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Better late than never, right?
Based on my M.O., nothing should surprise you. Five weeks ago was Spring Break in Curtis (my little 600 person WITH students town, an hour away from any sort of mass civilization) and I was stuck here, all alone, with zero students. I had a few projects to do for NCTA, and during the evenings, I worked on my personal portfolio. I watched so many movies I almost don’t ever want to see another again. Almost.
Two students came back early to work at a bull sale from Thursday through Monday of break. Well, after a day, they were told they weren’t needed during the weekend. I joked about going to Dallas Thursday night and didn’t think anything of it. Friday rolled around and I finished all of my week’s projects and started craving sushi, so I asked the guys if they wanted to go after their work was done.
On my way to North Platte (for those of you who don’t know, I live an hour away from any kind of civilization), I got the itch. The itch to go to Dallas. By the time I was halfway, I stopped and asked the guys if they wanted to go to Dallas. Seriously go to Dallas! I’m not sure if they really thought I was serious, but Jed reluctantly and Matt excitedly said yes! So I turned around, packed my bags, and waited for the guys to get home. They knocked on my door, and as I exuberantly jumped up to open it, their faces were full of shock, uncertainty, and unease. Not sure if that was because I was as excited as a little child in a candy store, but let’s pretend that wasn’t the case.
After I told them my bags were packed and they had 30 minutes to shower, pack and “take care of business,” I closed the door behind me without letting them question the idea any more. Not long after, I heard a knock and saw their bags packed. We were ready to go! I'm pretty sure Matt was pissed that I made him go. He sat in the passenger seat in what I thought was an angry mood. Only when we drove back that he was pulling my leg the whole time. Grrr! So easily fooled!
It was 7:30PM Friday night when we hit the road in my little Mazda 3 with three giants. Myself driving and the boys about 6’ 5” (LOL) Let’s just say it was more than a tight squeeze.
At first, the guys only talked about cattle, which they thought was hilarious since I was speeding towards Dallas far away from desolate Nebraska. It was quite ironic, but fun to hear them talk about what they know and love.
Jed slept practically the whole way, but Matt stayed awake and we talked about everything we could think of in our 12-hour span of driving. We had to stop for gas a few times and let my dog out, but the weirdest stop was in Oklahoma. Matt walked into a gas station asking to use the restroom and the guy behind the counter gave him lip, and was extremely rude! When I walked in, he was a little more cordial, but still gave Matt grief when he came back out of the restroom. It was really weird! When we finally hit the city, it was still dark, but the lights from all of the buildings put goose bumps on my arms because I knew I was back home in my natural habitat.
When we got out of the car, it was already 65 degrees even before the sun rose, so I knew it was going to be a beautiful day in the neighborhood. We enjoyed it as poor Nebraska was getting snow flurries! We walked into the world's largest a Wal-Mart. The same one my dad said he hoped I had a GPS to navigate through. Everything is definitely bigger in Texas! Matt's first comment was priceless as he walked in. "I could fit a lot of hay in here!" Only ranchers or farmers would ever be reminded of hay storage in large places. Lol
Fast driving was probably the most exciting part about hitting the city. I was a bit out of sync when I first got there though, as I’m used to 20 miles an hour with zero traffic. Once I got back into the swing of Dallas driving, I was diving in and out of traffic at 10 over (and I was still being passed). The boys about peed themselves because they were not at all used to that. We stopped for coffee and they kept trying to tell me to slow down and enjoy the city. I said I already was, and that’s how it goes in the city so get used to it. They also told me to slow down because I spilled my Starbucks all over the floor. Oh well. They made me another!
The first real city experience was taking them on the DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit). Layman terms...a train. I parked my car a few stops up from the city center, and took them on the DART. I’m so used to taking trains or driving through tunnels, but they were a little hesitate to take a train that went under ground. Their nerves were calmed when we got to our destination and started walking.
It was a Saturday, and in Dallas, the city center is dead on weekends. I think that helped Matt and Jed feel a little more comfortable without all of the hustle and bustle of weekday foot traffic. I'm not sure if they'd ever seen such tall buildings in real life, let alone be right underneath 40+ story buildings. I showed them where I used to work, two stories down from the top. Again, not sure if they thought it was cool or creepy to be that high up!
After we walked around the block, Matt said he actually felt at ease in the city. This coming from the guy who'd never been farther than Kansas, never been on a commercial plane, and unnerved in the "city" of Lincoln, NE. Maybe it was because he had someone that knew the ropes with him, or maybe his thoughts about city life were changing. ;)
We took the train back to my car, then headed to my absolute favorite place in Dallas, White Rock Lake. They were shocked that 5 minutes prior, we were stuck in the middle of sky scrapers, only to be struck by a huge lake, far enough away that we couldn't hear a single car. After walking around the bend, I took them across the lake to the Dallas Arboretum, some 66 acres of gardens. Since it was spring, the arboretum was full of tulips to mock the tulip fields in Holland. The guys weren't so sure what I was getting them into, but they continued not to make decisions about what to do so we went in. I was a little edgy leaving my dog in the car on such a hot day, but we walked around for quite awhile. They loved the peace and serenity of the landscape and just couldn't believe they were in Dallas, probably both from the landscape standpoint to the actuality that we had really just driven 12 hours to a distant, unfamiliar land.
It was about time for lunch, so we thought since we missed out in sushi the night before, we'd get sushi! Rock N Roll sushi in Dallas, was one of my sister's and my favorite sushi joints, so that was where we headed. We parked in DSW's parking garage to get my dog out of the sun, but to also introduce them to my favorite shoe store ever. They found out why I acquired such a shoe obsession really quickly.
Of course, like most things, the sushi plan fell through as it was closed until dinner time. We ended up getting wraps and sandwiches, and ate outside in the beautiful, breezy 80 degree weather. The crazy, annoying birds of Dallas sang and screamed, which freaked the guys out. They thought wherever they went the birds were going to attack them. It was really quite comical!
I started searching for hotel bargains and locked us into one I thought was close to Dallas city center. Hardly. It was more in the middle of both Dallas and Fort Worth, but it sure was a bargain! Not only was the area shady, with a Condoms To Go next door, the hotel was nothing to write home about...or maybe we should so people would know where we were if we went missing! We walked in and thought it looked like a crime scene. Multiple crime scenes actually. The mattresses were stained. The bathroom door kicked in. Stale smell of smoke and crap. The pillows flat and funky. Gum stuck under the counters. Floors, counters, everything stained. Later that night, we had a hooker knock on our door. It was sure a bargain, and it was disgusting.
The guys crashed quicker than a sleepy baby, so I left and cruised spots I used to roam. After getting my car detailed, I went to another lake and talked to my roomster, Desilee, about how much I missed Dallas and that it may not have been a good idea to visit. Finally, after their 5 hour nap, I woke them up to get ready for the Stockyards in Fort Worth.
We decided against sushi for true TexMex! Garcia's is the local spot that everyone has to try at least once. When we got there, the guys freaked out with the huge line, so we decided to hit up another place. Unbeknownst to us, it was a ritzy TexMex that we weren't dressed for, but ended up walking in. The walk to our table was the longest walk of our lives, but ended up being the second longest since the walk out seemed worse. We were dressed for Billy Bobs, not formal one iota. Our plates ended up being about $50 a piece but the food was to die for! I guess we had to live up the moment!
Billy Bobs was next, but there was a concert and we didn't feel like paying a bunch of money for that, so we walked the Stockyards. There was a guy riding a longhorn, and Matt overheard a girl ask, "Is that really a cow?" Matt chocked laughing. Oh city folks.
Matt and Jed felt at home with cowboys and girls roaming the streets. Matt was excited to finally pull out his cowboy hat. They both totally fell in love with Fort Worth. We tried to get into the roping event, but the bouncer at the door tried to scam us so we didn't end up going. Again, double whammy bummer. One friend of mine was going to meet us at Billy Bobs, but flaked out, and another ended up going to the bars instead of having a roof party...yet again, super bummer. Matt was a bit frustrated we didn't hit up a roof party, especially since he was ready to rock! Well, we had the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders to look forward to in the morning. :)
I had the Dallas trip planned long before to run a half marathon, but haven’t been running much, so thought against it. I did know the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders would be there so I thought I'd take the guys to go see them. We ended up sleeping through our alarm clocks, so by the time we hit the start line, everyone was gone. It was the most detrimental point of the weekend for the guys! So many things could have been better so I felt like I let them down. :( I tried to drive to the finish line, but I didn't know the 60,000-person runner path so we kept getting stuck around them. The guys loved it since they kept seeing hot girls, and even told me to SLOW DOWN. One girl even looked over and smiled at the guys. They're still arguing about who she looked at...still!
The last big charade was going to church. That was the one thing I wasn't going to miss. The one thing I had butterflies over because I missed it so much. We hit up Starbucks to waste a little time. Mine was too hot so I didn't drink it and thought I'd drink it in church. Idiot me left it on the roof of my car, where i proceeded to drive off with it still up there. Jed practically peed his pants laughing since he saw it drop to the ground.
The guys walked into our concert-like auditorium with jaws dropped. They're used to maybe 25 people every Sunday. Watermark Community Church is used to far more than 7,000 within three services, and it's considered a small, Dallas church. I felt so at home there and remembered how much I missed the people within its walls.
Wagner didn't speak like always, and we ended up watching a video of a speaker from the day before. The speaker really hit home the fact that our relationship with God isn't what we present to the world. He used The Notebook as a an example, but wanted to speak to any guy afterward who knew the reference. Funny part was that Matt, his best friend from home, and I watched it maybe a week prior so I was laughing hysterically inside. Matt told me later he didn't dare look at me as he knew he'd bust laughing. We all see the story line as this sweet love story where the husband spends all his last moments with his wife diagnosed with dementia. The husband tells the story to his wife everyday about their young lives of love and loss, but that they end up happily together in the end. What most don't think about is that Aly was proposed to and gave her word to another man, only to break her promise by sleeping with someone else.
We do the same thing with God. On the outside looking in, we've accepted He's God and that He saved us through faith. Yet, we continue to break our promise by sinning and going to bed with the devil. It was a great analogy! And wouldn't let Matt live it down either. ;)
We finished the morning off with sushi at a new restaurant I hadn't been to. It was extremely Fung shui with a modern twist. The sushi was top notch and left our bellies full of tasty goodness. Well, everyone but Jed who needed me to stop for four cheese burgers at McDonalds. Worthless.
On the way home, we became bored fast. Leaving the fast life and speeding back towards the slow life. We ended up playing car games until my migrane about made my head burst. Since I was driving, I hit Matt, Jed hit me, and Matt got Jed. I'm pretty sure both Matt and I ended up with bruises, but we had a blast! Our excitement left us when we saw the first snowflakes. It was devastating to leave the beautiful weather for a snowy scape. Jed fell asleep for awhile so I tried to scare him by hitting him and screaming, but instead Matt jumped out of his skin. I didn't get my intended target, but Matt's reaction was so worth it.
Celest ended up back with Jed for most of the drive home. Jed must have been filthy because she wouldn't stop licking him! Matt and I chuckled every time we heard, "Celest!"
We also started having conversations with Kelsey about her room being tagged. The boys had pranked it before we left, but since they were with me, I was an innocent bystander. We knew when we got home, our rooms would have been visited. I just didn't realize both my room and office would be annihilated.
Our unwelcome theme song was "Whip My Hair" as every time it came on, Matt's blood boiled from hate. Another annoying theme was ALWAYS waiting on Jed! I swear every time we turned we were waiting on him for something! I found out both Jed and Matt were deathly afraid of roller coasters. Too bad Six Fags wasn't open yet ;) Matt was also shocked that every few minutes on the interstate, we were in different cities. He couldn't comprehend how many people and cities were smashed together within the metroplex.
This is already long enough, but there were so many more memories made that will forever be engrained in our hearts and minds.
Since then, I’ve traveled to Prague, NE; Burning, NE; Manhattan, KS; and Seattle, WA. Now, I’m about to embark on a new adventure in Phoenix. Life in the fast lane again. I cannot wait.
Living boldly challenging status quo.
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