Being located here in Grapevine, Texas, means that we aren’t exactly a treasure trove of great fall foliage sightseeing. Our weather errs on the warmer side of the spectrum so we very rarely have a window of time to enjoy the changing of the colors. Not to say that we don’t enjoy it, we just have to search a little harder and be a little better at planning ahead. For us, late November, right around Thanksgiving is the best time to take a drive to see the colors. After living here for many years, here are a few places I’ve found that can provide us North Texans with a glimpse of Fall foliage.

Fossil Rim State Park

South of Fort Worth, about an hour’s drive, you’ll hit Glen Rose, a tiny town of about 2,500. In that town is a great park called Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. In that park is a drive thru wildlife and foliage lesson. If you pick the right time of year, you could witness a changing of the colors and see some antelopes, rhinoceroses, giraffes, and plenty of other wildlife. This wooded preserve is a great drive regardless of the time of year, but if you’re a fan of the oranges, reds and yellows that Fall has to offer, then you can’t go wrong at Fossil Rim.

Cedar Hill State Park

Just south of Dallas on I-20 and 1845 near Cedar Hill is Joe Pool Lake. A small lake that is surrounded by wooded areas, a preserve and plenty of opportunities to catch some fall foliage. Don’t forget your camera because you’ll have tons of chances to capture the essence of Fall. The short drive between I-20 and Cedar Hill alone is worth the drive. Rolling hills, fresh air and plenty of trees are the highlight. Just thinking about it is making me itch to take a trip down there!

Tyler State Park

East of Dallas, about 2 hours of driving, is Tyler State Park. A small, wooded state park that surrounds a lake. This is the perfect place to spend a cool, Fall weekend and enjoy the outdoors. You can bring an, RV, pitch a tent or stay in one of their screened cabins. Either way, you’ll have the perfect vantage point to see tons of colorful Fall changes. The drive out to East Texas isn’t too bad itself. Once you get out of DFW, it’s nothing but trees for miles.

What about you? Where are some of your favorite places to enjoy Fall foliage in North Texas?

Check this out! I saw a friend of mine post an article about this car/motorcycle hybrid called the Elio. I think it’s a pretty neat idea, especially in a world where Smart cars are available. It looks like a good alternative to gas guzzlers. On their website it shows that they get 84 miles per gallon and cost less than $7,000!

I bet it would be super fun to drive, almost like driving a go-kart to work every day. If their specs are right, then it can go from 0-60 in 9 seconds, which isn’t very fast. Then again, when driving to work, you don’t ever hit 60 anyways.

With an 8 Gallon tank, you can conceivably drive 672 miles without filling up your gas tank. You could make it from our headquarters here in Grapevine to Albuquerque on one tank of gas. That’s pretty amazing.

Best of all, they’d all be made right here in America. When production starts on these little 3-wheelers, it’ll be based in Shreveport, LA. As of June 22, 2014, there are already 22,000 pre-orders for them!

I realize that by looking at the picture above, you’re probably thinking that it can’t be a safe drive. According to their research, it actually is. Take a look at this video and see for yourself.

What do you think about the Elio? Would you drive one?

Living here in Grapevine, it’s easy to head to Fort Worth or Dallas for the many art and music festivals they have throughout the year. Grapevine has a pretty good one too! About a block away from our dealership, there’s the best one of all. This weekend (May 16,17 & 18), Main Street Days is finally here and I’m ready to get out there and drink some of the wine, listen to the music, check out the art and take home some of the craft beers. Main Street Days is such a fun time for me, since I’m a big fan of live music.

This year, it looks to be even bigger than ever! tons of food vendors, wine tasting, craft beer tasting, and of course, plenty for the kids. Don’t forget the Grillin’ Competition, I’ll probably be there taking notes. I’m always looking to up my game on my grill. There’s nothing like a perfectly grilled steak.

The best thing about Main Street Days? It’s the price! It’s only $7 for adults, $5 for kids under 13, free for kids under 5. You can’t even go to the movies for that cheap, and you’ll definitely spend more time and have more fun than you ever would in a movie theater.

You’ll also see a good amount of local artisans and artists. If hand-made is your thing, then you won’t want to miss this.

UPS delivers packages, everyone knows that. But what you may not know is that the drivers of over 95,000 trucks have plotted their routes to minimize the number of left turns they make. How many times have you sat at an intersection and waited for a few minutes while traffic passes you by? To the UPS drivers, that’s time and gas, both of which amount to money in their pockets. Why am I talking about this, you ask? We’re always looking for ways to save a little money here and there at the gas pump. I’m not saying that eliminating left turns is the way to saving tons of money or will help your children’s college fund, but it can help your car get anywhere from 3-5% better gas mileage. If UPS can shave 28.5 million miles off its delivery routes by planning ahead, maybe we can work it into our daily trips. Another tip you can learn from any kind of delivery driver is to make multiple stops on the same trip. If you need to go more than one place, make it a habit to kill multiple birds with one stone as trips back and forth to your house eat away at your gas tank.

Here’s a Mythbusters video that shows the concept and the results.

If you know of any other off-the-wall ways to save on fuel, find us on Facebook and let us know about them. Our readers would love to hear about them!