Dallas Trippin’

So we and about a jillion other Okies hit the road this past Friday morning for Dallas but I’m willing to bet we were the only ones not in pursuit of the Holy Grail of the OU-Texas football game. As fine a Fall morning as you can imagine: crystal blue skies, brisk temperature, the grasses and trees still green though just a blush of color coming on. We picked up Rachel’s buddy and then Emily’s pal and after a quick stop at McDonald’s, were south bound.

We anticipated trouble on the state line but found none; the rumored road repairs had been complete and our early departure had put us ahead of the crimson horde that surely was pressing behind us. We made our first stop – the Grapevine Mills mall in, well, Grapevine, and off everyone went to wherever it is they wanted to go to. Me, I parked myself in the bookstore and browsed and browsed. Clara finished first and we hit the Starbuck’s. We ran into Doug, who works for my office partner, and his grandmother, who was visiting from a small town in Pennsylvania. Odd to come 200 miles to run into someone I see everyday and in a different context, but we had a nice visit; Doug’s grandmother was on her second trip to Texas and was still awed by all the wide open spaces. Good for her.

The girls and the their buddies caught up to us and we moved on. Next stop, The Galleria. Oh, look, they were ready for us: Balloons!

(This was the only shot I got of the trip. You can click here for pictures from our last trip to Dallas back in the Spring.)

A little too pricey for our budget but still a lot of fun to check out. Though the mall lost its book store some time ago and still hasn’t replaced it. What’s up with that? Dinner at The Grand Luxe and, you know, call us spoiled but we kinda think the slightly lower-scaled Cheesecake Factory is better and has more selections. Ah, well, not a bad meal but still, we expected more. Finished up by doing some people-watching while the girls hit their final stores. I inadvertently – honest! – parked myself near the Victoria’s Secret but the pouty-lipped models in their skivvies on the posters drove me to distraction. Why so serious, girls? You’re in your underwear! Except for public speaking, and that’s only in your dreams, nothing really bad happens when you’re in your underwear.

The girls finished and off we went to the hotel in Frisco. The lobby was jammed with giddy Okies but we threaded our way through the crowd up to our room and got settled in. The girls headed out to explore and later hit the pool while Clara and I stayed in and channel-surfed. You know, there’s no lacking of sports channels on hotel cable packages. That and kid’s channels. Do hotels know their customers or what?

The girls got back at a decent hour and we settled in for the night. But at 1:00 a.m, I awoke we some deep central gut pain like I’ve never experienced before. Dang. Tried the usual remedies to rid myself of it – medication, self-gagging, other methods best left undescribed. No luck. About ever 30 seconds I found myself getting up from bed and hitting the bathroom but the pain just. Wouldn’t. Budge. By around 7:00 it was clear that Clara’s advice that I seek out some kind of medical help was pretty sound. I managed to dress, stumble out the door, find the elevator, buy a whoppingly priced tiny bottle of Pepto and did a shot of that, and todder over to the front desk to get directions to the nearest doc-in-the-box. Only four miles away. Oughtta be able to do that. Without barfing? That could be another story.

Got in the car, found my way through the early morning Frisco streets, found the doc-in-the-box had long ago moved but also found a sympathetic manager at the Kroger’s next door who sent me back to another location not far away. Made it in time to find the bathroom and return the earlier shot of Pepto – My, such a bright pink for so early in the morning! They checked me in, got my vitals, took some blood, and with the high white cell count and symptoms determined I’d picked up a nice stomach infection. Some ‘scrips to fill and I’d be fine. Which I’d managed to start doing just laying there waiting to be examined. Great!

Got the ‘scrips filled, found my way back to the hotel – a whole lot easier when not fighting nausea – and managed to make it back by 10:00. Clara and the girls were dressed, fed, and ready for the next mall. Well, all righty then. Had a good laugh at my demise – Rachel had heard some of it and Emily wanted to know who Ralph was and why I kept shouting his name into the toilet. I felt good enough for a few pancakes and then we headed out, none the worse for the wear.

The girls did their shopping, I did my book browsing, and when we were through, we grabbed a snack for the road. Headed out on the Dallas Tollway and picked up a cross highway that would put us back on the Interstate outside of Denton and then we were home free. Crossed into Oklahoma but by then the morning and medications were catching up to me so time for Clara to take over. Another beautiful Fall day, perfect for driving.

Made it home just fine. Dropped off our guests, got the dogs from the in-laws, then headed home. Done. Another journey completed, safe and sound, with only a minor detour. I’d call that pretty good, wouldn’t you?

Fall Break

We’re taking a little Fall break today with an overnight trip to Dallas instead of going to Arkansas as we’d originally planned. (Here’s last year’s trip.) With Rachel’s job at Sonic, our options became much more limited as we tried to plan around her schedule. Dallas is just down the road and we thought, well, we could –

I’m sorry, what’s that? There’s a game in Dallas this weekend? Oh. Who’s playing?

Yeah.

Man, are we doofuses or what? Well, too late now. The hotel’s booked, the friends have been asked, and we’re committed to going, despite the what’s sure to be sheer madness of the OU-Texas game. We’re hopeful an early start will cure the crossing-the-state-line bottleneck that’s only worsened with the road construction on I-35 but, well, what else are we gonna do? At the worst, we’ll be delayed for a while and then we’ll be on our merry way. Our plans won’t take us anywhere near the festivities – we’ll be in Grapevine today and Frisco tonight. It looks to be a beautiful Fall day. A splendid time is just about guaranteed.

I’ll try to post pictures when I can. Look for ‘em here or on Twitter. Or not at all.

Oh, one more thing. No parties in the house while we’re gone. We’ll know and you’ll be in big trouble when we get back.

David Byrne’s Perfect City

Not only do I like it when nutjob rock-n-roll types talk business, I like it when they turn out to be normal people. Okay, maybe David Byrne isn’t a nutjob rock-n-roller but you may still be surprised to find his essay in the Wall Street Journal about what would be his perfect city:

There’s an old joke that you know you’re in heaven if the cooks are Italian and the engineering is German. If it’s the other way around you’re in hell. In an attempt to conjure up a perfect city, I imagine a place that is a mash-up of the best qualities of a host of cities. The permutations are endless. Maybe I’d take the nightlife of New York in a setting like Sydney’s with bars like those in Barcelona and cuisine from Singapore served in outdoor restaurants like those in Mexico City. Or I could layer the sense of humor in Spain over the civic accommodation and elegance of Kyoto. Of course, it’s not really possible to cherry pick like this—mainly because a city’s qualities cannot thrive out of context. A place’s cuisine and architecture and language are all somehow interwoven. But one can dream.

Epcot’s a perfect city for me but that shows you how out of touch I am. The one time I’ve been to New York tells me that might make a good second choice, if I could afford to live there. Ditto for Washington D.C. But maybe I should just be happy where I am. OKC has a lot going for it.

Byrne is also an avid bicycler and has a book coming out about that. You may also like his online journal. I first came across, and was utterly charmed by, it about two years ago when he was writing about the most normal of occasions for a father: taking his daughter on a cross-country driving trip to college. One of his stops was Dollywood and he wrote extensively, and honestly, about Dolly Parton’s influence on pop music. Really. Of course, he takes the usual lefty jabs on occasion but, well, what are you gonna do? Skip over that stuff if it bothers you; you’ll find something else you’ll like, I’m sure.

Anyway. Rock-n-rollers acting like normal folk. I can dig it.

>Kansas City Train Station

>In Lileks’ latest installment of his 100 Mysteries series, he has a screen grab of the Kansas City train station and correctly notes that today it’s a museum:

A slight correction, though. It’s a children’s museum, one of the finest we’ve taken the girls to. (Though the Jasmine Moran in Seminole is probably the best of the ones we’ve been to and we’ve been to a few.)

Good to see the place in a noir movie.

Kansas City Train Station

In Lileks’ latest installment of his 100 Mysteries series, he has a screen grab of the Kansas City train station and correctly notes that today it’s a museum:

A slight correction, though. It’s a children’s museum, one of the finest we’ve taken the girls to. (Though the Jasmine Moran in Seminole is probably the best of the ones we’ve been to and we’ve been to a few.)

Good to see the place in a noir movie.

>Tracy and Hemingay and San Sebastian, Spain

>Speaking of glomming onto the travel pictures of relatives, our niece, Tracy, is traveling in Spain for “school.” Yeah, I know. But she’s having a grand time and we can only look on in envy.

One of her stops: San Sebastian:

“We have got the loveliest hotel,” Mike said. “I think it’s a brothel.”
“We left our bags here at the Dingo when we got in and they asked us at this hotel if we wanted a room for the afternoon only. Seemed frightfully pleased we were going to stay all night.”
“I believe it’s a brothel,” Mike said. “And I should know.”
“Oh, shut it and go and get your hair cut.”
Mike went out. Brett and I sat at the bar.
“Have another?
“Might.”
“I needed that,” Brett said.
We walked up the Rue Delambre.
“I haven’t seen you since I’ve been back,” Brett said.
“No.”
“How are you, Jake?”
“Fine.”
Brett looked at me. “I say,” she said, “is Robert Cohn going on this trip?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Don’t you think it will be a bit rough on him?”
“Why should it?”
“Who did you think I went down to San Sebastian with?”

Ernest Hemingway, “The Sun Also Rises”

Tracy and Hemingay and San Sebastian, Spain

Speaking of glomming onto the travel pictures of relatives, our niece, Tracy, is traveling in Spain for “school.” Yeah, I know. But she’s having a grand time and we can only look on in envy.

One of her stops: San Sebastian:

“We have got the loveliest hotel,” Mike said. “I think it’s a brothel.”
“We left our bags here at the Dingo when we got in and they asked us at this hotel if we wanted a room for the afternoon only. Seemed frightfully pleased we were going to stay all night.”
“I believe it’s a brothel,” Mike said. “And I should know.”
“Oh, shut it and go and get your hair cut.”
Mike went out. Brett and I sat at the bar.
“Have another?
“Might.”
“I needed that,” Brett said.
We walked up the Rue Delambre.
“I haven’t seen you since I’ve been back,” Brett said.
“No.”
“How are you, Jake?”
“Fine.”
Brett looked at me. “I say,” she said, “is Robert Cohn going on this trip?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Don’t you think it will be a bit rough on him?”
“Why should it?”
“Who did you think I went down to San Sebastian with?”

Ernest Hemingway, “The Sun Also Rises”

>Never Been to Spain

>But our niece is going. E-mail last night from Aunt Cindy to tell us her daughter, Tracy, has begun her travels to Spain for her summer semester of studying abroad. I won’t link to Tracy’s online journal without her permission but shout she post any interesting photographs, you can be sure I’ll shamelessly steal them for my blog.

Tracy will do well; she’s smart, self-assured, raised well. Should be quite an adventure. Look forward to living vicariously through her postings.

Never Been to Spain

But our niece is going. E-mail last night from Aunt Cindy to tell us her daughter, Tracy, has begun her travels to Spain for her summer semester of studying abroad. I won’t link to Tracy’s online journal without her permission but shout she post any interesting photographs, you can be sure I’ll shamelessly steal them for my blog.

Tracy will do well; she’s smart, self-assured, raised well. Should be quite an adventure. Look forward to living vicariously through her postings.

Fall in Northwest Arkansas

After Rachel headed out on Friday morning, we gathered our stuff and Mack and Helen and headed out ourselves to Northwest Arkansas and the War Eagle Craft Fair. Beautiful fall day for travel, sunny and cool. We stopped in for breakfast at the Waffle House and then hit the road.

Only a three hour drive and no mishaps. Easy. Met up with Mark and Teri and the fine time commenced to be finer. We lucked out and had adjoining rooms which turned out to be much nicer than the one Mark and Teri had left in Branson. (They’d been making a tour of Eureka Springs and Branson for the last several days and this was their last stop before heading home.) We got caught up with one another then ran out for a bite at Mimi’s Cafe down on the Promenade Parkway. Delish. Back to the room, then, and we called it a night.

Saturday dawned bright and beautiful. All you can eat breakfast in the lobby and then out to the twisty, turny highway to the Craft Fair. We were earlier than we had been in years prior so the traffic wasn’t bad but we still had to park rather far out; we dropped off the ol’ folks at where it all started, parked, and then hiked back and made plans. We’d go our separate ways and catch up with each other later.

Clara had the camera so I had to use my Blackberry. I took shot of, well, nothing it turns out:

I was holding my phone high above my head to get a downward shot of Emily but she dodged out of the way. That’s her ponytail – and part of my forehead – in the lower left hand corner of the shot.

Let’s try that again:

Ah, much better. More what I’d intended at least. A beaming Emily and a serious Clara shopping in the bright Fall morning, with the crowd shuffling by in the back.

We finished up, met across the river, and camped out in the canvas chairs we schlepped back from our car. Enjoyed the day, and the company, had a something to eat and drink, and then people-watched until it was time to go.

Back to the room. Dinner at Red Robin. Another hit. Then back to the room for good. We’d rented 3:10 to Yuma for Mack and Helen since they hadn’t seen it before and both pronounced it good. Clara had her time with her Russell Crowe so I’d say that was a pretty good ending for a perfect day, wouldn’t you?

Back to home the next day. Mark and Teri were up ahead of us and hit the road before we sat down to eat. We weren’t far behind and we rolled back into our driveway by 2:00.

A short, but wonderful trip. Best to grab these days while you can.

Fall in Northwest Arkansas

After Rachel headed out on Friday morning, we gathered our stuff and Mack and Helen and headed out ourselves to Northwest Arkansas and the War Eagle Craft Fair. Beautiful fall day for travel, sunny and cool. We stopped in for breakfast at the Waffle House and then hit the road.

Only a three hour drive and no mishaps. Easy. Met up with Mark and Teri and the fine time commenced to be finer. We lucked out and had adjoining rooms which turned out to be much nicer than the one Mark and Teri had left in Branson. (They’d been making a tour of Eureka Springs and Branson for the last several days and this was their last stop before heading home.) We got caught up with one another then ran out for a bite at Mimi’s Cafe down on the Promenade Parkway. Delish. Back to the room, then, and we called it a night.

Saturday dawned bright and beautiful. All you can eat breakfast in the lobby and then out to the twisty, turny highway to the Craft Fair. We were earlier than we had been in years prior so the traffic wasn’t bad but we still had to park rather far out; we dropped off the ol’ folks at where it all started, parked, and then hiked back and made plans. We’d go our separate ways and catch up with each other later.

Clara had the camera so I had to use my Blackberry. I took shot of, well, nothing it turns out:

I was holding my phone high above my head to get a downward shot of Emily but she dodged out of the way. That’s her ponytail – and part of my forehead – in the lower left hand corner of the shot.

Let’s try that again:

Ah, much better. More what I’d intended at least. A beaming Emily and a serious Clara shopping in the bright Fall morning, with the crowd shuffling by in the back.

We finished up, met across the river, and camped out in the canvas chairs we schlepped back from our car. Enjoyed the day, and the company, had a something to eat and drink, and then people-watched until it was time to go.

Back to the room. Dinner at Red Robin. Another hit. Then back to the room for good. We’d rented 3:10 to Yuma for Mack and Helen since they hadn’t seen it before and both pronounced it good. Clara had her time with her Russell Crowe so I’d say that was a pretty good ending for a perfect day, wouldn’t you?

Back to home the next day. Mark and Teri were up ahead of us and hit the road before we sat down to eat. We weren’t far behind and we rolled back into our driveway by 2:00.

A short, but wonderful trip. Best to grab these days while you can.

Fall in Northwest Arkansas

After Rachel headed out on Friday morning, we gathered our stuff and Mack and Helen and headed out ourselves to Northwest Arkansas and the War Eagle Craft Fair. Beautiful fall day for travel, sunny and cool. We stopped in for breakfast at the Waffle House and then hit the road.

Only a three hour drive and no mishaps. Easy. Met up with Mark and Teri and the fine time commenced to be finer. We lucked out and had adjoining rooms which turned out to be much nicer than the one Mark and Teri had left in Branson. (They’d been making a tour of Eureka Springs and Branson for the last several days and this was their last stop before heading home.) We got caught up with one another then ran out for a bite at Mimi’s Cafe down on the Promenade Parkway. Delish. Back to the room, then, and we called it a night.

Saturday dawned bright and beautiful. All you can eat breakfast in the lobby and then out to the twisty, turny highway to the Craft Fair. We were earlier than we had been in years prior so the traffic wasn’t bad but we still had to park rather far out; we dropped off the ol’ folks at where it all started, parked, and then hiked back and made plans. We’d go our separate ways and catch up with each other later.

Clara had the camera so I had to use my Blackberry. I took shot of, well, nothing it turns out:

I was holding my phone high above my head to get a downward shot of Emily but she dodged out of the way. That’s her ponytail – and part of my forehead – in the lower left hand corner of the shot.

Let’s try that again:

Ah, much better. More what I’d intended at least. A beaming Emily and a serious Clara shopping in the bright Fall morning, with the crowd shuffling by in the back.

We finished up, met across the river, and camped out in the canvas chairs we schlepped back from our car. Enjoyed the day, and the company, had a something to eat and drink, and then people-watched until it was time to go.

Back to the room. Dinner at Red Robin. Another hit. Then back to the room for good. We’d rented 3:10 to Yuma for Mack and Helen since they hadn’t seen it before and both pronounced it good. Clara had her time with her Russell Crowe so I’d say that was a pretty good ending for a perfect day, wouldn’t you?

Back to home the next day. Mark and Teri were up ahead of us and hit the road before we sat down to eat. We weren’t far behind and we rolled back into our driveway by 2:00.

A short, but wonderful trip. Best to grab these days while you can.