Amy's Rear View Mirror

Arlington, TX

March - April - May 2002

 

3/24 - 4/12 Round Rock, TX

I didn't get to do any sightseeing while working in Round Rock, TX. I was there for 3 weeks and it rained every weekend. My contract ended on Friday 4/12 and on Saturday 4/13 I drove up to Dallas so I could start my next contract on Monday 4/15.

4/27 Las Colinas, TX

Lady & I took a drive over to Las Colinas, Spanish for 'the hills', for the afternoon. What a gorgeous section of town! Everywhere you look there are beautifully landscaped flower gardens all around the office buildings and the residential complexes. We had a great afternoon walking around.

Here's a little history of this Dallas neighborhood ...
At the center of Las Colinas is Lake Carolyn. The site was settled during the late 1800s, and by the early 1900s a number of small towns, including Kit, Sowers, Finley, and Irving, had been started. In 1928 John W. Carpenter, father of the founder of Las Colinas, Ben Carpenter, established a ranch in the area; by 1959 the ranch, originally called Hackberry Creek Ranch, had grown to 6000 acres. The ranch was renamed El Ranchito de Las Colinas (the little ranch of the hills) and was managed by John Carpenter's son, Ben, and Dan C. Williams. In the late 1960s the westward growth of Dallas prompted the men to develop the ranch as a residential area, but after plans for the D/FW Airport were revealed, Carpenter and Williams began developing a master-planned commercial and residential community. The project was to take twenty years to complete and would originally be 7000 acres, 3450 of which would be used for recreational and educational facilities and Lake Carolyn, a 125 acre man-made lake. The remaining acreage would include numerous business parks built around a public transportation system that would include the Mandalay Canal (a series of canals and water taxis) and the Area Personal Transit system (a system of elevated tracks and passenger vehicles that would serve 1000 acres of Las Colinas). The community would also have residences for 50,000 people ... the residences would be developed so the natural setting would be preserved.

Just as we got off the highway we saw the Flower Clock. Inspired by the outdoor floral clocks in the gardens of Europe, the flower clock was conceived by Ben H. Carpenter with the planning and construction beginning in 1981. The clock measures 37 feet diagonally. The berm, constructed from 15,000 cubic yards of dirt and filler is inclined at a 27-degree slope for legibility at both near and far distances. The shrubs and steel edging that outline each segment of the clock feature 525 Dwarf Yaupon Hollies, 140 Dwarf Burford Hollies and 608 feet of steel edging. Flowers planted beneath the hands of the clock (the minute hand measures 12 feet from end to end) must be a miniature variety, as must the greenery which makes up the inner star, since there are only 14 inches of clearance between the face and hands. The flowers are changed four times a year to provide a constant array of color.

We went into the heart of Las Colinas to see the famous Mustangs. These galloping creatures represent the world's largest equestrian sculpture, the Mustangs of Las Colinas, captured in bronze as they move across a granite stream at Irving's Williams Square. African wildlife artist Robert Glen installed this spectacular piece in 1984, as a memorial to the heritage of Texas. A sculpture that captured the free spirit embodied in the heritage of Texas would be the centerpiece. Recognizing that the vanguard of European civilization arriving in Texas centuries ago was first evidenced by the herds of wild mustang horses ranging north from Mexico, there was created for this plaza in Las Colinas a bronze sculpture of nine mustang horses, larger than life, moving across the plaza through a stream of water.

We found Blue Bonnet Hill in the Las Colinas Urban Center which was once part of the mesquite-covered prairies typical of early Irving, when cattle grazed near the rich grasslands along the Trinity River. Today a sculpture of five marble cows sits at the peak of the hill, overlooking the busy urban center below. Artist Harold Clayton, commissioned by the Trammell Crow Company, spent a year in Pietrasanta, Italy carving the four tons of marble it took to create each cow. The cows are carved from five different kinds of marble, as Clayton wanted a different color for each of the cows. The cows were carved with hammer and chisel; a diamond saw was used to produce details, with flat chisels utilized for the finer points. Each piece was then finely polished.

5/16 Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, TX

Some of ya'll know that I spent many hours volunteering at the Alabama Wildlife Rehabilitation Center when I lived in Birmingham AL. Through that work I had heard about many other rehabilitation and conservation centers across the country, one of which is Fossil Rim. While I had a free afternoon, I decided to take a drive down to Glen Rose, TX and check it out.

One hundred million or so years ago, the Fossil Rim area was covered by the saltwater of the Commanche Sea. The region was covered with tidal flats and lagoons leaving behind abundant fossils. Until 25 years ago, Fossil Rim was known as Waterfall Ranch. As a 1,400 acre wild game ranch, it attracted the attention of a Ft. Worth oilman who imported exotic animals and in the early 80s began breeding endangered species. Grevy's Zebra, African addax, and eventually cheetah and African scimitar-horned oryx were included in his preservation efforts.

Fossil Rim is a safe haven for some of the world's most endangered species and a host of native animals. It's one of the first facilities of its kind to have been accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. Today Fossil Rim is a leader in breeding and management programs, scientific research, public education initiatives and training facilities for conservation professionals, and support of conservation programs worldwide.

The animals at Fossil Rim, with the exception of the cheetahs, wolves, rhinos and a few others, are free to roam on 1,500 acres of African-like savannas and juniper-oak woodlands. The meat-eating animals aren't allowed to prey upon the other animals being protected.

On the scenic drive through the animal habitats, I saw 19 of the 27 species that roam the 1,500 acres. It took 1 1/2 hours to make the drive, but could take longer depending on how many stops you make and for how long. The animals have the right of way and will walk in the road causing you to wait until they move. They walk right up to your car and even surround you sometimes. I bought a cup of feed when I bought my ticket and got to feed them all along the drive.

I had a few interesting experiences. A Giraffe tried to eat my radio antenna, but then decided it wasn't leaves. A Zebra took a bite out of my passenger door ... the window was down. If the window was up he wouldn't have been able to do that. The only damage is a scratch in the paint from one tooth. And I had a deer put it's head through my open window to get a good sniff of my face.

It was a great way to spend an afternoon. You could easily spend an entire day there.

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