was 12 before I knew my tongue wasn’t supposed to be purple.” Carroll’s colossal collections of grape soda and Looney Tunes are impressive, but there is even more out back.

“I’ve got an old general store out back…it’s a display. It’s not for selling. It’s for showing… Built it out of 100% old rustic materials. It’s pretty cool. Stocked up with any kind of old store stock like stepping back into the forties…It covers a few decades, but it goes from all the way to turn of the century up probably,” he said.

It’s been said that as you get older, three things happen. First your memory goes and the other two, well I can’t remember the other two, but not Carroll. He is too busy remembering the 50’s because that brings him back to a joyful time in his life, a joy he wants to share with Texas.

“If you grew up in this area, it will take you back to a time that just makes you feel good… It was just a time in history I think everyone should either relive or at least learn about,” he concluded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Texas Bucket List – Monsters on Main in Denison

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Denison, TX — It’s time to visit a few little monsters in the Lone Star State, but don’t worry, the little fellas are harmless. They come from the mind of an upholster north of Dallas in Denison and these darling dolls don’t dare scare, but you might find one deep in your couch.

During a rainy winter morning, downtown Denison doesn’t really bustle like usual, but over at Rugs and Stuff, Nitia Musico is busy creating her craft. “I couldn’t go do a proper job. This isn’t a proper job. This is fun,” said Nitia. Nitia is a native Texan, thanks to her Mom’s side of the family.  “I was [born in Beaumont]. My parents were in Nigeria, didn’t trust the hospitals and went back. My mother went back to her parents and I left when I was weeks old…I was there until I was 14, but we were shipped off to boarding school in England at the age of eight,” she said. After college, Nitia moved back to Texas. “Had enough. Came over without a job… I’m a Texan, I’m going to live in Texas,” she said.

She took a job as a nanny in Dallas, but then life tried to pull the rug out from under her feet. “Got cancer… Hodgkin’s Lymphoma… It was a little scary, being over here by myself. Better treatment here than had I gone back to England,” she said. Nitia thread the needle to defeat cancer and that sowed the seeds for her to start her business. “So that’s when I quit… and decided I didn’t go to college to be a nanny. I went to college to do furniture and textiles. So, I started my own company,” she said.

For over 30 years, rugs and reupholstery has been the reason she’s had success. “I like to do the work myself. I mean if I’m not actually touching fabric or doing something, I just feel like I haven’t achieved anything,” Nitia explained. One day, she created something out of scratch thanks to an overabundance of extra materiel she had in her shop. “I can’t throw my remnants away from the scraps of fabric from leftover upholstery jobs. I just have shelves full of fabrics and I just wanted to do something with them,” said Nitia. That’s when the monsters showed up.

 

“They are remnants… this one, leftover from an upholstery job, some chairs I did,” she said as she showed off her collection of stuffed monsters made from fabric scraps. “I think that’s some pillows. And that is a cushion I did from an apartment complex… Got a little flappy tongue.” Nitia started making her colorful characters to draw in customers but they’ve become so much more than that. “It’s worked. I can’t keep them on the shelves. I’ve got a lot of work to do,” she said.

People love Nitia’s quirky creations. “They’re just strange because despite my years at art college, I can’t draw,” she admitted.  Nitia doesn’t have a strict process when it come to the creation of her little monsters. “It just comes, it really does or I’ll just draw a shape and then I think, okay, this guy doesn’t need arms, yeah, he doesn’t need arms. And then I’ll think it’s going to have two eyes and then I’ll put one eye on it. And a lot of them have one eye, just because I’m blind in one eye, so I have a tendency just to make them all one eyed,” she explained. Not only do these handmade monsters bring joy to customers, but also to their creator. “It’s just fun and I’m just so happy everyone’s so enthusiastic about them. I love it… We all need some little critter to cuddle,” said Nitia.

While creating unique rugs and custom pillows is pleasing to particular customers, the monsters on main do much more than that for Nitia. They bring joy, laughter, and love to people cut from all sorts of different clothes. “Just to look at and make you smile. And not all scary things are hiding under the bed. There’s happy little monsters out there too,” she said.

The Texas Bucket List – Mini Tank Combat Battlefield Zone in Hico

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Hico— In the hills of Hico, lies a battlefield unlike any other in central Texas. Often times, you’ll find Robert Valdez there, readying the troops. “You do not win medals by dying. Okay?” said Robert. Every day, this Army Veteran has to deal with an assortment of greenhorns. “We’re going to have a good clean fight and be victorious,” he continued. The battle he’s preparing them for involves tanks. Really small ones. “Men and ladies, we’re going to go out there and have some fun!” concluded Robert.

Mini Tank Battlefield is a 66 acre sports and recreation paintball park that gives visitors the opportunity to drive miniature tanks. “It’s smaller scale, but you still have fun,” added Robert. The fun doesn’t stop with a simple ride; these things really do shoot! But instead of perilous projectiles, it’s paintballs. “Not a big bang, but it still gives you the thrill,” said Robert.

Robert Valdez is originally from Robstown and retired from the Army as a first sergeant. “It turned out to be that I was still pretty active and wanted to do something else… more fun,” he admitted. During his 21 years of service, he drove, you guessed it, tanks.  “I drove an M60, old M60s and then we converted to M1s, and I actually drove an M1 and actually shot an M1 when I was a first sergeant. Before that I was actually on 113s and M114s and also Bradleys. I’ve driven all of those,” Robert explained. He was a tank operator for his whole military career. “60 tons of fun,” he added.

During a visit to England, he came across some small tanks and thought they’d be a hit back home in Texas, so he created a think tank of friends to start the Mini Tank Combat Battlefield Zone. “I thought he was crazy,” said Paul Lockhart. Paul served in the Air Force and is one of Robert’s partners in this battle playground. “I thought it was a unique thing. I thought, ‘Okay, maybe you’re on to something. This could be fun,’” he admitted. They emptied their tanks to purchase these mini machines.

“It took about eight months or so to get them from once I ordered them,” Robert explained. “Customs kept them for a while. They wouldn’t release them. They thought I was making some sort of military militia I guess. I don’t know.” Now getting to drive these mini mobile movers that happened to be built like a tank brings out all sorts of characters.

“This is the tank… each one of them weighs about 700 pounds. It’s hydraulically driven by a 18-horse gas engine. It’s a Briggs & Stratton engine, and it runs off of a 3000 PSI hydraulic tank that drives the motor. It drives the axle. It works like a skid-steer. Anybody that’s familiar with like a Bobcat or something like that. It’s got the joysticks in it and that’s how you control it. You go forward, reverse and you can zero turn it and things like that pretty much. Its top speed is less than two miles per hour. So if you’re getting in it and expecting to transverse across this pasture at a high rate of speed, that’s not going to happen,” explained Paul.

Visitors suit up and head to battle, and it doesn’t take long to realize how fast the paintballs can fly. “We got them calibrated to a rate of about 270 feet per second. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you’re in close proximity with these things, you will feel it and you do have some concealment inside the tank where you can duck down if you’re taking hits… So you do have some protection and we wear all the head protection and all that stuff…. If you find yourself under fire, duck…Crawl under the hood. You will take hits,” advised Paul. “It stings no matter how much clothing you got on, it does sting. It feels like a pinch.”

“It was pretty cool because you could actually get the feeling of getting hit from all sides and not even realizing where it’s coming from,” added Steve Wiley. The tank tussles to take part include Fury, a chance to defend a crossing from incoming tanks. “Once we get out there and get in the battlefields, it’s a whole different world,” said Paul. “There’s a tactic to it and a strategy,” he said.

 

Then there’s the Battle of the Bulge which is sort of a free for all for all involved. “You learn a lot about manual dexterity because you’re having to operate these things and being able to shoot the guns and stuff like that, it makes it really difficult. But at the end of the day, you don’t really get hurt. Maybe a few bumps and bruises, but everything’s good,” Steve Wiley assured. “It is scary when you’re still, but you hear the other tank making that noise. You get hyped up about it,” Robert explained.

The paint gets absolutely everywhere. “You got a lot of hits on the flank…Because your flank was exposed, but other than that, you did great. Yeah, they got you on the side in your arm also,” assessed Robert as Shane pulled his mini tank up after battle. While some splattered pigment and a few small bruises from bursting bubbles of paint are the extent of your war wounds, this is a fun excursion, a chance to do something different, and it’s all put on by veterans who just want to bring a smile to folks across the Lone Star State. “That’s the whole intent of that we’re being out here is—having fun,” confirmed Robert. “I think this makes him feel young again,” Paul explained. “So it’s nice to see him when he smiles and comes out and sees these little mini tanks. It’s his toys, so it’s cool.”  “I was kind of leery about it, but once I got out here and saw the tanks and rode in them, it’s fun. I’m going to be back,” said Paul. “It gives you a feeling of camaraderie with the people that you’re working with and you’re able to see what all is going on with the people that are supposed to be on your side, that you can work together as a team and get the job done and hopefully survive to fight another day,” concluded Steve Wiley.

The Texas Bucket List – Milam County Railroad Museum in Cameron

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Cameron, TX— A few miles northeast of the massive Austin metropolitan area sits Milam County.  Established in 1836 and named after Ben Milam, one of the heroes of the Texas Revolution, the county is rich with history.

The county seat of Cameron has more to offer than just old stories, and we get to take a tour of it from a sky high view… well sort of. The Milam Country Railroad Museum has an amazing replica of the Cameron Square and details a special time in the life of the creator.

“[Cameron is known for] friendly people. And railroads,” said Jamie Larson.  Jamie is the director of the Milam County Railroad Museum, which sits catty corner from the old courthouse built in 1892, but that courthouse also sits inside the museum. “The courthouse is the showpiece,” said Jamie.

It’s part of a miniature train set that really gives you a bird’s-eye view of what Cameron was like back in the 1940’s.“Rarely ever see a train layout or a city layout that’s as complete as this, and all together in one place… There’s a wedding going on at a church. There’s cedar choppers, there’s hobos, there’s a broken water main…you can see life in a town,” he said.

While Cameron hasn’t grown much since then, with the population remaining at around 5,000, the miniature model of it has. “Well the scale, the size of it, it’s pretty amazing,” said Jamie.

“Everybody calls it a model railroad layout. But it’s a model of a town with the railroad going through it in my book,” said John Johnson. John is the man who created this retro replica and he really likes trains. When he began this project, he never expected it to expand so large. “It was just an accident,” admitted John.

A collector of model trains since he was a boy, John took over 30 years to build his big project and it all started by simply building a building that had a big place in his heart. “The old yellow one over there… That was Southern Pacific, that’s where I used to watch the train,” he said.

From there, it grew and grew and grew. During the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s John and his wife, Francis, took the time to replicate as much of Cameron as they could. They began researching the town’s history by combing through old pictures, listening to people’s stories, not realizing that as they built the big little town, they we’re making their own story. “When he married Francis, she caught on to and understood that love that John had for it and she stood right beside him and helped build all of this with him,” said Jamie. “I enjoy using my hands and I was blessed with a lovely woman… a wife that enjoyed helping me,” said John.

John added little details of his life as a boy: his parent’s home, complete with his dog Teddy in the backyard, his grandmother standing outside her house ready to great him, and other sentimental touches around every corner. “I still think of it and dream of it, and it was a good town. I had a lot of friends, kiddos who grew up with and we roamed the streets together, played, went to the movies together…It’s all in here,” he said.

John built the buildings while Francis did most of the painting.  Together they kept on track and transformed Cameron into Cameron, on a smaller scale. “They drove around, talked to people together, got pictures from people of the buildings that were here back in the day… It was a team effort. The two of them were attached at the hip when it came to this model railroad,” added Jamie. “Well, it was fun,” said John.  That fun included making the extremely detailed courthouse that took months to create.

“Decided I was going to build the courthouse, so she helped me photograph it and we measured it. We walked all the way around the real one and measured it. And then she had a scratch pad, and she drew it all off,” John explained. “I drew the plans and scaled it down and then I just started, went out and bought all the parts of stuff I need and what I couldn’t buy I made. I’m real proud that it’s being showed and I’m real proud it’s getting the publicity that it’s getting… it’s not doing me no good, but it’s doing the community of Cameron good to have this kind of publicity… I hadn’t got one dime out of this. The only thing I got is my love for doing it,” he said.

“I think it’s just truly a love of Cameron. As I’ve gotten to know John, I know his heart is big when it comes to Cameron,” said Jamie.

The only other thing closer to John’s heart is Francis. Visiting his creation of Cameron doesn’t just bring him back to when he was a boy, it brings him back to the decades he spent with his wife creating their tiny version of their hometown. “She’s on my mind every day… I was the luckiest man in the world to have found her. She was quite a girl. Good mother, good wife. We enjoyed each other,” said John.

So the next time you’ve got a few minutes to catch the train that runs through the middle of Cameron, visit the Milam County Courthouse to see a special moment in time that was made during some special times for John. “God’s been good to me. He gave me a good wife, a good family,” said John. “I don’t have no answers for you. What I’m telling you is what I knew, and what I did, and what I loved and that’s it. It’s just fantastic.”

“It’s a just a glimpse back in history, and it’s amazing,” concluded Jamie. “I just think every Texan needs to see this. It’s something special.”