Arlington & Irving, TX - Part 1

I had a fantastic weekend.  I know that I say that often, but this one was special ; )  My alma mater - Brigham Young University - was playing football in Arlington, Texas.  This is the location for the Dallas Cowboys Stadium.  The opposing team was Texas Christian University (TCU).  Normally, TCU plays in Fort Worth, Texas, but their stadium is currently under renovation.  They moved the game to this amazing facility, so I decided to drive 4 hours to support the BYU Cougars!!

Luckily, my oldest son lives in Dallas - just a few miles away from Arlington.  We had a blast!  The stadium sports the world's largest high-definition video screen. It's over 60 yards long:

 

I've been lucky enough to attend a Cowboys game at this stadium, and the screen is mind-blowing...almost distractingly large.  Unfortunately, the screen was really wasted during the BYU vs TCU game.  They spent literally 80% of the time showing the TCU cheerleaders.  I'm sure their parents were quite proud.  It got so bad, that in the 4th quarter, people were chanting, sarcastically, "more cheerleaders!!" ; )  They didn't show a single replay that involved a good BYU play.  That's not an exaggeration. By not showing any BYU attendees or plays, they were limited to the marching band and cheerleaders.  In fact, on several occasions, they didn't cut away from the cheerleaders to the actual game. Oh, well...

Unfortunately, BYU lost.  There were some great moments during the game, though.  I was surprised by the number of BYU fans in the stadium - but I've been reminded that Texas has quite a few alumni.

The next day, my son decided to surprise me with a really unique activity.  He took me to Irving, Texas, to an industrial park.  Tucked away between large corporate buildings, was the National Scouting Museum.

As my friends know, Scouting is very near and dear to my heart.  In the LDS Church, Scouting is sponsored as one of the important activities to help build the character of young men.  I was lucky enough to have an incredible scouting experience in my youth. I owe much of it to a single individual - a Scoutmaster named Milo Andrus:

Milo and I in 1978

I could write for hours about this amazing man.  Perhaps I will save that for another time.  Needless to say, he had a positive impact on an entire group of young men:

That's 12 year-old Neal - the short one, all the way on the left ; )

 Me and my best friend...at a Scouting Court of Honor

So...the National Scouting Museum was a real treat for me.  The museum entrance had large stone sculptures with the Scout Law and Scout Oath carved within. I'm amazed that - to this day - I haven't forgotten any part of this:

The museum had a gallery of Normal Rockwell paintings.  He became involved in scouting back in the 40s and 50s, painting covers for Boy's Life magazine.  This collection of original paintings was really inspiring for me...

Probably one of my favorites

Another painter took over for Rockwell (Josteph Csatari), emulating his style.  His paintings are a little more up-to-date, including this one about 9/11:

The museum had a variety of exhibits that were well-crafted.  Here, you can see the various ranks in Scouting, leading up to the highest - Eagle Scout:

They had some "interactive" exhibits, like this shooting range.  Don't worry - even though this was in Texas, the rifles only used light, rather than live ammunition ; )  My son and I both had a 96% accuracy in the final round:

There was an exhibit on Scout Handbooks from the last 100 years of scouting.  It was fun to identify the books I used as a kid, and the book that my son used when he was in scouting:

One of the coolest exhibits was about merit badges. They had a display of over 250 badges, from the history of scouting.  I remember almost all of the badges I received...because I actually enjoyed learning about such a vast array of topics.  I think swimming was probably the hardest one for me...

What Scout museum would be complete without a display on tying knots?!? I'm happy to report that I remember how to tie several of these.  I use the taut-line hitch all the time when moving or tying down cargo ; )

Camping is a big part of Scouting, so they had several hundred square feet devoted to it:

Within scouting, there is an organization called the "Order of the Arrow".  This is an "elite" organization with members that uphold the highest ideals in scouting.  You have to be elected by your troop, and then go through an "ordeal," or initiation, of various camping activities.  I was lucky enough to be part of this group:

Just like any good museum, the tour finished at a gift shop.  This was a little more than that - it was an entire Scout Store.  You can buy uniforms, badges, craft supplies, gifts and camping equipment.  I got lost in the "badge" area - where you can replace some of the badges on your uniform, or collect badges from areas all over the U.S.  They did manage to get some money out of me ; )

With the Scouting Museum experience at an end, we left for lunch.  My son, his wife, and I went to another famous Texas BBQ establishment.  This one is called the Hard Eight BBQ:

Right when you enter the door, you walk into several BBQ "pits".  The smoke was everywhere..

My family will love this place. You get to chose all the meet and BBQ vegetables that you want, right from the pit.  Roasted corn & potatoes, as well as brisket and sausages.  On the next visit, I'm going to try the Ribeye steak - right from the pit:

As you can see...I had an amazing time around Dallas.  My son really helped make this a special trip...and I'm sure grateful.  It's always fun to spend time with your children, and this was no exception ; )