Sorry it’s been so long. I’m on “normal” schedule right now, waking up in the morning and going to bed at night. Strange as it might seem, it’s harder to blog this way because there’s always something else going on.

Anyway, our secret trip was a blast! As many of you already knew, our destination was Granbury, a small town about 1.5 hours southwest of the DFW area. After dropping Brenden off with my parents, we started with a donut breakfast in a park in Irving and then drove to Glen Rose. Since we’d made good time, we took a detour to visit Dinosaur Valley State Park, which has fossilized dinosaur tracks in the riverbed. Some were easy to spot while others were easy to miss if you weren’t looking hard.

Then we hit Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, a drive-through animal park with about 65 species of antelope/deer-type critters, giraffes, emus, ostriches, cheetahs, and rhinos. From our open-air fan we got to feed many of the animals, some by tossing and some by hand. The giraffes and ostriches used their long necks to stick their heads far into the van and all up in your business, so you really had to watch your cup of animal food or they would try to steal it all.

After Fossil Rim we headed to Granbury and hit D’Vine Wine, a great winery that offers both premade wine for sale or tasting (we did both) and the chance to make your own wine in batches of 20-30 bottles. They offered several excellent wines, some of which they enhanced with fruit nectar to create fascinating flavor combinations.

Next we checked into our bed & breakfast, Angel of the Lake near Lake Granbury. Owned by a fun Australian couple, it’s a luxurious and very comfortable B&B on a beautiful property at a reasonable price. Our room, Gabriel’s Room, included blue marble, a jacuzzi tub with separate shower, king-size bed, and free M&Ms. How can you not love a place that gives you free M&Ms? Judy the innkeeper also provided us with a delicious 2-person birthday cake, which we enjoyed with some peach-flavored chardonnay from D’Vine. Breakfast was delicious, which meant I drastically overstuffed myself Thursday morning, but it was all good.

Finally we hit Bluff Dale Vineyards, about 15 miles west of Granbury up on a hill among beautiful scenery. They also had some excellent wines that focused more on the grapes and craft of winemaking rather than trying to add flavors from other fruits. If we were to open a winery someday, we’d want it to be similar to Bluff Dale – very casual and relaxed, with plenty of space for people to hang out, talk, enjoy a meal with friends, and listen to live music sometimes. After Bluff Dale we shopped a bit in the Granbury Town Square before enjoying some excellent barbecue at Chop N Block on the way home. I took lots of pictures and hope to post them soon. I’m now working on my new MacBook, so I want to learn iPhoto and use it to create a gallery for you. Check back soon!