Amtrak to Dallas with Kay

My friend Kay has been through a lot lately, so I asked her if she'd like to get away for a couple nights. I suggested taking Amtrak from Temple to Dallas, and she agreed. I booked a hotel just across the street from the Dallas Union Station, and made round-trip train reservations - departing on Wednesday, October 1, and returning on Friday, October 3. We hoped we could find nearby restaurants and places of interest that were in walking distance. Neither of us had ridden Amtrak before, so it was an adventure for both of us.

I knew the Amtrak Station was in the same building as the Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum, which I had visited before, but didn't know exactly where the ticket office  entrance was. So the day before our departure I drove downtown, parked my car, and started walking to the building to check things out. And that's when I tripped on a curb and fell on my face . . . yes, AGAIN. This time wasn't as traumatic as before (Linda's Window: My Big Fall), but I really whacked my chin. I got myself up off of the concrete and, relentlessly pushed on to find the Amtrak ticketing area before driving back home to ice my chin. The ice, by the way, didn't do the job, as my chin has turned "purpler" and "purpler" with each passing day. 

Refusing to yield to the embarrassment of a battered face, Kay and I were chauffeured to the Amtrak station the next morning by Dan. We boarded our train, which departed nearly an hour late. Our tickets were for upper level seating, which gave us a pretty nice view of the mostly farming country between Temple and Dallas. Our seats were wonderful -- roomy and comfortable. 

We were prepared for a long ride. Amtrak advertises the trip duration as 4 hours (it takes 2 hours to drive by car), but delays inevitably cause the train ride to be longer. For us, the first delay came just north of McGregor, when the engineer had to make an emergency stop so as not to hit a car-hauler truck that was stuck on the tracks. We had to sit for quite a while, until the truck could be removed and our emergency brakes re-set. We were all grateful for the engineer's skill which kept the train from hitting the truck! 

Our second delay occurred in Fort Worth, where we had to wait for another train to arrive so one of its cars could be added to the end of our train. Then we were on our way to Dallas. We arrived at Union Station sometime after 5:00. 

After we checked into our hotel and rested briefly, we walked four or five blocks to a restaurant we had found on-line, called Texas Spice. It was a great meal. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs, though. We ordered a dessert - bread pudding - to split between us. Neither of us could finish our half, and we both knew we shouldn't have indulged in dessert. Our full stomachs made walking back to the hotel a much harder task than our walk to the restaurant.

Here's a photo Kay took of me on that walk. This was some kind of office building, and it had a number of these giant skeletons in anticipation, we supposed, of Halloween.

We were happy to be back at our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express Dallas Downtown, before sunset. We, being small-town gals in our 70s, wouldn't have been comfortable on the streets of downtown Dallas, near the train station, after dark. We were happy to play a game of Bananagram and watch a TaskMaster episode (Kay's first time to watch that crazy program). 

We had a great view out of our window (photo below). The hotel itself was in a building built in 1925. The room was tiny, but very clean. There were two double beds, so was comfortable for sleeping, and the bathroom was lovely. But two of us trying to move around was a bit like playing Tetris. 

The next morning we rose early, excited to explore downtown Dallas on our only full day. We had already decided to walk the four blocks to the Texas Schoolbook Depository, where the Sixth Floor Museum chronicles the assassination and legacy of President John F. Kennedy. 

Across a large intersection from the museum, we came to Dealey Plaza, named for George B. Dealey, longtime publisher of The Dallas Morning News. In the 1930s, Dealey donated land to create the park which was opened in 1941 and named in his honor. Through the rectangular arches lies a view of the infamous triple underpass.

I've added a label for our hotel onto this photo of a downtown map, which is made of concrete and stands in Dealey Plaza.

As we passed by Dealey Plaza, a man approached us and began giving us a very informative discourse on all aspects of the Kennedy assassination. We knew it was a pitch for money, but we let him continue for 20 minutes or so. I began to feel lightheaded , so sat down on a nearby bench. (This is something I've been dealing with for some time - lightheadedness after standing still for any length of time. I believe it's from my blood pressure dropping too low. I promise to see the doctor about it, soon.) Even then our pitchman continued on. As he wound down, he offered to take our picture, using my phone, and we took him up on that. Finally, he offered to sell us a multi-page newsprint tabloid, and we felt it was a good time to hand him some money and move on. 

Standing across the street from the Plaza is the old, red brick Texas Schoolbook Depository. If you look carefully at the picture below, you will see one - only one - window that is half-way open (sixth floor on the corner). That is a chilling reminder of that day, November 22, 1963, when Lee Harvey Oswald sat behind that open window and aimed his rifle at President Kennedy's motorcade.

By the time we had crossed the street and made it to the entrance of the museum, my lightheadedness had worsened, and I was afraid that I would pass out if I didn't sit down. We sat outside the entrance, in the shade of a tree. It was about 10:00 AM, so wasn't too hot yet. We eventually went inside, where I bought a bottle of water. I insisted we go ahead and explore the museum, so we bought our tickets and rode the elevator to the sixth floor. I ended up having to find some seating, once again, while Kay took in the displays. But, after about 20 minutes I was feeling just fine, so was able to take in an abbreviated tour of the museum. 

I found this 3-D model (1/4 inch = 1 foot) of Dealey Plaza fascinating. It was used by the FBI as they drew conclusions about the shots fired that day. Some of those conclusions were later proven incorrect. The model was later provided to the Warren Commission for use in their inquiries. The cords stretching from the open window are meant to indicate bullet paths.

The amateur-photographer inside me was drawn to this display of the cameras used by the bystanders and the photos that they captured. Only one person, Abraham Zapruder, filmed the entire assassination. His camera and well-known images are shown in the second photo below.

Here is the sniper's nest, with its open window, as seen from inside. The area is enclosed in glass walls, keeping museum visitors out.

Preserved here is the place setting that was set and waiting for President Kennedy at the Dallas Trade Mart, where a luncheon was to be held after the motorcade.

The seventh floor of the museum is reserved for temporary exhibitions. What was featured while we visited was an exhibit called "A Child's Eyes: November 22, 1963." It houses original crayon illustrations from a class of first-graders in 1963, from Prescott, Arizona, showing how young children perceived the historic moment. The photos below are a few of the displays.

When Kay and I left the museum, we strolled around a bit, taking in a few other sights.

This is known as The Old Courthouse. We could see it from our hotel room and wanted to go inside, but discovered it is locked up tight and no longer in use.

This Mobil Oil Pegasus sign used to sit atop the Magnolia Building (since 1934). It was removed due to damage, and a replica was installed. This one, the original, was restored and now stands on a 22-foot oil derrick across from a restaurant where we ate dinner.

This log cabin sits near the Courthouse, commemorating the pioneers of Dallas County.

A lovely city park. We stopped here and rested a bit, watching the dancing water fountains.

The two photos above are of the John F Kennedy Memorial. It's a concrete "box" with a black granite slab in the center, bearing the president's name in gold. 

Just across from our hotel was Reunion Tower. It opened in 1978, is 561 feet tall, and is topped with a geodesic dome of aluminum struts and LED lights.

Our trip home, on Friday, was fraught with many Amtrak delays. Our Dallas departure was delayed, to begin with. Then we spent unscheduled time sitting in Fort Worth and, finally, were stalled on the tracks near McGregor, because of a leak in an air hose. That was another delay of 40 minutes or so while parts arrived and repairs were made. The problem with those emergency stops is that the air conditioning is turned off, which is miserable on a Texas mid-afternoon. The seating, though it looked the same as on our first train, did not ride the same at all - very uncomfortable. We both decided we were glad to have had an Amtrak experience, but we'd gotten it out of our system. Probably no future ones.

I'll always treasure the three days Kay and I spent together. She is such a special friend, and we had lots of time to talk, laugh, explore, eat and play games. I'll be ready for another get-away with her whenever she's up for it. 

Christmas 2024

It was a perfect Christmas for the Judds this year! Since Clara now has a part-time job, at American Eagle Outfitters, the family celebration needed to be in Houston. That was OK with me, because it meant I didn't need to put up a tree or decorate our house. (I must be getting old!) I did, however, do quite a lot of cookie-baking. Some of the French cookies went to friends here in Temple, and some traveled with us to Houston. 

On Sunday, December 22, Tim drove from Albuquerque to our house. He spent that night with us, and the next morning the three of us traveled, in two cars, to Houston. (Tim likes to have his own wheels while there, so he can be a bit more independent.) 

As is our custom, we had our big holiday dinner on Christmas Eve, and since Clara was scheduled to work that afternoon and evening, we feasted at noon. It worked out perfectly, and the meal was lovely, thanks to Kelsey's delectable side dishes - pasta salad, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, hot rolls - which accompanied the ham that I brought.

Christmas morning started with Kelsey's hot-out-of-the-oven Monkey Bread.

After breakfast, the kids opened their gifts. 

Robert with Zephyr in his Santa suit

Afterwards, I herded everyone into the family room for the gift-giving activity I had planned, which went like this: Each person was given a small plastic box with six jellybeans inside. On the floor was a "flock" of paper bags of various colors, matching the colors of the jellybeans. Everyone took turns, going around the room, eating one jellybean and then choosing and opening a bag of the same color. The presents in the bags ranged from a candy bar to a $100-bill, with many other gifts in-between, including gift cards and cash. Some gifts didn't fit in the bags, so the bag contained a number which matched a wrapped gift. A few of the bags had a Werther's candy inside, as well as the gift. When someone found a Werther's in their bag, they got to wear a Santa hat until someone else found a Werther's and took the hat away. When all the bags were gone, the person left wearing the Santa hat received an extra gift. (Robert was that lucky one.)

Chris and Kelsey's gift to all of us was a Christmas afternoon outing to the movie theater to see Wicked, along with all the popcorn, treats and drinks we wanted! Kelsey had already seen Wicked, and Clara had seen it multiple times (as well as having seen the stage performance more than once), but they both wanted to see it again. It was a good movie, and the time spent together as family was priceless. Now I'm looking forward to Part Two of Wicked, which will come out next year. 

There was a fun photo booth in the mall. We took a few pictures when the movie was over. (Tim declined getting his picture taken.)

We stayed Thursday - the day after Christmas - and then, fairly early on Friday, drove home. Tim spent one more night with us in Temple, and then left on Saturday. He made it back home, safe and sound, by about 7:00 PM. It's a gift to us that he takes the time and makes the effort to drive all this way every Christmas, to spend the holidays with family. 

Maybe the most wonderful gift was seeing Chris strong and healthy again, after his challenging months of illness, surgeries and chemotherapy. He has recovered, although still has neuropathy in his hands and feet. But he isn't letting that hold him back. He walks almost every day, usually around 5 miles. For the month of December his goal was a total of 100 miles, and he was on track to achieve that when we left on the 27th. 

Down Under Guests Come to Texas

Our friends, whom we met and got to know while on our European river cruise, in 2019, finally came to visit us here, in Texas. Lee and Joanne arrived at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport on September 26. They spent a couple nights in Fort Worth so they could go to the Fort Worth Stockyards, where they enjoyed the twice-daily cattle drive and some evening entertainment at Billy Bob's. On Saturday, September 28, Dan and I drove to Fort Worth to pick them up and bring them home to Temple. 

Joanne astride a longhorn in Fort Worth

We had lots of fun showing them the area and introducing them to typical Texas-style foods. Lee decided chicken-fried steak was his favorite. He kept comparing it to schnitzel, one of his favorites back home in Australia, but had never seen white gravy. He also had never heard of, or tasted, biscuits and gravy, which he tried a couple times before giving it a thumbs-up. But what he enjoyed most were beef steaks, from a couple different Texas steakhouses.

Lee really enjoyed his steak at Longhorn Steakhouse

Joanne seemed to like my home cooking more than the restaurant foods. New to them both were taco soup, corn chowder and macaroni and cheese. She said mac and cheese from a box/package was available and eaten only by kids as a snack in Australia. But she had never heard of homemade mac and cheese. She wrote down my recipe - along with several others - and has written since she's gotten back home to tell me that she's cooked it for her family.

Joanne prepared a baked potato bar for us one evening. 

One of the first things that Joanne asked me to do was to take her to a western wear store so she could buy a cowboy hat. She found a straw hat that she liked; and then fell in love with, and bought, some lovely white boots with rhinestones, which went well with her light-colored hat. Later in her visit her straw cowboy hat began to show signs of wear, so she wanted to get a nicer felt one. I took her back to Cavendar's, where she found a black hat that really looked good on her. But BLACK didn't really go with her white boots. So she bought a second pair of dark boots to go with the new hat. 

She had the opportunity to wear some of her western wear when we all went to Waco, to attend a rodeo at the Heart of Texas Fair. It was a great rodeo, and was a highlight of our outings.

We all enjoyed a visit to the home of our friends, Darin and Stephanie for dinner and some after-dinner fun. They live on a beautiful piece of property, and Darin, who is a hunter, made one of Lee's wishes come true by letting him shoot a couple of his rifles, a shotgun, a pistol and a bow. Joanne took a couple shots, as well, just so she could say she'd done it.

While Lee was ecstatic about his target shooting experience, Joanne probably preferred our evening out at a piano recital by Van Cliburn competition medalist and Grammy-nominated, Joyce Yang. Joanne is a talented pianist, herself, and teaches piano to a select few students. 

Lee and Joanne also took some side-trips on their own. Two of them involved driving in a rental car. They drove to San Antonio to see the Alamo, the River Walk and other sights. 

Atop the Tower of the Americas, in San Antonio

At the San Antonio Riverwalk

Their second road trip was to Galveston with a stop, on their way back, at the NASA Space Center in Houston. Driving through Houston was an experience that Lee hopes never to repeat! Part of that highway boasts 12 main lanes, 8 lanes of access roads, and 6 high-occupancy vehicle lanes! Even with that many lanes, it can get pretty congested during peak hours. Add to that the fact that Lee was, as he put it, having to "drive on the wrong side of the road!" 

Joanne in Galveston

Two other trips completed their US travels. First they flew out of Austin to Arizona, where they took a train tour around the Grand Canyon. The ride featured western musicians and cowboy characters on vintage rail cars. A gang of mounted outlaws even showed up and boarded the train, "robbing" the passengers of their spare change. 

At the Grand Canyon

Secondly, because Lee is a dedicated Elvis fan, they flew to Memphis and stayed at the Graceland Guest House Hotel. They purchased the VIP sightseeing package, which gave them some fantastic experiences. 

Graceland

Our time with them at home was relaxed - resting up between their various outings. We played lots of table games. They both fell in love with Bananagrams, and Joanne and I played Rummikub every chance we got. I got them hooked on a daily dose of Jeopardy on TV. And Lee couldn't keep himself away from the political programming regarding the upcoming presidential election. 

At the end of their visit, Chris and Kelsey came to meet them. We all went out for a farewell dinner at The Commonwealth (a pickleball club). 

Dan drove our friends to Dallas on Sunday afternoon, November 3. They spent the night at a hotel and left on Quantas Airlines the next day for their 17-1/2 hour trip across the US and the Pacific to Sydney, and an additional two hours from Sydney to Adelaide. They spent a total of 5-1/2 weeks in the US. 

We hope someday to visit them in their beautiful country, but no firm plans as of yet.