Visiting Old Friends in Dallas

Days 23 & 24 – July 21^st & 22^nd, 2016

Odessa, TX – Dallas TX

389 miles – 6 hours

Truth be told, I couldn’t not get out of Odessa fast enough. I was mildly curious about the area – mostly due to my love of the show, Friday Night lights. From what little we experienced, I don’t think it’s my kind of town. It was a long drive to Dallas, but about three hours in we reached the “hill country” and that made for a much more scenic drive.

It was HOT in the BIG D. It was 96 degrees when we arrived, which was not as high as our previous stops – but the humidity made it a tad muggy. After we checked in, Hunter, God bless him, had to go for a run. When he was finished, we headed to the Bernier’s house. It’s been three years since we last saw them and we were all very excited.

I met Barbie in our first neighborhood in Alpharetta, right after the boys were born. I’ll never forget how we met. We’d been in our house for around six months. I had to stay inside for the first couple months (winter) because the boys were so premature. Then the long hot summer arrived and I was in no hurry to try out the double stroller. When I finally did adventure out, I walked past a house where a woman was out front gardening and she waved me down. She told me her daughter was pregnant with twins and insisted I had to meet her. She ran inside to get Barbie and the rest, as they say, is history.

Barbie & Jeff moved their family to Dallas ten years ago. It’s very hard to believe it’s been that long. Barbie and I talked ourselves silly and we still only covered about 10% of what we had to talk about. We also tried to watch Donald Trump’s speech – but ultimately we found each other more interesting.

The next day the kids and I drove to a different part of Dallas to see some other old friends of mine, the Calkins. I went to middle and high school with Cheryl and met Jerry when I was in college, working at the Ritz. I was honored to be I their wedding 23 (!) years ago. They have three kids and have been living in Dallas for two years. We were trying to determine just when was the last time we saw each other (they moved to Illinois in 1998?). I finally concluded that the last time I saw them, I was pregnant with Barrett and Hunter.

I love, love, love, visiting with old friends! SO much so that I’m going to write a Latchkey Mom post about it. So you’re spared more detailsJ!

We went back to the Berniers for dinner and landed back at the hotel around 9. We have a very long drive home tomorrow…

Day 25 - July 23, 2016

846 miles -13 hours!

We made it home after a long 13 hour drive. My longest ever. And there was rain. And construction. Oh - it was not fun. But I wanted to push it, so I would have all day Sunday to do laundry. Back to work on Monday!

I'll be back next week with my Road Trip Superlatives. Thank you so much for reading.

The Berniers

With Cheryl & Jerry

Jerry & Cheryl's three children.

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Celebrating Camden in Scottsdale

Days 20 & 21 – July 18^th & 19^th, 2016

I apologize for falling off the road trip radar! Once we got to Scottsdale, we really relaxed. And then it was hard for me to get back in the writing groove. God bless those of you who’ve emailed to see if we were okay. Thank you. Relieved to know I do have a few readersJ.

So we’re at the Camelback Inn, one of my all-time favorite places. They have a motto: “A place where time stands Still.” Don’t you love that?

I did have to do six loads of laundry, but other than that…I relaxed by the pool, swam, played with the kids, and let the pool boy talk me into trying different tropical concoctions. It was heaven. And I parked my car for two days – we never left the property.

Mr. Camden turned nine while we were chilling and he had unlimited signing privileges by the pool – of which he took full advantage. I also dare say – I think he became a swimmer. We couldn’t get him out of the water. But of course, it was 110 degrees! He started the day off with a breakfast delivered by room service (for only the little prince, the rest of us ate pop tarts). The woman in charge of the room service calls bumped into Camden the day before (long story involving a hotel fire alarm - we're jinxed) and, of course, she was charmed by him. So in addition to his breakfast of Fruit Loops, white toast, sliced bananas, cranberry juice and decaf coffee – he was treated to a platter of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and a hand written note from “Cindy.” He enjoyed his breakfast on the balcony, overlooking the Camelback Mountain.

I know, I know – I’m probably creating a monster. But he was soooo excited, and grateful. He repeatedly told us, “You guys are the best parents in the whole world!” And unlike what some of his siblings probably would've done, he graciously shared his cookies.

Day 22- July 20, 2016

Scottsdale, AZ – Odessa, TX

787 miles – 11 hours

The following day was very long. The kids and I drove 787 long and boring miles (through the dessert), crossing two time zones. We arrived in Odessa at 8 P.M. I was willing to go to bed without dinner, but was overruled. We had a horrible dinner as Cheddar's. It was the first time in my life that I actually had to call a manager over to our table. I felt like my dad!

Quote of the Day:

Camden was excitedly waiting for room service on his birthday – in his underwear. When there was a knock on our door, I told him that he better hurry up and get dressed. He asked me if he had to and I said, “I guess not – if you don’t mind Room Service seeing you in your underwear.” He replied, “Oh I don’t mind anyone seeing me in my underwear!”