Aloha Denise🌺 – Page 624 – Adventures of an empty nester mom sharing how to have FUN & stay young

It’s a Road Trip weekend: Temple, TX to see our dear friends, Jan & Charles, for some hugs, story-telling, and yummies.

We stopped along the route to see the infamous Magnolia empire, of HGTV’s Joanna & Chip Gaines fame. It was raining so hard, and the lines to get in were so long, we just got back in the car and headed south.

Arriving to see the lightning show and hear the thunder roll, we settled in and changed our evening outing plans to include dinner and chatting. We met Jan and Charles shortly after we married and moved to Temple, in 1985. Jan and I met when we were cast in “Fiddler on the Roof” at the Temple Community Theatre. We met Charles shortly thereafter, and have stayed in touch ever since, even enjoying quick and meaningful visits over the years.

FACTS:

Temple is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. Located near the county seat of Belton, Temple lies in the region referred to as Central Texas.
Located off Interstate 35, Temple is 65 miles north of Austin and 34 miles south of Waco.
It’s known as the “Wildflower Capital of Texas” and was originally founded as a railroad town.
Mark completed his final two years of medical school (Texas A&M University School of Medicine)at the Scott & White hospital on 31st Street.
Denise worked at Norrell Temporary Services as the Office Manager and taught aerobics each night at Scott & White.
Waco, nicknamed “Buckle of the Bible Belt”, is a lovely city with many quaint shops and restaurants.
Indigenous peoples occupied areas along the river for thousands of years. In historic times, the area of present-day Waco was occupied by the Wichita Indian tribe known as the “Waco” (Spanish: Hueco or Huaco).

We drove through heavy rains to see our friends and it was well worth it!

Jan, Mark, Charles, Denise 5-2021 Temple, TX

After our Ranch tour, where we got to don huge work boots and my cowgirl hat, we bid adieu to our hosts. On the way home today, we toured a bit in historic Waco, TX, enjoying coffee and an outdoor farmers’ market.