Scenes from the Drive- Thurs Dec. 30
Much of western Texas is pretty much how I imagine the great plains: flat and grassy. But there were also fields of cotton. I’ve never seen cotton growing before. That was fun.
Also windmills. So many windmills. Which I thought was amazing. #cleanenergy
When we finally arrived at our Airbnb it was pretty late, nearly 11.
We stopped at a grocery store and put together some pretty sweet lunches using our new lunchboxes. 
Amarillo by morning… 
So, we lost an E.E. shoe somewhere in New Mexico. So we had to stop and buy some new ones. 
We arrived in Dallas at about 11 pm. We were pretty wasted. 
That hair says it all: she’s been through it. 
The next morning. 
We were running the full range of emotions from delighted to grumpy
The McKinney Avenue Trolley
The next day, we slept in a bit and took things slowly. After the twins were down for their nap, the three older kids and I decided to go on an ‘abenture.’ We decided to go ride the McKinney Avenue trolley. It basically runs through the arts’ district of Dallas, so you get a taste of the city as you go. Plus, it’s free. My favorite thing.
After some googling, I learned that we could park near the turn-table and it would even be free parking #win. So, off we went. And the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. We arrived just as the trolley arrived. It was one of the old-fashioned trollies: built in 1913. We got to watch it turn around, we hopped on, and a few minutes later, we were off.
Klyde Warren Park
I had hoped to check out Klyde Warren park, and it was actually one of the stops along the way. So, we jumped off.
We entered the park, and immediately saw some food trucks off to the side. We had eaten lunch already, but it had been a bit. And I knew that a snack would never go amiss in terms of crankiness levels. Ask me how I know. One of the options was a fruit bowl truck. So, we ordered a ‘Super bowl’ to share. It had cantaloupe, blueberry and strawberry with whipped cream and brown sugar and a side of creamy dipping sauce.
It was delicious. The perfect snack.
After our snack, we decided to check out the playground area. There was a climbing structure and a splash pad. To no one’s surprise, Clara got wet. She’s part fish and part polar bear. This time at least, the weather was reasonably warm, for December. I think that she’s nuts
Then the kids played with some foam blocks. Then we “played” ping pong. We definitely spent the majority of our time chasing the ball.
After that, we decided to head out. And serendipitously, there was a trolley ready and waiting at the entrance to the park. We hopped on and it left a couple minutes later.
Texas BBQ and New Year’s Eve
Jonathan had planned a delicious meal for New Years Eve.
Unfortunately, this Airbnb is probably the worst- stocked place we have ever stayed. It was just missing a lot of major stuff. (Like a can opener, a cheese grater, any oven cookware, and a reasonable number of utensils, plates, cups and bowls.)
At first we didn’t even think they had any sharp knives. (It turned out that there were 2, and they were hiding) And this turned out to be bad. Jonathan was trying to cut open a package with a butter knife. The knife slipped and he gouged his pinky. It was bad enough that we thought he might need to go to the emergency room. But we kept an eye on it for a few minutes, and it stopped bleeding, and we had some butterfly bandages in our first aid kit. So we decided that he would probably be ok without going to the ER. (Note: this turned out to be a good choice, it healed just fine without medical intervention.)
While I was out and about earlier, I had gotten a recommendation from a local for some Texas BBQ. So, we ordered it earlier in the day. And it was ready to pick up after we had fed the kids. Despite his poor fingey, Jonathan went and picked it up.
And it was phenomenal. The mac and cheese was amazing, the pulled pork was so flavorful, the ribs were divine, the sausage was fantastic. But the real winner was the brisket. It was quite literally the best brisket I have ever had. I’m drooling here.
Jonathan and the kids played a little bit of the switch, and then we put them to bed. Honestly, we were kinda old and boring and we went to bed not much later. Happy New Year!
Dallas, Day 2 (January 1, 2022)
Well, Jonathan officially has the cold that has been going around. He wasn’t feeling great yesterday. But when he woke up, it was really in full force.
And the twins were feeling under the weather too. We decided to make this a day of rest and recuperation. So that we would be in good shape to walk around the French Quarter in New Orleans.
So, Clara and I went out and ran some errands.
First and foremost, we got the car cleaned and also had the inside vacuumed. All the road tripping has not been kind to our car. The car hasn’t looked this good in AGES. (Also, the part of Dallas we are staying in has a crazy amount of car washes. Like seriously. They were everywhere: Car Washes and Megachurches.)
While we waited for the detailing to be done, we got to sit in a lovely spot, with complimentary coffee, donuts and water. And Clara pretended she was a squirrel and collected and buried acorns. It was actually very relaxing.
Afterward, we ran to Target to pick up water bottles for the twins and food for dinner and a couple other little things.
We came home, prepped and ate dinner and then started getting all packed up for New Orleans!
