My wife's birthday was a few days ago. It's been the second year in a row where I've been able to spend it with her rather than be on a business trip.

While it's only been a few months since we were in Sedona, AZ, she is already missing being there. We've been watching a number of YouTube channels focusing on national parks and hiking in general, so were thrilled to come across a place right here in Texas that has some pretty stunning red rock views.

Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailways

About a four and a half hour drive northwest of the Dallas area is Caprock Canyons. We only had a few days so it was a perfect birthday getaway.

Texas State Bison Herd

It's also the home to the official Texas State Bison Herd and we saw a lot of them a number of times traveling through the park. Even some babies!

Wolfie joined us on this trip. He loved it!

We did a few hikes, but the main one was the Upper North Prong Trail to the Haynes Ridge Overlook Trail. There were more trails, but one of the main things we wanted to see there was Fern Cove and the overlook area on Haynes Ridge.

Map of our hike. (1) = Fern Cove
North Prong Spur Trailhead. Starting our trek.
Fern Cove
Coming down the Haynes Ridge Overlook Trail

There was also an Eagle Point trail that we didn't have time for, but fortunately the main attraction on that trail wasn't too far away from one of the trailheads. They refer to it as a natural bridge, but walking over it, you wouldn't know if they didn't tell you. But sure enough, it's a bridge.

The trail goes right across the top of this bridge.
The cactus was blooming like this all over the place.

Movies

May's film series that I've been enjoying with local Alamo Drafthouse fans has been about films that were overshadowed by other films that were more popular at the time. So that's something the movies older than this year have in common.

  • Equilibrium (2002) was a bit overshadowed by The Matrix, but mainly because some of the characters and fight choreography looked similar. The story is a bit different though and the film still is worth viewing. In the future since emotions cause war, people are forced to take a drug to suppress all emotions. The problem is that it also removes all enjoyment from life. Having emotions is a killable offense, so why do people still want them?
  • Stir of Echoes (1999) is a film I remember enjoying when I saw it many years ago and it still delivers the scares. It had some similarities with The Sixth Sense unfortunately. Pretty good.
  • 12:01 (1993) shares a bit with Groundhog Day in that it's about a guy reliving the same day over and over. In this film, it's caused by a science lab incident somehow. Starts out like it's going to be awful but picks up mainly due to Jonathan Silverman. Ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would.
  • Nobody (2021) is basically a variation of John Wick so it's mostly saved by having some great action choreography and a great team-up of characters for the final scene. One of the more entertaining films I've seen this year.
  • Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021) has a great trailer. A forest firefighter has emotional issues after having witnessed a family dying in a fire and there was nothing she could do to save them. She comes across a boy who's being chased by bad guys who want to make the secret he may carry never reaches the public. This had potential, but many characters, particularly the bad guys, make some incredibly stupid choices which obviously serve the script vs. anything anyone would do in reality.
  • Outside the Wire (2021) is almost two hours long? I saw it two nights ago and the main thing I remember is that where some characters make some stupid decisions. And the ending is a real eye-roller.