Perfect weather for the end of a perfect holiday

Sunday 30th November to Monday 1st December 2014

Sam awoke this morning feeling well less than 100% - she was pretty tired and the sniffles that she had had over the past few days was starting to develop into something a bit more serious, so she decided that she could do with a more relaxing day.
As our agenda for the day was a visit to the Dallas Aboretum, it was probably not going to be an enthralling day for her and she would be flying the following day and it would be best in the long run to rest up - she did take it easy for the day.

Diane's directions for the drive meant that we found it without any problems - we arrived just a few minutes before Sara, Judy and Dede turned up - all looking truly lovely - it just runs in the family.

With the benefit of Dean/Jim's membership and also Judy's we were able to get in for free - nice!
 

Outside the Arboretum

The Arboretum had spent a great deal of time and money on their christmas theme - the 12 days of Christmas - someone had mentioned afigure of $2 million.

The weather was simply superb - sunny and no wind.

A partridge in a pear tree...

Three french hens - in the background ....
in the foreground it is NOT the four calling birds or even two lots of Turtle Doves.

Six Geese-a-laying....

Seven swans-a-swimming

from left Sara, her aunt Judy, Diane and DeDe

We did the full circuit of the park and thoroughly enjoyed it all - having such a great day in the process.

Nine ladies dancing ... and one extra in front

Eleven pipers piping

Twelve drummers drumming

Santa photo is done for this year

We drove Sara and Dede back to Jim and Dean's house where they were staying the night, and Sara convinced Dean that he needed to join with her, Diane and I for dinner at a local restaurant famous for their lobsters and other dishes - Lefties.

So we were off and out again and I was pretty impressed with the whole meal from the lobster bisque starter to main course - Diane and Sara certainly enjoyed their lobsters - and the price was very reasonable indeed.

Monday started very early - at around 4:15am - Sam had an early flight out at 6:15am from Dallas Love Field and whilst it was close and little or no traffic expected, we still needed to be there an hour before hand and make sure that everything was packed.
One daughter dropped of on time and back to Diane, who by this time was awake and mentally preparing for our packing which would take place after we had had breakfast.
We actually managed to get it all in the cases - total weight was only 79kgs - less than what we had brought with us.

With that all done we ventured out for bag tags and a couple of little things, and also headed into uptown Dallas where we found the M-Line Trolley car and had a trip around on that - it a refurbished tramcar which used to be part of the tramway system in Dallas until 1956 and is now operated by volunteers as a regular service 7 days a week - and all completely free.

It was pleasing to find out that the electrical system was provided by the tramways system in Melbourne.

M-Line Trolley car coming to the end of the line.
The wooden planked area is a turntable.

Also had a wander around the arts precinct of Dallas - looks interesting but being a Monday the galleries were all closed.

Looking out over the Woodall-Rogers freeway heading west -
traffic is light compared to the evening rush

This is How to Build Xmas Tree 101 - Step 1 is the frame

Step 2 is the branches and decorations

Diane at play with her toy soldiers - again!

Not only do you get fit but you also get religion and a coffee

We managed to make it back in time for a call from Sara suggesting a last get-together with her and Mike in the late afternoon.

The sun had well set when we were heading towards Dallas and a drink at the Hilton.

We wandered around the ground floor trying to catch an elevator up the bar on the 27th floor only to be told that it was closed on Mondays - we all thought it was unusual for a hotel of the importance of Hilton.
Anyway we managed to somehow find a person who allowed us to take a look at the views of the Dallas night skyline from the deserted restaurant.
 

The lights of Dallas

Not wanting to overstay our good fortune we headed down and cheekily made our way into the Christmas Sparkle display and setup in the hotel - asking if we could just have a bit of a peek before deciding to part with any money for the privilege.
 

The blocks in the background are from the Berlin Wall

It wasn't a case of how big was the fish that got away - Sara
and Diane were amazed at how much we were talking - and they
are usually the title holders for doing that.

Further around from here we did finally find a bar for a drink and some snacks and some serious discussions relating to all sorts of topics, but mainly about boats. We may have to install another bedroom extension on the boat - Mike is pretty keen about a visit.

Diane has developed a taste for ice-cream but it has to be the soft-serve Dairy Queen variety and Mike catered to her desires by driving to the nearest open DQ he could find, which must have been about 10 miles away - thank you Mike.
I have to say that I enjoy it as well.

They're famous for turning it upside down to show
how thick it is - it won't flow out.

After Mike and Sara dropped us off at our unit we just about fell into bed after another long day - a last day in Dallas for the present trip - we were flying out tomorrow.

Black Friday and Beyond

Friday 28th November to Saturday 29th November 2014

In Australia, the Boxing Day Sales are when the biggest bargains are given by the department stores - in America it is the day after Thanksgiving when these happen - it is known across the country as Black Friday.
In some stores however the sales start at 6 pm on Thanksgiving; there are people who camp out and sleep out in order to get the best bargains - not for these little black ducks.
 

This young fellow was out pretty early

Most stores open at 10am, so we headed off about 7:30am to be able to initially pickup our new glasses - Sam and Diane also wanted to part of the buying extravaganza - for me, I am happy to sit down and watch.

We arrived at the mall - an almost empty carpark awaited - that was good - we were ahead of all of the crazies.

Diane and I headed to get our glasses; Sam headed elsewhere to some of the stores that were open and where she wanted to visit. Agreement reached on time and place to meet up.

VisionPlus was found - just on 7:50am but Macy's was already open so we had a look around in there and bought some things that we had agreed upon - that done and we were out of there.
Walked into get our glasses - the store was empty and about 20 minutes later we were equipped and we were both looking much better.

When we had first walked in there were very few people around; now when we reappeared into the general concourse area the crowds were building, but it was time to meet up with Sam at the Starbucks - the line of people out the door was a testimony to the power of caffeine.
Fortunately for Diane, at the end of the line, she spotted Sam, who was 2nd in line, so it was a simple matter of Sam adding two more coffees to her order and some money changing hands for the total order - easy as bro'.

For me, I just had to find a table outside and hook up to the wi-fi to update the blog - not much of a problem - err, I mean, it was a very dangerous job having to throw others out of the way and away from a table that they wanted as well.

The joys of caffeine in system - the stimulation and relaxation all in one - and that was just the outward effect on Diane and Sam.
I got finished what I needed to do; Sam borrowed the laptop after that for her needs.

After all of that it was a bit blurred really; the crowds had grown again; Diane and Sam wanted to see a few more shops; I found places to sit and wait - alongside other men in the same predicament as I was in - we get to wait and guard the treasures already purchased.

Having finished reinvigorating the entire economy of Dallas we dropped by Dean's house to pick up Sara, after which we headed to downtown Dallas - we wanted to checkout The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

Like our hotel this early settlers cabin didn't have good internet
either

We had already had the good oil on where to park - just behind it at just $5 for the day - we went up to investigate - firstly there was a queue to purchase the tickets and you also received a time for us to reappear and queue up to get admission - someone mentioned lunch and Sara and Sam were off in search of chicken wings - the place in mind was closed so it was Italian as a 2nd choice.

The museum was well worth the time, money and effort and gave a terrific explanation of the events of that day in Dallas over 50 years ago - both before, during and after.
It was an audio tour which meant that you could do it all at your own pace; it gave you time to go through all of the displays.

Sara had not seen all of this before; as someone who still remembers when I heard what had happened and learned more about after the event, it gave a full perspective on all of it.

With such another full day under our belts we returned Sara back to Dean and Jim and were sad not to be able to spend some time with them for a drink but we were all feeling the effects of another early start and a full day being out and about,but we did agree to share some wine with them the following night.

Saturday arrived and we did have a bit of a sleep-in-at least until 8am - Sam declined the chance to get out of bed and had a bit more in bed - lazy thing that she is.

We had another day planned which involved more injection of cash into the economy, but at least for today it was just going to be the girls together and as for Mike and I we were going to head off and have a couple of beers together and not have to worry about the women at all.

Firstly though there was a bit of a trek out to the satellite town of Allen and lunch at one of Sara's, and Mike's, and it seems Mitch's favourite places for food - Big Ray's BBQ.
That would be another Big Ray - who it turns out is a good friend of Mike's with their sons playing high school basketball together - and he was, as usual apparently, there in person - Mike introduced us - a really nice guy.

Lunch was, as we have found everywhere we have been, excellent. Although I do not eat red meat, the alternative choices were very good. Sara and Sam were pleased with their selections.

Afterwards the girls headed off in Mike's truck and we two guys were in the car. We had a good tour around the area including the local high school where Mike's two sons - Matt and Luke attended - the school proudly boasts a 20,000 seater football stadium as well as a great sporting precinct.

Further on we dropped by one of Mike's investments - a large mini-office complex where tenants have all of the advantages of a large-scale office complex without the associated costs - have to say I was impressed with both the concept and the implementation.

After this it was time for a drink and some serious chatting - well almost serious and some delving into our histories.
We only had a couple of beers each, much to the frustration of our waitress, but there was too much talking to incorporate a lot of drinking as well.

Arrangements were made for dinner at a local eatery called BJ's - their speciality being pizza and I have to say it was pretty damn good - one of the best I have ever had anywhere.
We drove Sara back to see Dean and Jim and this time we were able to have a relaxing drink with both - it is easy to see, as we already knew by now, why everyone in the family finds them such lovely people.
They are both engaging, knowledgeable and and just plain nice.
 

Sara with her favourite uncles - Jim and Dean

I think we can now say that we have a perfect record of 5-0; 5 days of early starts and late finishes - but we are enjoying our time in Dallas immensely.

Thanksgiving

Thursday 27th November 2014

This is the most precious of holidays to Americans.
The chance for families to get together and give thanks for everything that they have - most especially their family.

We were invited to attend the Thanksgiving Day celebrations with Sara's family - on her mother's side and we think we can remember just about everyone who was there.
It was a chance for Sara to see all of her family - on that side - she had not seen them since she and Mitch had returned to Australia back in January this year.

Everyone had hoped that in addition to everyone else, that Mitch would have been there as well - he was well accepted into the family when he was here in 2012 for Thanksgiving.
Alas it was not to be, but hopefully it will not be too long before he can get his visa for the US and start his life with Sara in this country.

The celebration's for the day were to held at the house of the person that we only knew as Uncle Dean - in fact he is Sara's uncle.
He and patrner Jim live pretty much central to most of the family they have a house large enough to accommodate everyone.
 

Jim and Dean - two nicer people would be hard to find

I don't think that we could have been made to feel any more part of the family than we were on this day and in a very genuine way. It seems that there is some type of similarity in looks between Mitch and I - the comment came through very often - all asked after him and were disappointed that he was not present.

We have heard about the notoriously plentiful amounts of food that are served at gatherings such as this and I can report that this is all true based on this experience.

All types of different dishes kept on appearing, in addition to the traditional turkey which was superbly cooked courtesy of either Jim or Dean (or perhaps both).

After the saying of grace it was all plates in for the food - but in a very orderly manner. All of the dishes that we sampled were very delicious and without a bit of willpower we could have eaten quite a deal more - but that would have left nothing for any of the lovely desserts that were ready after the main part of the meal.

The highlight of Thanksgiving in Dallas is the traditional Cowboys game - we had seen the preparations taking place outside the stadium the day before, but now it was time for the game - this time they were facing the Philadelphia Eagles, with whom they shared 1st place in their division.
Sadly for all of those present the Eagles managed to take the game by a significant margin, but the Cowboys are still a big chance for the playoffs.

Almost as soon as this game was over, there was another game on TV - this time being a local college game between traditional rivals TCU and Texas.

I did spend a fair amount of time talking to Dean during the day and thanking both he and Jim for making us feel so welcome; as well I did chat for quite a while with Beau (married to one of Sara's cousins - Ami) - he has a fascination for rugby, Australian Rules and in a small way, cricket - not really a gridiron fan - but he was a fan of Jack Daniels, but had a great time with him and a really nice guy.

In fact you would be hardpressed to find fault with anyone during the day.

A comment was made that there was some resemblance between me and uncle Phil - must have been the beard and hair (both greying), the glasses and of course, the ruggedly handsome faces - I can see why Phil was chuffed about that.

The hour was getting along when we finally left - apparently it was one of the latest finishes for a Thanksgiving Day for the family in quite a while - we certainly enjoyed the day.


Thank you to all for such a great day and Mitch will be here with Sara for the next one!

An Introduction to Dallas

Tuesday 25th November to Wednesday 26th November 2014

It would seem logical to most people that after such a long plane trip across so many time zones that a little bit of rest would be the order of the day - at least that was what I assumed was part of the plan for the day, but I hadn't included mother and daughter together and the lure of shopping in not only a different city but a different country.

The words seemed to come out like "we will go out for a bit of a drive and see a bit of Dallas  and then come back for a bit of a rest before we go out tonight".
We had already made plans to have dinner with Sara and her dad, Mike and then go to see the Dallas Stars v Edmonton Oilers hockey game. They were going to drop by at 5:15pm.

So after breakfast we headed off towards Dallas; the traffic was a bit heavy on the freeway into the city so we turned off and found our way around to the southern side and from there the navigators decided that we could park and have a stroll around.
 

The First Baptist Church of Texas - not even the purple shiny
stuff could convince Diane to attend

The beginning of Dallas - no mention of JR however

It may have been the birthplace, but today it has fame for other reasons

JFK was assassinated in Dealey Plaza and there are many many
tourists around - especially behind the grassy knoll

Directly behind these two beauties and across the road is the
grassy knoll

Parking spot located; enough change found to give us a couple of hours; off we walked with a rough idea of where we were heading.
Whilst it was sunny, the air was quite cold and when in the shade it was only the air temperature that we had.

There is a quite extensive light rail (tram) system here and we haven't, as yet, used it; along the way we found maps designed to help people unfamiliar with the city to find their way around and from one of these we headed south towards the tourist information office.
We found the office and in the process we realised that we were directly across from Dealey Plaza - the location of the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. A memorial has been erected and information about that fateful day carefully laid out so that you can easily understand the basics of what happened and where.

Diane decided that she would tempt Dallas traffic and stand in the location of the impact of the fatal shot - which is clearly marked on the road.

Timing dictated that we needed to return to the car before we had it towed away.

X always marks the spot - in this case the location when the bullet
hit the President

It was sometime during this walk back to the car that I believe that the conspiracy was hatched between the two of them - Diane and Sam conniving to have me drive them somewhere other than back to the apartment - their plan to do some shopping.

Confronted with the fait accomplii I was left with no option but to drive.

Stopping and parking at Highland Park Mall we had the obligatory Starbucks coffee - a brief prelude to the main event.

Onward we went towards Galleria Mall and lunch was included somewhere in there.

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..." -
especially the Visa card statement

The shopping bags laden with their goodies weighed heavily on the walk back to the car, so heavy in fact that additional transport was contemplated.

We headed back a bit after 4pm without thinking really that much about the time - at least  not until we hit the traffic - a bit of bumper to bumper stuff and it seemed to be on every road we took.
Somehow, and I am not sure how, we made it back at 5:13pm - about 3 minutes later Sara and Mike were knocking on the door. So much for a bit of a restful afternoon.

Sara had been waiting quite a while to have us meet her family and Mike (her dad) was first.
Just like his daughter, Mike is an outgoing kind of person and very personable - someone who you would find difficult not to like.
We headed into Dallas and found the restaurant El Fenix - a TexMex place and we have to say that the food was really good. Wouldn't mind going back there again sometime - Thanks Mike for a truly lovely meal.
 

Sara's dad - Mike and myself with Sara

Sam and Diane

Sam had already ordered and paid for the tickets for the game, so she and Mike headed off to get them whilst the Sara, Diane and I waited at the entrance.
A lot of fans for the Stars were there, as you would expect; not so many for the Oilers.

The only other US sporting event that I had seen live was a basketball game in Detroit, over 30 years ago, but I do enjoy hockey from the few games that Sam and I have seen in Melbourne.

It is a bit more high-energy charged than what I had seen before but it was a great spectacle and end-to-end action; interspersed with the cheerleaders doing their thing and the "ice-girls" clearing the loose ice away.

Hockey is one of those sports where not a lot of goals are scored and those that are usually come totally unexpectedly - thankfully there are the replay screens.

just a few of the regular fans

In the end Stars won the game 3-2 and the home crowd was happy - as were we with the experience.

Mike kindly dropped us back at our apartment and we were asleep in double-quick time after a first up day in Dallas.

The following day Sara had made plans for us to meet her mother and step-dad who live in Fort Worth - about 30 miles away.
Before that however we wanted to find a optical prescription maker who might be able make new glasses for both Diane and I - we had had our eyes tested prior to leaving Australia in the anticipation that glasses would be cheaper in the US and that we could get them in time before we left.
After a couple of tries and a couple of malls we found VisionPlus who were able to make them and be ready the same day - we wouldn't be able to pick them up until Friday as we were out for the rest of the day and Thursday they were closed.
So we paid for them and would see them on Friday when they opened at 8am.

Mike dropped Sara off with us - there seemed to be a bit of a smile on his face - this time perhaps in anticipation of a peaceful day.

We headed off down Interstate 35 towards Dallas and just half way there we needed to turn off this road due to heavy traffic and managed to find our way around to the highway heading towards Fort Worth.

Along the way we came off for a close up view of the Dallas Cowboys stadium - which is huge structure with a retractable roof and capable of seating 80,000 spectators - we were mighty impressed with it and it was of a comparable size to our own MCG - albeit that the 'G doesn't have a roof, yet.

I am not sure what I expected on the drive between the two towns/cities - I guess that it might have been a bit more countryfied but there is a lot of development - both business-wise and also residential.

Downtown Fort Worth appears in the distance as we reach the city limits; the profusion of freeways remains for same for this town as they do elsewhere - the exits and signs still remain a bit confusing to someone not used to this level of signage. I would imagine that as time goes by it would be clearer and probably would help if I had a better idea of exactly where I needed to go.
The situation, I guess, is the same in all cities/towns across America for anyone travelling from out-of-town.

The amount of road works being undertaken in both Dallas and Fort Worth doesn't help either, but the positive side of this is the improvements being put into place.

We pulled up at the house of Sara's mum and went inside to meet Dede - she is a lovely woman and it is easy to see from where Sara has inherited her beauty.
The house is where Dede grew up as a young girl with her two sisters, Mimi and Judy and brother, Dean.

We popped out for some lunch and then drove into downtown Fort Worth to visit the Water Gardens - a haven within the centre of town on a 4 acre site where anyone can come and sit and escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life - a place to sit and relax.

Easy to see where the beauty comes from - Sara with her mum

We did feel the effect of the gardens but we needed to carry on down to the historic Stockyards.
Fort Worth grew up as a cattle town - the railhead was here and it was to Fort Worth that the great cattle drives of 19th century south-western USA headed for the cattle to be shipped north-east to the more lucrative markets.
FW grew much more quickly than the nearby rival of Dallas and it wasn't until Dallas became a banking/economic centre that it started to outgrow and later overtake FW and became the larger city that it is today.

Fort Worth has retained it's town charm and retained a fair degree of being much more relaxed.
The Stockyards enhance this and to take advantage of this area there are many tourist attractions that relate to that time, but also restaurants building upon the unique Texan cuisine; the style of Texan outfitting; and the Texan history.

not quite Texas longhorns yet - but don't give up girls - you can
still be cows

It was so obviously touristy, but also so obviously delightful that it is hard to resist.

Apparently a trip to this area is not complete without a visit to Billy Bob's Texas Bar B Que and have a drink here as well; a look at the indoor bull-riding ring; and take a few photos as well.

The indoor bull-riding ring

We were joined by Dede's husband Faarn, who is South African by birth but now almost an American citizen - he is just about to undertake the final process to finalise this.

We decided upon dinner at Riscky's BBQ - enjoying more of the cuisine from this area of the US - I am beginning to think that there is something obsessive about BBQ and beef for Texans.

As usual the meals were all delicious; well presented; and excellent service.

It was time for us to start heading back home and we are very grateful to Faarn for leading us back to the Interstate 30 - there is almost no way that we could have found our way there.

Diane did her thing on the trip back and found a shortcut which saved driving all of the way into Dallas and then come back out again.

I think the early starts and late nights is starting to have its toll on us - all three of just managed to fall into our beds and none could remember much after that.

We are extremely appreciative to all of Sara's family whom we have met so far for their friendliness and really making us feel very welcome - but there was more to come.