So, someone (let's call her Tee-Dub) decided she wanted to take me home to Texas. We booked it many
moons ago, even before her parents came to visit in May. Unknown to us, it was to be the 2nd hottest
summer in 113 years!!!
We took an afternoon flight to Dallas / Ft. Worth, landing around 9:30pm, Texas time. As we waited for
her parents to pick us up, we went outside where the temperature was cooled down to a 97˚. I said to her,
"Let's move away from the cars along the curb in the waiting area, because I'm getting a LOT of heat"…
It became the joke of the trip because I didn't know HOW HOT It actually was gonna be.
Now granted, I knew it was to be hot in Texas. And it was unseasonably HOT when we were there…
but F@#K, it was unbearable!!!!
We drove 45 minutes to Weatherford, where T-Dub (her new nickname from the trip) grew up. We were
treated like royalty, with great hospitality, food & drink and lots or air conditioning. Her parents even lent
us a car while we were there. Slept in and actually got a lot of sleep on the vacation overall.
The next day we headed into Dallas and over to Arlington where we took in Jerry's House - aka -
Dallas Cowboys Stadium. It was AMAZING and interesting to see what 1 BILLION dollars buys you.
We took the VIP tour that took us through the whole stadium, including the average-joe seats,
the upgraded ones, the VIP boxes and Jerry's private box and elevator. We toured all the clubs, plazas,
sponsor areas, and ended up in the bowels of the beast. We got to see the training rooms, weight rooms
and both the Players and Cheerleaders locker rooms. The tour ended up with us going out the tunnel
the players take to the field. It is very cool to be standing on the Big D Star at mid field.
That night we were treated to steaks on the grill and good ol' Texas cooking.
The next day we left on our road trip to Austin. Made some stops along the way to do some sight seeing,
snacking and shopping. Things you notice while traversing the landscape of TX. Texas is really flat
and dry (very brown). Every freeway exit has pretty much the same thing - gas station and
4-8 food stops. They LOVE their McDonalds, Subway and Whattaburger. There are definitely
hidden treasures along the way.
Austin was a very, very hip place. Being the music capital of the world we expected to catch a show,
unfortunately the heat kept bands away over the summer. We did end up eating BBQ at Stubbs (famous for
awesome shows) but did not catch a show. We battled the heat every day (and night) any way we could.
Including some time at the hotel pool with a beer in hand. Got to do some shopping on South Congress
and had breakfast at Maria's Taco Xpress.
I got to meet a LOT of T-Dub's friends, including her Brother and Sister-in-Law. Ended up
getting bottle service and part of a room at the W in downtown Austin. Had a drunken BLAST!!!
Finished the night stumbling to the local handful of food trucks camped out after the bars closed
and then back to the hotel for a few hours of sleep.
The next day we headed south towards San Antonio, ending up in New Braunfels, where we floated the river.
Now I expected another hot day but it was blistering and we had almost a 2 hour wait just to get in to
the water. Girls were dropping in line from heat exhaustion, too much booze, and not enough water.
Once we were in and drinking beers, it was sooooo much fun! We had a big group of 9 people and a
beer tube for our coolers. It was along day in the sun and water, but we really wanted to
get back to Weatherford to sleep. Unfortunately it was a looooong drive and Tasia was feeling ill
so I had to drive the whole time (almost 4 hrs…. blah!)
The next day we did a little shopping and a great lunch before getting dropped off at the airport.
I really like Texas and wouldn't mind going back…. but only if it's a reasonable temperature!!!
PIX HERE
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