If you are in the Dallas-Fort Worth area at this time of year, you’ll no doubt hear that it’s Texas-OU weekend, meaning it’s the weekend of the Red River Showdown–the legendary football game between UT Austin and the University of Oklahoma during the State Fair of Texas. The match between the Longhorns and the Sooners has been held in Dallas since 1929, yet it dates to 1900, when Oklahoma was still a territory. Initially called the Red River Shootout, it was officially renamed in 2005 out of a desire not to convey an attitude of condoning gun violence. Today, the rivalry draws more than 100,000 fans to Dallas for the weekend–a perfect excuse for non-fans like us to head out of town.

We arrived at Silver Creek RV Park near Azle at 6:30 on Friday evening, just in time to set up and enjoy the sunset. Date Night dinner included grilled ribeye steak, asparagus and baked potatoes, followed by a crackling campfire and conversation with our neighboring camper–an Iraq war veteran who is currently serving as the park manager. Our lively exchange proved to us, once again, that you can have a civil conversation with someone who doesn’t share your views.

Saturday morning brought temperatures just above freezing, with frost forming on every surface. The dogs didn’t seem to like the seasonal shift, but we did. After our typical weekend routines, we headed to A&P Vintage Trailer Works to check on our table project. Afterward, we grabbed some lunch and went into Azle to do some shopping. Upon returning to Cloud 9, we napped away the rest of the afternoon and then enjoyed a proper cocktail hour, followed by a dinner of tortellini and meatball soup, and another great campfire.

Sunday brought an ideal fall day, with morning temperatures starting in the mid-50s under sunny skies. Our typical routines–watching “CBS Sunday Morning,” reading The New York Times, enjoying breakfast cocktails, having brunch–anchored our day and set us on our way to pick up our finished tables before heading home.