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(PS-the picture is of the place where we farewelled one set of friends and welcomed another
Hi! Me again! We have done a lot in the past couple days, just had no wifi! Let me catch you up. It will definitely be rambly and disjointed....and forgive spelling as I am battling a small device and crazy auto spelling with a mind of its own.
17th Dec
Today was my blog friend/first-meet day! There are a handful of girls I have 'known' via blogging in the past and kept in touch with of late through Facebook.
I was able to arrange a meeting with two of these girls on our adventure. It is a pretty big step fir me in a way, as I am a bit shy and a definite introvert. But it was too good an opportunity to pass up.
First up was an afternoon with Dana and Brandon.
We planned to meet them at our RV park and then they would take us into Dallas.
As we pulled into our really dodgy choice of RV park, we spied a blonde gal in powder pink wielding a camera at us a in an alarming fashion! Definitely the Dana I know and love- yet never have met!
Both Dana and her 17 yr old son Brandon were very outgoing and lively. Dana deftly navigated us into the heart of Dallas, whilst Brandon chatted away and also offered to introduce us to Chick-Fil-A. We had been keen to taste it and pulled in for lunch. It was GOOD!
After our tasty lunch (with our first tastes of Chick-Fil-A being carefully documented by Dana ) we went to Galleria-a ritzy mall.
We sampled our first pretzels at Aunty Anne's which were perfectly salted and a great texture.
Then Dana and I shared a FIRST together! Amazing Caramel apples from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. You really cannot imagine the varieties. Blew my mind! Thankfully Dana took some pics of them and put then on FB so when I next get wifi, I will tag myself in those pics so y'all can see then!
The time went too quickly and all too soon they were dropping us to our next destination: Medieval Times!!
Brandon got his guitar out and sang us two songs before they left; one of which was his own! He sure has a talent that boys. He was kind enough to let the 7 yr old to shake a shaker egg alongside him!
And only a couple hours, some yummy food and several dozen poses after we first met them, they were gone! It was a wonderful time! Thanks for the generous presents too! You are naughty! And as for your baking, delish!!! I had yummy snicker doodles for breakfast this morning. :)
We only had about 20 minutes on our own, when I saw the Burklin van ease into the car park.
The Burklins! I have 'known' Linda via her blog about exactly the same amount of time as I have known Dana.
We walked over and met them at their van as the sun was going down. 5 of the Burklin children were able to come and linda's husband Walter too!
It was so surreal to see folk I have seen on photos and read about for years.
Linda surprised us by pulling out a bag with a handmade cloak-( she is famous for making these cloaks, people)- for each of our kids.
She says they were done super fast and with shortcuts to get then done in time, but they are beautiful. The kids are still talking about them.
We were waiting around a while for the gates to open and then we were in to the medieval times!
We still had more of a wait inside with
lots of things to throw our money at and the 7yr old was desperate for me to purchase pretty much the entire shop out.
In fact his begging got a bit much. No tamale, dude!
He did however get knighted. It was priceless to see the look on his face. He took it all so seriously.
When we were seated and watching the knights in action he whispered, 'There's another knight, Mum, like me!'
The show was great. Like Flynn Burklin said later, ' these guys are actors'. There was a loose storyline and lots of horses galloping- even a falcon.
We were seated in the green section and set about cheering our green knight on.
The Green knight may have been in training- he didn't do well in any of the challenges, let alone the battles. When we saw him later all, we could say was ' Wow, you sure were green out there!'
Of course I only though that and didn't say it. Hehe.
It was late by then, so we farewelled the Burklins with the knowledge we would be staying with them the next night.
Dec 18th
Yesterday morning was a shocker. The original plan was to rise at 7 am, pack and get ourselves ready; then clean the RV from 8-9 am, and do the RV drop off and get back most of the $1000 bond at 9:30. I wasn't' expecting the entire bond as I had broken an exterior clip.
Well, my fellow 'cleaners' were slow to rise and extremely robotic at the cleaning thing. So I perfected my 'screaming headless chook' imitation and we arrived at the RV return at 10:30.
We got the full bond back which was a huge sigh of relief. The free shuttle to the airport to get the car rental took ages to come. The drive to the airport took ages. It was a real blessing that all the rental companies are under the same roof because I went up to get our car from Avis counter instead of the booked Enterprise. My bad!!!
Finally we were on our way! The kids were very disappointed as it was obvious we were going to miss our 'The Hobbit' viewing with the Burklin family.'
I said, after reminding them that if they had been faster, we would have been on track: 'we will take you guys to see it another time.'
Bodie replied: ' But I really wanted to watch it with the Burklins!'
Thankfully the resourceful Linda found a place that had a 4:30pm showing. We screeched in at 4:25!
Needless to say, it was a fabulous movie! I loved how they did the humour.
As we got out, Linda said: ' I hope you guys are hungry!.'
It was so surreal to walk into Linda's home and see the famous Christmas trees. The lovely teapot tree, and the big one that has to be most amazingly and evenly decorated Christmas tree I have ever seen!!!
The spread Linda had prepared was traditional Texas BBQ. Oh sweet mother, so good. The pulled beef is hickory-smoked for hours and then cooked in the best sauce from Bodacious- a legendary establishment in Longview.
We heaped pulled beef on a bun with coleslaw, guacamole, pickle and more of the BBQ sauce. What a taste sensation!!!
I gobbled down my third helping before remembering that Linda had also made a huge chocolate cake for Zac's birthday as well as homemade ice cream.
That being said, I somehow managed to polish off a huge slice though. Delicious.
After dinner we were able to relax and chat. Linda gave me a copy of her book which we will start reading tonight.
We all went to bed late.
Dec 19- today is Zac's birthday!!! He is 16. Happy birthday Zac!
We woke up to one of the things Linda cooks for her family as a camping treat. Ziplock omelettes!!! It was so exciting to make our own. Two eggs cracked into in a tough ziplock bag, add whatever toppings ( Linda had tons of different toppings set out) zip it up; mix it up using your finger; get rid of any extra air; then boil all the zipped Ziplock bags together in a big pot for about 13 minutes.
They came out so yummy and perfect! I am going to do that at home. We also had cinnamon buns, fruit juice and-wait for it- ....CHAI!!!!!
The best chai! So delicious!
Then some quick time for cloak photos, a photo of me and Linda together before we pulled out of the Burklin's Longview driveway. I am so bummed I didn't get photos of the Burklin family together. I am still bemoaning that. So far, as I kind of predicted, the people are what is making this trip. Our visits with the Leppard family, the Handy family and the Burklin family have proved this.
We without event to Waco, straight to the Dr Pepper Museum, where Zac had chosen to go for his birthday. It was a really well done place. The guy who ran the company ( named Foot) is quite a personality. Some of the first ads for Dr Pepper were atrociously cheesy!
A trip to an American Target was fun. I seriously need to come back to one without kids so I can take my time there.
We had decided on 5 Guys for dinner. It was just as the reviews promised. Tasty burgers and the twice fried fries were so flavoursome.
Now at our first motel; I have lost my second key of the trip. Hope this hostess is as understanding of my hopelessness as the last one!
Tired but happy....over and out!!
- comments
Steph Matthews All sounds so nice! The thought of ziplock omelette and pulled beef with guacamole is making me hungry...
Michelle taylor Oh I just wished I had a bigger stomach!!!!
Kirsty and Pam Sounds like great fun!! Happy birthday Zac for yesterday!
Michelle Taylor Zac says thanks for birthday wishes, Kirsty and Pam! Thinking of you all as we Christmas here!