See America By Accident

Kellie is probably on a plane right now, about to fly to England. My mom took her to the airport and Christina (my youngest sister) and I had to stay home. We couldn't fit in the car with all of Kellie's luggage.

Since we had the day to ourselves, Christina and I decided to take a trip to the closest "It's a Grind" coffee shop. We wanted something different than Starbucks yet still familiar. We drove all the way to Frisco and ordered some cookies and frozen coffee. The shopping area didn't have anything interesting to offer so we headed home. On the way home, we decided to take some detours.

I live in this tiny town called Oak Point. It's on the lake and yet I really know nothing about the area. Chrissie and I were in a driving sort-of mood (which I guess is bad considering gas prices), so we decided we would play a little game that my friend (and babysitter when I was little) Sarah made up:

See America By Accident.

It's where you drive around and discover new parts of the country you live in. You turn on any road that you want and just admire the scenery. If you stumble upon anything interesting, you get out and look around.

So that's what we did.

First of all, we drove through an old neighborhood next to our subdivision. It's at least 40 years old and has a smattering of all sorts of old houses. None of them are particularly attractive, since most of the houses were built as lakehouses or getaway homes back then. Christina knew where the Oak Point Lake Club (or something like that) was, so she led me there. I was actually blown away by how beautiful it was.

I sat down on a rock and was able to look at a huge portion of Lake Lewisville. The lake was smooth and clear and I was amazed at how big it was.

We saw a cool-looking house across a small part of the lake and decided to go find out where it was. The lake surrounding it look so gorgeous and we wanted to know how to get there.

So we drove some more.

We discovered the Dallas Corinthian Yacht Club and wished that we were members so that we could walk around inside the property.

We noticed "Wooded Lots" advertised on a side street and drove around inside. The area was relatively creepy but nicely wooded. I guess the sign wasn't lying.

Chrissie and I also drove around inside a subdivision that we almost lived in when I was younger. There is a house just inside with a ZEBRA in the front yard. A real zebra!!!! We freaked out a little bit and decided to Google "zebras for sale" when we got home to find out how much they cost.

We're going to buy a zebra and name him "Stripey". (Chrissie's idea, not mine.)

We found a cool park that we're going to return to. There were some crazy awesome nature trails that looked fun. The park was right on the lake and a sign there said "residents or invited guests only", but who will know? We won't disturb anyone.

Christina and I discovered that Oak Point was much bigger than we originally thought. I know now why it is called Oak Point and will be making trips down to the lake more often, I hope.

Am I the only one who plays this game? Does anyone else drive around and discover new places? I used to drive around College Station, too. I once drove to the end of Anderson and found out that CS has a so-called arboretum. Who knew??

It's kind of amazing how much you can discover by driving somewhere new. Just for fun. And it's nice to have someone with you, too.

Maybe when gas prices go down a little I'll do this more often!

-K