I've not been blogging much this summer. Just needed a break, have been thinking some things through, and have had several projects going on. (FYI my eBay feedback is up to 1115. :-) It helps to buy books for our school library through my eBay account.)
But there are a few things I need to catch up on. One is my trip to Dallas. I left three weeks ago on Tuesday, to spend a few days with my sister Rhoda who has recently moved there. I took this picture on the flight. Okay, so this is nothing uncommon for people who fly often, but I thought the red against the blue and white was especially pretty.
This was my first experience flying Southwest - and I liked it. It's a little different style of flying as the seating is open, depending upon when you check in to the flight. (Great motivation to check in early!) I got a window seat for every flight. The attendants don't mind injecting a little humor into their mundane safety routines, and they've got a much more efficient way for doing drinks than using the cumbersome rolling cart that other airlines use.
One of the free WiFi features on the flight was Flight Tracker--another thing that some people are probably very familiar with, but I wasn't. It was very interesting to chart our path, and it was very accurate. I turned it on right when it said we were crossing the Mississippi River - so I looked down, and there was the river directly below me.
The flight path was changed a little south due to storms, so we flew over the Gulf of Mexico. I liked this shot where the Gulf met the land.
And when I got there, a huge surprise awaited me - Not only Rhoda, but these two crazy loads-of-fun-to-be-with ladies! Cousin Judy and Aunt Ada! They had planned it a week in advance - I was the only one not let in on the plans!
So we spent two great days touring Dallas and spending afternoons at the pool. Here are Ada, me, and Rhoda (in order) at Dealey Plaza. I thought that was a Kennedy memorial - It was not. It was built by the WPA during the Depression.
And here is Rhoda standing outside the Texas Book Depository where Oswald shot JFK in 1963. The terrible act happened from the 5th window up on the right (the square one next to the rounded ones). We toured the museum. That window is walled off with plexiglass, with a stack of book boxes to look like it did that day, but we could stand at the next window and get an idea of how it took place. The man had a straight shot. It was a great experience, though very sobering, to get a physical perspective of that day that changed history.
I was not yet six years old when Kennedy was murdered, so do not have much memory of it. I do, however, remember my mother watching the funeral and crying as she was doing the ironing, and I remember saying "But I thought you didn't really like that president." And her response was "That doesn't matter at a time like this."
The next day we went to the George Bush library, recently opened and very interesting. Notice the illustrious President behind the desk, and her very capable aides behind her.
And you can't leave Texas without some BBQ. You order your meat before ever entering the restaurant!! A very different experience but a lot of fun.
And here is a good shot of the four K. women who enjoyed three nice days together.
3 comments:
Sounds like a lot of fun! I miss TX barbecue.
I haven't flown in about 4 years. I didn't know about Flight Tracker - will looking forward to using that next time. I'm also glad to hear there is a better way of serving drinks on planes besides those carts!
It's so simple--don't know why the other airlines haven't thought of it. They take orders on a pad of paper with a grid that matches the cabin. They fix the drinks in the galley, then bring them down the aisle on a tray that looks kind of like a muffin tin, about 3 rows at a time. Makes so much sense!
It was a great few days! Thanks for coming.
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