A Dallas getaway!

Spencer had some work training in Dallas of all places for a few days and it eventually worked out so I could go with him.  He served his mission there 15 years ago so really how could we not both go and check out the area again and turn his work training into a mini reunion, getaway and some fun!

When we left Edmonton we left this:

I can't say that I was sorry to leave this for the beautiful temperatures in Dallas and we did have nice weather around 25 degrees.  Nothing but sun and brownish grass.  

Then we flew in DFW airport.  I was so nervous about having to separate from Spencer for 3 days and having to drive on the roads down there and staying with people that I didn't know.  Thank goodness that it all worked out and we both got to enjoy ourselves.

This are the Wangs (pronounced Wong).

 

It took a little while for my ride to show up and then Spencer went his way and I went mine.  We stayed with some Chinese friends that Spencer knew on his mission.  So the wife (Sister Wang) can with me to pick up our rental car and drive back to her place with me.  It was dark and thankfully not too busy on the road.  We also had the help of a GPS unit to guide us. 

This is the house where we stayed.  All the houses in the sub-burbs are like this....no basements so everything is above ground.  Everything truly is bigger in Texas. 

Here is our rental car.

These are the roads that I was driving on.  The drivers were all really good and polite;  You drive way FASTER than I'm used to.  But in the end I felt pretty confident in getting around (with the help of the GPS of course).  Atleast I didn't have to contend with snowy roads, too!

Here is our rental car.  It was pretty nice, leather heated seats.  I still can't figure that one out...not in Texas anyways.  I would love that option in Edmonton though. 

It was nice to be able and sleep in and not have any responsibilities or worrys that accompany parenthood.  Grandma and Grandpa Ord were able to watch our children and from the report that I still keep receiving from my children they had a wonderful time and did some fun things.  I hope that the kids will always be able to remember the special one on one time that they were able to have with their grandparents.

 

Apparently Texas has the most shopping per capita in the United States.  I think I just might have discovered that for myself.  I visited a lot of stores; outlet malls, strip malls, costco, regular malls, quaint little "town" type shopping areas, fancy malls.  After you've seen one you've seen them all.  The stores start to repeat themselves and I wasn't finding things for that great US price.  So I didn't purchase hardly anything. 

 

I was able to meet up with Spencer on Tuesday night at Southlake Town Square, which has and looks like a quaint little town but is it all shopping.  We had dinner together and got caught up.  Then he went back to Deloitte University and I went back to where I was staying.  I arrived early at this shopping area and tried to call Spencer but my old cell phone didn't work in the US so I had no way of contacting him to find out when he would be arriving.  I tried to look through the stores but was getting worried and frustrated.  I waited and waited and was almost ready to give up and drive back when I saw two large tour buses pull up and I knew that he was on one of those.  So I went to where everyone was getting dropped off and as soon as I saw him come off the bus got teary eyed.  I was so relieved to see him!  We had a nice night together. 

This is a portion of what southlake town looks like at Christmas time. 

 This is where we ate at.  The food always more than filled us up and we usually had enough for leftovers the next day.

 We went on a short carriage ride together. 

Here is an artified long horn steer that Texas is famous for. 

On Wednesday morning I went to the temple for a session. I can add that to my list of temples I've attended; which is now at an impressive 7.  I had an episode of thinking that I had brought my expired recommend and couldn't go but as everyone knows the recommend expires 2 years from the date that it was issued.  So it turns out that I was ok. 

 This day was super nice.  Here is an outside picture. 

 Some fountains and flowers.

Some side details of the temple. 

Here is the bark of a tree on the temple grounds.  Smooth...but hiding on it was a gecko.  Neato!

 How do you know that it is Christmas in a land where they very seldom get snow?  You see randomly decorated trees at shopping areas and on the side of busy roads. 

Here is a house in the same neighbourhood that decorated thier bushes out front...see the pointsetta flowers and the holly?  I think I have to say that I love the four seasons that we get in Canada.  The cold winter one could be a little shorter and maybe not so cold. 

 

On Thursday Nov. 22 we went into downtown Dallas and visited the JFK Museum.  This is the building where the shooter (Lee Harvey Oswald) shot JFK from. He was shot from the 6th floor of this building so on the sixth floor they turned it into a museum.  It was very good.  An audio tour of the the life and history of JFK and his rise to President of the United States.  Details of his death, the investigation, funeral, conspiracy theories, legacy.  If you can see if from the above picture there are two white X's on the road those are the points at which he was shot at. 

 

 

This is a replica of the building that was used in a movie and then donated to the museum.  6th floor on the right side was the window.  That same day on the grassy knoll there was a bit of a memorial going on and people talking about different conspiracy theories.  Of course we checked out what all the excitement was about. 

 

After all the JFK excitement.  We went on what I think our highlight of the trip.  A chance to go back and visit Spencer's mission area.  This is the one of the apartments that Spencer lived in.  He was so excited to see it again.  All the streets came back to him and we drove around.  A lot has changed in the 15 years since his mission days.  But he said this particular apartment building hadn't. 

This is the door to the apartment.  I can attest that it smelled chinese.  It actually reminded me of Taiwan a litlle bit. 

 

 Here is the courtyard of the complex.
 In one area there was an incredibly big church that the missionaries called the death star, we drove to find it and it has since been turned into a rather large school with a new addition. 

 Okay so another highlight was the chance to meet up with our good friends the Joneses.  We met while going to school at Purdue in Indiana.  They are living in the Dallas area.  Who would fly over 2000 miles and not get together....not me!  We had a nice breakfast together and then they guided us back to the airport to catch our plane.  My only complaint was that of course it wasn't a long enough visit.  Maybe in another 7 years we can meet up in Canada or better yet have a Purdue Reunion. 

Finally here is Spencer on the plane ride home.  Poor guy he gave me the window seats on the way down and then going home he got stuck in the middle seat.  What a great guy.  We had a wonderful time and missed our children.  It is nice to be able to get away but I think it is always nice to go back home again too.