Blizzard '09

Previous to this year, I have never been (to my knowledge) within 100 miles of a blizzard.  So indulge me a little bit, while I share my tale.  I can almost guarantee you, it will be my only one ever!

We set out on Christmas Eve to go to Mamaw's house (a trip of about 2 hours).  About halfway through the trip we hit blizzard conditions (yes, in Texas!) and had to stop for the day.  It was all of 12 noon and we found the only hotel on the way to Witchita Falls for quite a while.  We had to stop a mere 45 miles from our destination and bunk down for the night.  Although I did not throw a fit, like the child in the room next to us, it was the most surreal Christmas I have ever had.  Drew fell in love with the snowy conditions and alternated between looking out the window at the snow and going outside to check out the snow.  I have never been a fan of snow, so I lay in bed most of the afternoon. 

We had a very special microwave dinner for our Christmas Eve feast (ramen noodles and campbell's soup...mmm...good) and did catch most of It's A Wonderful Life.  What memories we have! 
We awoke on Christmas Day and tried to wait for the sun to come out to melt some of the ice on the roads.  We set out about 11:30 AM and commenced our two hour trip to Mamaw's.  Drew drives exceptionally well on ice and I was very thankful for the safe trip. 
I was even more thankful to see family and have a great Christmas dinner at Mamaw's.  This was our debut Christmas as a couple at Mamaw's house and I have many great memories from our time there!  I love spending days and evenings around a table, playing games, and laughing with family.  This is what holidays were made for! 
Since we had been so delayed by the snow, we decided to stay a litlte longer in Wichita Falls!  We set out on Tuesday headed for El Paso.  On the way home, we hit the rest of the weather conditions we had not yet seen on our trip: sleet and fog.  There were a few snow flurries mixed in, but no ice.  This resulted in easy driving conditions the rest of the way home.  We arrived back in the desert to temperatures in the 60's.  How good it is to be home!

Most of the Rest of the Trip

Well, the destruction of the Mavericks by the Lakers tonight presents the opportunity to catch up on my neglected blog.  Sad...sad.  Let's think of the things over the last week or so that have made life not sad at all.  We were in Texas for the rest of the year and made it back to Cali just in time to celebrate New Year's with my parents (a tradition we all enjoy).
To sum up most of the rest of the trip:
Our first weekend in Texas was filled largely with sports and eating.  I think these two things would take up most of our time if we were to move there.  Highlights for the weekend: I Frateli pizza - a knockoff of a much more famous eatery in Dallas (Campisi's) which has a great oval thin crust pizza.  The best part: when I called to place the order, not only was delivery FREE, but they give a discount in the amount of the points scored by the Dallas Cowboys on the day of (or after) the game - 22% discount - if you know the amount of points scored.  Pretty cool!
On Monday before Christmas Mom and I set out to pick up my older two nephews.  We had all plans and intentions of going to an Ice Spectacular at the Gaylord in Grapevine.  We got all the way to the front of the line to find out they were sold out until much later in the day.  All was not lost, however, because I got to have a wonderful conversation with Aidan about the finer points of theology.  Among the questions answered on the way to the Gaylord: "Could Samson catch the fish that ate Jonah?"
Tuesday brought much stress for me as I attempted to drive back to my brother's house (a place I have been to quite a few times and which has not moved).  We got lost and stuck in traffic, arriving there over an hour late and thus decided to go out to eat!  Good dinner at Cotton Patch Cafe - thanks Jordan and Sarah!
Wednesday evening saw the arrival of more relatives (my aunt, uncle, cousins, and my little 2nd cousin)!  We made an easy go of it for the evening - lasagna, salad, garlic bread - and had easy conversation.  I love spending time with family!

Day 6: Dallas

I feel I have sufficiently recovered from the events of last night to write about it.  Extreme disappointment is not the emotion of the evening, more like outrage! 

Let's start with the good stuff of yesterday...
We slept in until late and I had a couple cups of coffee with mom.  Once we extracted ourselves from the couch to shower and get ready, we went and grabbed lunch.  Drew always talks about this sandwich shop he likes and so it was time to give it a try.  We went over to Firehouse Subs.  As the name might lead you to believe, it was started by firemen and serves really large portioned sandwiches.  Drew got the Italian and I had the Chicken Salad.  I think I would go for the Italian next time.  It was a good way to get the day going. 
We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing around the house, gearing up for the Mavericks game. 
This was the first time we have ever been to see a "home game" for the Mavs.  The energy in the building and the fact that our cheers for our team were not met with jeers were the things we were looking forward to the most.  The American Airlines Arena is new since my days in Dallas and is much superior to the Reunion Arena of my youth.  We were like to two little kids, all smiles and contentment, just being in the building.  The game was truly a great game.  The problem was the officiating.  It was obscene.  I haven't seen it's like since the '06 finals vs. the Heat.   The highlights of the game, as you may already know, were: Dirk coliding with Landry and coming away to realize he had some of Landry's teeth in his elbow.  Landry earned a trip to the hospital.   An almost brawl between Kidd and Anderson directly in front of our seats and the Mavs bench.  This resulted in a phantom technical on Carlisle, the coach of the Mavs.  Then there were the "conferences" (at least 3, by my count) between the refs that lasted anywhere from 3 to 8 minutes each, resulting in ridiculous calls.  We were, as I said, outraged.  The Mavs lost in OT, but at least we can say we were there the night Dirk got 2 teeth in his elbow, and the only time Dampier has ever been ejected from a game.  These are the things for the history books, folks! 

the AA Center from the outside

the building on its feet at the end of regulation

Oh, and we ate at the game, of course.  I got all excited because I discovered they had Fletcher's corny dogs (just like at the State Fair of Texas) at one of the concessions.  We decided that sounded really good and immediately ordered up a couple to split.  Well, I guess someday I will make it back to the State Fair, because these did not even come close.  I think they had been made some time before we ordered and had been sitting under a heat lamp for some time.  We also had nachos and popcorn.  One thing on the frugal side that I appreciated was the value deals they had for families and couples.  It can be quite expensive to get to a game and then eat.  While the food was no means cheap, it did help that they had deals (including bottomless popcorn and sodas). 

Overall, we enjoyed our time at the game, sad to have lost, but apparently, that's how it goes.
After the game, I told Drew I really wanted a taco (this is a RARE occurance), so he drove through Taco Bueno to grab a taco.  When we drove away from the window, we had a platter with two tacos, cheese dip, rice and beans, and a bean burrito.  So this is what late night snack means. 

Day 5: OK City to Flower Mound, TX

With the night we had on Wednesday, we slept in and got started late.  I got a free cup of coffee at the hotel before we set out to go to the Oklahoma City Memorial.  The Memorial is such a respectful, peaceful place.  It is really a shame there is not something for the 9/11 victims in NYC.  There is a museum we will have to go to the next time we are in town.   Here are some pictures:

Since the temperature was in the thrirties, we did not stay long at the memorial and headed out to TEXAS!  We stopped along the way to eat lunch at On the Border.  Yes, it is a chain, but it is really good and consistent.  Drew had cheese and onion enchiladas and a beef taco.  I had the chicken tortilla soup. 

We also stopped along the way and got Sonic drinks. 

We arrived at Mom's house around 3:30 and spent some time visiting.  Then we headed down to Main Street in Grapevine for dinner.  If I have a hometown, I would consider Grapevine my hometown (I lived there from 1st grade to 6th grade...to this day, the longest I have lived anywhere). It was great to see Main Street.  They have it all decorated for Christmas and have Christmas music playing over a sound system installed all the way up and down the street.  We reminisced over days of Christmas parades and such as we walked to a "new" restaraunt.  Tolbert's was started by one of the founders of the Teriligua Chili Cookoff.  It is a spot where they have live music most nights of the week while they serve lunch and dinner.  Mom got the catfish dinner, I got Arturo's Grilled Cheese and Drew got a cup of Red (real chili...no beans) and Buffalo wings.  The food was great and the atmosphere lively.  Drew wants to come again to have the Five Alarm Chili next time.  Here are the pics:

Day 4: OK City

We woke up in Oklahoma City ready for a day we have been looking forward to for some time.  Drew's cousin, Dustin, has great connections in the City and got us tickets for the Dallas Mavericks game vs. the OK City Thunder.  These were not just tickets, but floor seats.  Needlesss to say, we were beyond excited!

We got ready and went to a late breakfast at a hole-in-the-wall spot called the Classen Grill.  It was a small breakfast spot where the art on the walls is for sale and rotates as it sells.  The menu had all sorts of interesting options.  I went for the Biscuit Debris - southern style biscuits with ham and sausage on top, smothered in gravy, with hashbrowns on the side.  Not at all healthy and portioned to serve at least 3, but wonderful!!  Loved the gravy, just the right flavor.  I ordered coffee and we also got a carafe of their freshly squeezed orange juice.  They have an old fashioned juicer.   Drew was not feeling very adventurous - he got bacon and eggs.  I recommend this restaurant heartily.  No pictures (forgot the small camera).

After breakfast we went to the Oklahoma City Art Museum.  They have an exibit of Chihuly glass that is breathtaking! Here are a few samples.

my favorite!

Next stop: lunch.  We were going to stop at a Taco stand but it was so busy that people were eating outside in the 30 degree weather.  Next time.  So we went to a Chinese-Vietnamese-French restaurant.  Despite, my reservations on the range of foods, it turned out to be pretty good.  Drew got the Kung Pao chicken and I got some sort of beef - very good.  As was the pattern on this trip, we ordered way too much food.  I think I have gained some weight - ahhh!

We spent the rest of the afternoon tracking down the guy with the tickets from the game.  I will spare the details, but we ended up in a bar somewhere in OK City called Cock of the Walk.  We loved the atmosphere of this dive bar.  We would have liked it more if it wasn't so smoky.  It is one of those places where the bartender knows your "drink" and the patrons have their "seat".  On the end of the bar a couple of guys were playing video trivia and I started playing.  I won the first round, but tanked the second one.  Lots of fun.  We wish there was something like this in the desert.  We found ourselves saying this most of the day!

Tickets in hand, we went back to the hotel to get ready for the game.  Words cannot express how happy we were to get to our seats and realize how close we were.  I realized at half time that my cheeks hurt from so much smiling!  It was great.  They have a room behind the seats for the people with floor seats where they have an open buffet with FREE food.  I have always enjoyed FREE!  The food was great and we were ready for the game.  Here are some of our pictures:

Dinner

Dirk

Date

feet on the Floor - the Floor!!

Great day in OK!  Oh, and the Mavs won!!!