When Life Throws You Lemons, Make Lemonade (OR...Lemon Martinis) And Do It In TEXAS!

Being sent back to Texas was the perfect refuge from the storm we had just experienced in the past 24 hours.  We were on the phone with our travel agent until our plane took off.  When the plane landed, we had rooms booked at the beautiful Rosewood Crescent Court Hotel.  As soon as we checked in, there were two things I wanted to do immediately:  1.  Take a shower.  It had been a day and a half since I had, had one.  2.  Brush my teeth.  After that, although we were extremely tired, we all walked over to a great Italian restaurant, where I enjoyed a hot meal and a couple of glasses of wine.  When we got back to our room, everyone was sitting around talking and watching television when I realized that I just could not keep my eyes open one minute longer.  I made it up the stairs to my bedroom...instantly fell asleep...and did not wake up until the next morning;quite a feat, since I wake up once or twice EVERY night.  If this was what it took to cure my insomnia, I think I would rather continue to have sleepless nights!

Once dawn broke on Tuesday, it was time for us to regroup.  We were in Dallas, not in Costa Rica.  Dallas is a BIG (as is everything else in Texas...) city and although we have come here quite often, there are things that we have never done.  First on the agenda for the day was The JFK Museum that is housed in the Book Depository in Downtown Dallas.  Everyone was excited about this because REALLY...who is not fascinated with the JKF story and all of the mystery and theories surrounding his assassination.  THIS ended up being a GREAT choice for a day starter!

Next, we walked 3 miles (I know this because of i-phone gps AND it was over 100 degrees!)  to eat lunch.  Once the kids spotted "Dick's", it was decided (by THEM...not me) that we HAD to eat there.  I wasn't sure this was such a good idea since the entire theme of the restaurant is built around the servers insulting the patrons; perhaps a bit much after our ordeal?!  Well, the insults were not too bad.  They told us the REAL taunting begins in the evenings (WHEW!)  Although, a couple of people DID earn a hat!

OK...So, Codi wouldn't wear her hat for the picture!

After eating lunch, we headed out to the bowling alley, where we had a great time just hanging out with one another; bowling, eating, drinking and listening to music.  Our good friends who live here in Dallas met us there for drinks and to visit.  Lori had called me earlier that morning and when I answered my phone, she said, "Welcome to Texas!" (obviously she had already read about our travel woes...).  I replied by saying, "I LOVE TEXAS!"  Lori brought us an entire packet of complementary tickets to several museums and shows in town...WOW!  What a sweet thing to do for these weary travelers looking for something to do.

We headed back to our hotel and Robby, Kevin and Caitlin headed out to get dinner and bring it back to us.  We all met up in our suite and ate, played cards and watched television.  At the end of the day, everything had turned out OK; not as we had originally planned or expected, but we...as a family...had survived this change of plans quite well.  We are a close knit, loyal bunch and there are NO other people that I would rather spend a week with...not matter where in the world we may end up!