Thursday, September 20, 2007

A "big D" recap

Just returned from a fantastic 5 days in Dallas. Left on the red-eye flight on Friday night (or is that Saturday morning?) and returned on Wednesday about dinner time.

I suppose I should clarify that I wasn't actually in Dallas because dad and Liz live Northeast of Dallas in a suburb called Fairview. It's a very quiet "town" with no actual town area to speak of. The closest thing to a town near by is McKinney which is very adorable. We spent a nice day there going to a billion tiny "antique" shops the last time I visited.

This time I wasn't the only one heading to their place, Uncle Wayne, Cousin Brandon and Grandpa were also there. I brought Molly with me so that she could meet dad and Liz and visa versa. Wayne and Brandon arrived Friday night and left on Sunday evening.

On Saturday Liz had gotten tickets for all seven of us to go to the Mesquite Championship Rodeo. Highlights: Mutton Bustin' and Barrel Racing. If you've never seen 4, 5, & 6 year olds trying to stay on a sheep then I suggest you get yourself to the next Mutton Bustin' event pardner. It is fantastic!! The kids seem to love it although I'm not so sure the sheep do. And of course the Barrel Racing is just plain amazing. The way those women are able to make their horses cut like that is pure skill.

If there had to be one drawback it would have to be my ridiculous allergies. I'm allergic to nearly every aspect of this type of event. First the dust. It's in an enclosed arena so the dust is a given. The horses/cattle/sheep. Not sure which one of these lovely animals is more aggressive on my nasal passages but holy hell. Then I'm sure there is a large amount of hay around as well. Hay, in case you didn't know, is a grass. This gal is allergic to grass. So the rodeo was a triple threat for me even though I tripled up on my allergy meds in preparation for it. I felt as though I had a hang over the next morning from the whole thing.

Was the rodeo worth it? Yes. Would I go again? Most likely not. I mean if I spent too much time around rodeo arenas I might fall in love with a cowboy and then go broke from the cost of trying to keep my allergies at bay. I will say a fun time was had by all, allergies or not, democrat bashing or not (more on that below).

Trip highlights:
  • There was a point during the event when the rodeo clown attached to the loudspeaker started making jokes about Hillary Clinton and then one about Rosie O'Donnell, to the roaring approval of the crowd. I then turned to Molly and said "These are not my people." Her response "I could never live here."
  • The Trampoline Game. A derivative of Slug-Bug without the hitting. It involves yelling out "TRAMPOLINE" when ever you spot one. Perhaps only fun in Dallas because there are a million and ten of them.
  • Grandpa talking about his time on the USS Boise (CL-47) during WWII.
  • Ping-Pong is so much FUN!
  • Boston Cream Pie is actually Cake, according to the bakery people at Tom Thumb. Either way it's GOOD!

So yet again it was a fantastic trip with dad and Liz! Thank you both for your hospitality and friendship.

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