A Visitor (Flat Stanley)

Dear Isaac, 1st grade classmates, and Mrs. Oxley,

Thank you for sending Flat Stanley to visit. He arrived safely on Friday 6 February here in Hewitt, Texas. Hewitt is a small town with about 12,000 citizens. It is right next to Waco, TX a larger city with 110,000 citizens. This area of Texas is called the Heat of Texas because it is right in the middle of the state.

Texas is a very large state with 266,807 square miles. Utah, your state, has 84,899 square miles. The capital of Texas is Austin. That is about 99 miles from my house. The state bird is the Mockingbird. The state flower is the bluebonnet. They bloom in late March and stay for about a month. I think they stink, but a field of bluebonnets is very beautiful. The state tree is the Pecan tree. You will hear Texas sometimes called the Lone Star State. That is because we have one star on our state flag. That shows that we are one state in the United States of America. You may also hear “Don't mess with Texas”. That simply means that people shouldn't litter our state. That is enough about the state facts. Let's go back to Flat Stanley and his visit.

We began our driving tour with a stop near Baylor University.

Baylor is the largest private Baptist University in the USA. It has a library called the Robert T., and Elizabeth Barrett Browning Library. Of course is has books and beautiful antique furniture. It also has an exquisite collection of Wedgewood China.

The Texas Ranger Museum is a museum about the Texas Rangers. They are police officers. It has a large collection of Bowie knives, swords, and even a display about Walker Texas Ranger.

The Dr. Pepper museum shows and tells about the Texas doctor that invented the soda pop drink called Dr. Pepper.

When the Alico building was built is was the tallest building in Texas.

The Waco Suspension bridge was another stop. It is like the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. This was built first as a prototype for the other bridge.

This statue is brand new to the down town area of Waco. The Longhorn is a symbol of Texas.

Our final stop was at Mars Snack Foods. We can only see the outside. They do not allow tours. I know that they make Snickers, Tootsie Rolls, and Skittles at this plant. This manufacturing plant is near Midway High School. That is where my son goes to High School. I can tell when they are making Skittles because the air smells so tasty delicious.

That is all we had time to do together. There is much more to do that is close by.

We have a Zoo, The City of Moody has a working Cotton Gin and cotton festival every year, and Crawford, TX is where former President Bush has a large ranch. He stayed there very often when he was the President. We knew when he was in town because we could hear the big planes bring the necessary things to keep a president safe and Air Force one was parked outside Uncle Larry's office building. That is another interesting place, L3 Communications. Tours are very limited though because of some of the work that they do on airplanes. And then there is the rest of the state with even more adventurous places. Come on down ya'll.

Love,

Aunt Jeanette, Uncle Larry, and cousin Eric.