We must have checked the Loyd Park reservation system a hundred times. Cliff called the office daily. Finally, our persistence paid off as we were able to get the only open site on “Texas/OU” weekend. Officially known as the “Red River Showdown,” the football game has been played annually since 1900 between the University of Texas Longhorns and the University of Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl stadium in Dallas. Since 1929, the game has been played during the State Fair of Texas. This year, the game was expected to bring nearly $40 million in economic activity to the area, which may explain why it was so very difficult to get a campsite. And why campers started clearing out after the final touchdown.

We arrived on Friday evening and immediately began preparing for Date Night, which included Eisenhower-style New York strip steaks, baked potatoes and grilled asparagus. We ended the evening with a long walk under starlit skies surrounded by chirping crickets. Magical!

On Saturday, we discovered a “Taste of Italy” marathon on Create TV, and we set off on a three-hour tour. After a luxurious afternoon nap and a delicious pork roast dinner, we embarked on a second marathon: Six episodes of “Forever,” a new comedy on Amazon starring Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen as a couple whose pleasant yet predictable marriage is becoming mind-numbingly banal. The twist in the first episode is absolutely unpredictable, making everything that happens afterward addictive. We decided to forego the remaining two episodes so we could catch Saturday Night Live, which turned out to be rather unremarkable.

Our Sunday included a long walk with the dogs, CBS Sunday Morning, Bloody Mary’s, The New York Times, and a hearty brunch — a perfect end to our weekender.