We had a wonderful last-minute trip to Dallas, TX. And I mean last-minute! We didn’t know until Monday, March 26th, if it was possible. But when my blood work came back, and my WBC counts were up, we were packing!
Amanda’s Mom (Peg) got a hotel on the north side of Dallas. We left from Roanoke, VA, on the morning of Thursday, March 29th, and drove as far as we could the first day (about 16 hours of travel – but that includes stopping for lunch and dinner). We had a deadline! The 40th Reunion of the Dallas TV series started at 4pm on Friday, March 30th. Four* of the main cast were going to be there. I enjoyed watching the show with my grandmother in the early 80s every Friday night. It was a weekly ritual. However, the nerd in me peaked out, and I couldn’t help thinking that when we took a picture with the cast, “Holy crap! I’m standing next to the Man From Atlantis!” LOL!
Despite standing in line for 3 hours, we had a great time. We got to tour Southfork Ranch. The outdoor scenes were actually filmed there (in Parker, TX, NE of Dallas). These days, it’s all movie sets and sound stages. We sat in the chairs by the pool, just like they did in the show. No swimming in the pool (too cold for that)…but tempting! We were standing on the same balcony that Kristin fell from, and where JR and John Ross jumped from in the fire. It was an exciting night!
The next day we had lunch with Amanda’s younger brother (Pete) and his girlfriend (Joy). They drove up from Austin to see us. I had missed seeing them the last time they were in Roanoke, but this time it worked out to get together! After lunch, we went to an aquarium. That was fun. Outside of the aquarium (it was in a mall), there was a huge trampoline thing where they strap you in, attach bungee cords, and you get to jump about 10 feet in the air. Mom (Peg) & Pete tried it. I wasn’t afraid of it, but was worried what the strap would do to my abdomen and tumor, so I only watched. It was a great day. Always nice to see family!
Afterward was more Dallas Reunion. Pete & Joy went to their hotel to watch some March Madness. We went back to our hotel to change and head to The Longhorn Ballroom. Too loud and too crowded. Didn’t stay long. The most fun was Friday night. We found a local place to have some dinner, and then back to the hotel.
Amanda’s cousins, Annette & Michelle, invited us to join them for Easter brunch in Fort Worth, at the Forth Worth Botanical Garden Restaurant. It was so great to finally meet them! There were 10 of us altogether.
After brunch, we all went to the Japanese Garden there. Never been to one before. Was very pretty. Spring had arrived in Dallas, unlike the east coast! We fed the koi fish. I threw in the food one piece at a time, to the smallest fish in the bunch. I felt bad for them. We took loads of pictures in the garden, and we walked the many paths. The weather was just beautiful. At the end, I was able to feed a turtle! (But, no pictures of that.) Definitely worth a trip back.
Michelle invited us back to her house . . . beautiful!! We spent awhile there. Amanda had fun playing air hockey with Mike (Michelle’s husband), and Michelle.
Then it was time to head back to the hotel. We were getting exhausted from non-stop activities for several days, and we were leaving the next morning!
Before we got on the road the next morning though, we went to a wonderful gluten free bakery/cafe, and got Amanda 3 sandwiches for the trip back. It is so hard to find places to eat on the road.
Between stopping for cowboy hats (a must) and the late start, we didn’t get to Tennessee until about 8pm.
This trip was special for me too, aside from the reunion and meeting new family. This is the first time I went further west than Knoxville, and the first time I left the Eastern Time Zone (and stayed in the US). I was looking forward to seeing the Mississippi River. But to my dismay, we crossed the river in the dark both times!So we have now modified my Wish List of Fun Things to Do, to include seeing the Mississippi River in the daylight!
All in all, it was a fun trip.
We packed a lot into 3 days!
Looking forward to our next adventure; maybe we can find a way to have it involve beach time!
You can see the video Amanda made about our experience at South Fork here: https://youtu.be/jq85ASpQc6s
*Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing); also, we got a nice surprise of getting to meet and speak with Roseanna (Frances) Christiansen, who played the Ewing’s maid, Teresa from 1982-1991.
