Fossil Rim Day - part II

I read in our off-the-beaten path road trip book that near Glen Rose/Fossil Rim, was the small town of Clifton, TX, which happens to be the settling place of the first Norwegian immigrants to Texas. Although I have absolutely no Norwegian blood in my veins, I was convinced we had to see this amazing place. I suppose I had idealized it in my mind that there would be colorful flowers woven into everything that had been nailed down, that the majestic fjords would suddenly rise before us, that beautiful blonde-haired rosy cheeked women with the most beautiful braids you've ever seen would greet us at every turn.

(okay, I know these girls lack the braids, but just go with it)

Um, not so much.

And that was it.

Okay, that's not true. There was a church and a cemetery with names like Larson and Olafson on the tombstones.

Not exactly flower-woven braids and rosemaling.

We did see a nice wall, that I could imagine had been built by strapping, blond Norwegian men wearing suspenders...

And this church, which was built by the first Norwegian settlers in 1865ish. I'm sure the churchgoers wore their hair in braids with flower wreaths, right? 

This is Our Savior Lutheran Church, in "Norse", Texas

Dresden was IM-PRESSED. Let me tell you!

"Mom. There were zebras IN OUR CAR. 

And now you are showing me a door, and a wall made of rocks? Please."

Well, the excitement of the "Norwegian Settlement" was so overwhelming, we decided to head to find a place to eat. No Norwegian food in the oldest Norwegian settlement in Texas, no sir. (Not that I would have voluntarily eaten any lutefisk. Again, not Norwegian. I'm not sure I even know any Norwegians. Alexander Skarsgard is Swedish, so he sort of counts, but not even really. A total wild hair. I will think twice next time; lessons learned!)

Of the two restaurants in the "town" of Clifton, we chose one called The Grill. We went with expectations quite low, as the Scandinavian sting of disappointment had not quite worn off yet. Instead, we were pleasantly surprised. And here follows the largest quantity of photos of "yours truly" that you will EVER see on this blog, because they are too hilarious and horrible to pass up. If you can't laugh at yourself, what can you do right?

The menu at this place was REALLY unique and impressive. Alex had some sort of fancy Salmon cake meal with an Asian chili-lime slaw. Dresden's and mine were pretty basic fare, but for dessert, I had a homemade chocolate pecan cake that was to-die-for.

This was this really awesome sun art hanging in the hall near the bathroom. This restaurant was an old house turned into a restaurant, and every single wall was painted a different color. It reminded me so much of all of my BEAUTIFUL Aunts, and their houses, and Fayetteville, and my Grandma. It was wonderful. 

And then I go and I make this face. LOL. No, this was a "WHAT are you taking pictures of me for?" face to Alex. He sees this face a lot, I think. Sorry dear!

This little boy had started to go a bit crazy. Okay, we ALL had started to go a bit crazy. We hadn't eating for 6+ hours (minus a few car snacks), and it had been a LONG day in the heat seeing the animals. So these photos kind of sum that all up...

Dresden's yummy mac n' cheese in a sort of artsy shot a la Alex...

 "That face" + "I'm drinking from a straw" face =

This may have been my pterodactyl impression. Or that's just my face again.

He gets his pterodactyl face from me...

In retrospect the picture of the Asian chili-lime slaw may not be very appetizing. 

But there you have it...

I call this picture "Irony". On a journey to lose 100 pounds, and holding a fork. 

But a girl's still gotta eat, right?

(There's my one BRUTALLY, vulnerably honest blog comment for the next few months! Blink and you'd have missed it, lol!)

Amazing art, all done by the restaurant's owner. Not for sale, unfortunately. It was really cool.

Here's where the crazies REALLY started taking over...

Crazy-cute!

Annnnd...we're LICKING the table. Hilarious!

I'd lost it. And so had my makeup...ha!

About to call for back-up. Okay, text Emily for back up. But same difference, basically.

"Dresden, you are making me LOSE my MIND."

Okay, let's pause here, and think about the AMAZING pictures Alex takes of our son. And THESE are the pictures he takes of me. What is wrong with this picture? 

One of these days I'm making him snap me in a good light to make things a little more even. 

The piece de resistance...It was DELISH!

I think it's weird to end a blog post with a picture of chocolate pecan pie, but alas, it must be done. I think the bottom line, the take-away from this post if you will, was: Fossil Rim = 1. Norse "village" = 0. Chocolate pecan pie = 1. Random? Yes. But then, I'm a bit of a random person, so it kind of fits.

Stay tuned for another post very soon!!!

Love,

Cassie