Tuesday 10-14-25 Playing Pinball, Razzoo's Cafe & Lake Whitney State Park

 

Lake Whitney State Park

 

We woke up to another beautiful day with a low of 63 degrees in Cooper, TX. The high was 89 degrees in Whitney, TX. 

I got out of bed at 7:15 and got dressed. Then we started to get ready to go. We put everything done and secured. Then we had a quick breakfast of Hostess coffee cakes. We were on the road by 8:00. 

Today we didn't drive too far, 200 miles total. 

The first 85 miles was two lane highways for 20 miles and 65 miles on interstate and a toll road. We stopped at Side Quest Arcade in Garland, TX to play pinball. This is the first time we have been there. It has 26 pinball machines and tons of arcades. They have a snack bar with unlimited theater popcorn and 24 flavors of fountain drinks. It cost $10.99 plus tax for an all day pass to play all the games except for the 40 claws machines that use tokens. We played pinball for an hour. I played Avatar, Star Wars Mandalorian, Godzilla, Demolition Man, Last Action Hero, Jetsons, Dungeons & Dragons, Foo Fighters, Led Zeppelin, Alien, Rob Zombies' Spookshow, Pulp Fiction, Dune, Labyrinth and Hot Wheel. Larry played Foo Fighters, Star Wars Mandalorian, Foo Fighters, Led Zeppelin, Alien, Pulp Fiction, Dune and  Labyrinth. Larry also did an arcade game snow skiing downhill. He couldn't play it long because it's like VR games where he has problems with motion sickness. I tried to play Frankenstein and Harry Potter but they weren't working. We played Valhalla but the left flipper didn't work correctly. Overall Side Quest Arcade games worked good. When you visit Side Quest Arcade be prepared for it being loud. We had a great time.

 

Side Quest Arcade

            

Pulp Fiction

 

Larry snow skiing downhill

 

Valhalla

 

Hot Wheel

 

Avatar

Demolition Man

 

Jetsons

 

Larry playing Led Zeppelin

 

After playing pinball we walked across the street and walked through a Barnes & Nobles Bookstore. We hadn't walked through or seen one in years. They not only sell books and magazines, they also sell cds, records, jigsaw puzzles, children games and more. The store was very open and bright. It was nice to walk through it. I was a surprise to see the cost on some of the books and magazines. I guess Amazon e-books have spoiled me.

Then we walked a few blocks to have lunch at Razzoo's Cajun Cafe. We shared their Cajun Combo Skillet, which had grilled andouille, shrimp creole, crawfish etouffée, red beans, corn  and garlic toast. The waitress was new but very good. She made sure we had water and asked us on occasion if everything was ok. The manager came by to see if everything was ok. The service was great and we were greeted at the door with very friendly employees. We had a delicious meal and we couldn't eat the whole skillet. The decor was very nice.

 

Some of the items hanging from the ceiling

 

The Cajun Combo Skillet

 

After lunch we went back to the Minnie and Larry plugged in our next adventure, which was Lake Whitney State Park. It was located 105 miles from Side Quest Arcade. This part of the drive was mainly interstate and some toll road. We stopped in Hillsboro and filled the Minnie. We had a choice between Buc-ee's and Shell. We decided on shell because no one was there and it was the same price. Then we drove a two lane highway to Lake Whitney State Park, which was 21 miles from Hillsboro. Before going there Larry made a reservation for the night.

This is the first time we have been to Lake Whitney State Park. There's only a couple of short hiking trails so that's probably why. It's also a little out of the way. The office had cute decorations for Halloween in front of the building. While Larry checked in I took a picture of the entrance to the park. It didn't take him long to check-in, he was finished before I got back to the Minnie.

 

Decorations by the ice machine

 

Halloween decorations at the entrance to the office

 

Monarch butterflies flying around the entrance sign

 

After dinner I walked around the campground for 45 minutes for 2.25 miles. I took pictures as I walked. During my walk I walked through White Tail, Star View and Blue Bird. I walked all the way to the day area and turned around and came back. It was starting to dark. By the end of the night I had done 7,500 steps.  

Camping at Lake Whitney on Road Runner Loop

 
   

Fish cleaning shelter

 

Lake Whitney

 

 

Lake Whitney State Park is laid out different than other parks. The camping area has small loops, which are White Tail (52-68), Star View (69-86), Blue Bird (87-98), Road Runner (99-110), Lake View (111-123) and Sunset Ridge (124-129). The bathrooms are across the main road and are shared by a couple of loops. Each site has a fire ring with grill, picnic table, water hookup and 50mph electric hookup. The park has 43 site with full hookups, 31 site with power and water and 63 sites with water. The power sites are 50 amp hookups. Lake Whitney is 775 acres. You can fish on Lake Whitney without a license in the state park. The activities that are available are water activities such as boating, skiing, swimming and fishing, wildlife watching of deer, raccoons, snakes, armadillos and opossums. Occasionally wild turkeys and bald eagles. There is a little hiking and biking on trails.