help me come up with fun stuff to do with my kid in West Texas

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As most of you know, I've got me a son, 5 years old (on the verge of 6), he lives in Midland, TX now with his momma. I'm flying down there to spend his spring break with him Mar. 5th-12th. I'm trying to come up with some woohoo stuff to do with him while I'm down there. Preferably, woohoo stuff that won't eat up my not massive funds.

What say ye, ILXors? What kinda crazy shit can me and my boy get into down there?

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 25 February 2005 20:30 (twenty years ago)

I've already talked to him about going to see that CGI movie Robots while I'm down there, and I'm thinking we'll hit up Carlsbad Caverns, too, which I don't think is more than a, like, 2 or 3 hour drive at most.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 25 February 2005 20:32 (twenty years ago)

Go out into the barrenness and look at stuff!

― Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 25 February 2005 20:34 (twenty years ago)

haha I was thinking about taking him camping, he was like "but daddy, it gets cold at night here!".

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 25 February 2005 20:36 (twenty years ago)

I mean isn't that what you do with kids? You go to places and look at stuff and try to figure out what's going on and decide it's really cool?

It'll be a bit different since he lives there but still. I remember when my ex's nephew (who was about 7) came to visit us in Portland (from Vegas) and we just walked around and he was like "what's that?" and we were "that's moss" and he was "what's moss?" and it was awesome. Plus he called it "moth".

― Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 25 February 2005 20:37 (twenty years ago)

I had a terrible hunch about Midland's specific location and Google Maps just confirmed it. Stay the hell fuck away from San Angelo, whatever you do. Goddamn hellhole. Carlsbad can be pretty fun, San Antonio's alright as a tourist destination, but frankly the further west, the better, from that part of the state.

― TOMBOT, Friday, 25 February 2005 20:37 (twenty years ago)

that kinda sucks that you are separated from your son now :/

― jill schoelen is the queen of my dreams! (Homosexual II), Friday, 25 February 2005 20:37 (twenty years ago)

BUT ANYWAY - go to like an OLD STYLEE drive-in theatre and see robots! oh and totally, carlsbad caverns. and eat coney dogs!

― jill schoelen is the queen of my dreams! (Homosexual II), Friday, 25 February 2005 20:38 (twenty years ago)

DUDE RANCH

― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Friday, 25 February 2005 20:41 (twenty years ago)

Palo Duro Canyon State Park is a gem in far West Texas--a mini Grand Canyon. Great for hiking, camping, etc. if that's your thing.

― EComplex (EComplex), Friday, 25 February 2005 20:44 (twenty years ago)

Whoops, it's in the panhandle. I've been through Tejas too much lately.

― EComplex (EComplex), Friday, 25 February 2005 20:47 (twenty years ago)

My FIRST QUAIL HUNT!

― andy --, Friday, 25 February 2005 20:47 (twenty years ago)

you should go down to new braunfels, cheesy sprawling waterpark madness. i have fond memories of it from childhood, and my mom now has a house in gruene so i'll be back in those parts again hopefully soon.

― noizem duke (noize duke), Friday, 25 February 2005 20:52 (twenty years ago)

That's central Texas. Texas, remember, is very very big.

― Fish fingers all in a line (kenan), Friday, 25 February 2005 21:00 (twenty years ago)

We (me & his mom) were talking about that waterpark, it's quite a drive (like 5-6 hours), but we might do that on the weekend before I fly back if we're feeling super-spunky.

Actually, Palo Duro Canyon State Park sounds EXCELLENT! Midland is kinda actually in the panhandle, just like all the way to the west.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 25 February 2005 21:01 (twenty years ago)

Only thing I ever did in west Texas was peyote. I do not recommend this for a young child.

― Fish fingers all in a line (kenan), Friday, 25 February 2005 21:01 (twenty years ago)

MARFA.

also, start a metal band.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 25 February 2005 21:06 (twenty years ago)

It's not so bad being separated, Mandee...he'll come back and live with me again in the summer, so instead of being Do Your Homework Dad I get to be Woohoo Summers With Dad! Dad.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 25 February 2005 21:07 (twenty years ago)

carlsbad thirded or whatever, I wonder if they still have all the food and water in that huge cavern you can use as a nuclear shelter?

― teeny (teeny), Friday, 25 February 2005 21:09 (twenty years ago)

I would definitely want to go to Palo Duro. And if I went there, I'd also try to see the big cowboy in Canyon (?), as well as Carhenge.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 25 February 2005 21:25 (twenty years ago)

This is, like, 250 miles from Midland, but driving really, really fast is de rigour in Texass. So you could actually get there pretty fast. As a former Texass resident, I can tell you that this is one of the few places I really liked.

http://www.nps.gov/bibe/home.htm

― quincie, Friday, 25 February 2005 21:34 (twenty years ago)

Palo Duro is about 5 hours away, so that's still kinda on the far side of maybe. It just depends on if we go out for a good 2-3+ days of camping, pretty much.

Somebody here in the office was telling me Carlsbad Caverns is connected to Mammoth Caves, she said I should take Lukas down there and we should do a big underground escape adventure all the way back here haha.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 25 February 2005 21:35 (twenty years ago)

Oh WOW that looks FANTASTIC!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 25 February 2005 21:36 (twenty years ago)

there's also Guadalupe

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 25 February 2005 21:41 (twenty years ago)

I took a three day horse trek through Big Bend Ranch State Park (adjacent to the Nat'l park) and it was spectacular. It gave the whole "the stars at night. . .are big and bright" thing new meaning. One guy had a not-so-fancy telescope and through it I saw the RINGS OF SATURN -- it is so remote and dark that the nighttime sky is downright scary (in a very moving way).

oops X-post

― quincie, Friday, 25 February 2005 21:44 (twenty years ago)

The bat dung just inside the mouth of Carlsbad Caverns stands 5 STORIES TALL. Go there at dusk and watch thousands of bats venture out for their evening meal.

― 57 7th (calstars), Friday, 25 February 2005 21:48 (twenty years ago)

ie GUANO

― 57 7th (calstars), Friday, 25 February 2005 21:49 (twenty years ago)

http://www.2000ad.org/thrillpower/preacher.jpg

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Friday, 25 February 2005 21:58 (twenty years ago)

McDonald Observatory, Teralingua (ghost town), 2nd Big Bend, maybe Balmorhea state park (swimming if the weathers nice).

If you're going to Carlsbad, you might as well go to White Sands/Alamagordo, and if you're going that far, might as well see Roswell.

― theophilus jones (theophilus), Friday, 25 February 2005 21:58 (twenty years ago)

Go to Midlands cafe, and look for my name in the guest book! I'm on the same page as John Lasseter!

― Remy (null) (x Jeremy), Friday, 25 February 2005 22:14 (twenty years ago)

marfa is really amazing, it has this overwhelming weirdness that young kids absorb--in the gut holiness, but the town is really cool, and the lights are something you will remember forever.

(everyone thinks intellectual shit isnt really for kids, but kids love art, they just drop the pretension, when i was a docent the kids grokked the conceptualism better then most adults.)

go to marfa, is w hat im saying.

― anthony easton (anthony), Friday, 25 February 2005 23:59 (twenty years ago)

i can vouch for the guano. but 57 7th is understating the situation with the bats. when they "venture out" they form a helical tornado that screams up out of the cave, made of hundreds and hundreds of bats, and you can sit right there and watch it.

i just asked my dad this question and he said "don't get out of the car, west texas is dangerous"!!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Saturday, 26 February 2005 04:53 (twenty years ago)

Take a wilderness journey, Gerry-style.

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Wait, no.

― Girolamo Savonarola, Saturday, 26 February 2005 05:32 (twenty years ago)

Oh this should end well -- Armed Volunteers("Minutemen") to Patrol Arizona/Mexico Border

― f--gg (gcannon), Saturday, 26 February 2005 07:05 (twenty years ago)

I adore Marfa but don't know if a kid would dig that more than any other town (ant, when did you go?)

Big Bend thirded. Beautiful beautiful country.

― Miss Misery (thatgirl), Sunday, 27 February 2005 00:27 (twenty years ago)

i went in my early adolsence (sp) but my friend just came back from his 6 yr old who loved it all.

― anthony, Saturday, 5 March 2005 19:03 (twenty years ago)

oh, be sure to drive way the fuck out into nowhere and make a little campfire and cook beans and look at the stars.

― teeny (teeny), Saturday, 5 March 2005 23:54 (twenty years ago)

http://www.texmex.net/Graphics/ranch.gif

URGENT AND KEY

― teeny (teeny), Saturday, 5 March 2005 23:55 (twenty years ago)

Marfa Marfa Marfa!

The sprawling Donald Judd installations are surprisingly fun for a kid. Lots of exploring big eerie outbuildings and running around huge metal slabs. Plus, lots of long distances so's you can tire him out.

― Stephen X (Stephen X), Sunday, 6 March 2005 00:04 (twenty years ago)

i always heard that big fun in west texas tends to involve firing guns at prairie dogs

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Sunday, 6 March 2005 00:10 (twenty years ago)

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