Circling Dallas


A lost license helps me learn and re-learn the highway system

Once we were done with the on-site publications at the show, I was free to go, so I went to visit some cousins I had never met before in Dallas. I took the hotel shuttle to DFW airport to the rental car center. Unlike the times I have rented from Avis, at Alamo here at DFW, they just park all the cars in the lot with keys in the ignitions and you can just pick a car from the car-type you've reserved.

For example, I bought up to an intermediate car. They told me to just go ahead and pick one. I decided to play it safe rather than sexy and took the Chevy Caprice rather than the PT Cruiser. There was some confusion about the car when I took it to the exit gate. Well, this led to my leaving my driver's license at the gate! Something I didn't discover until a half hour later when I got to my cousin's North Dallas home.

After a delicious lunch and a stretch in traffic, I hung out with my newfound cousin and then went back to the airport. I then headed northeast to Plano, to the Southfork Hotel. There was huge traffic where the 635 meets Bush Highway, so I took a parallel road and wound up outsmarting myself and overshooting the hotel by miles. So I doubled back to Plano to the beloved Southfork Hotel, which basically is a basic hotel that has nothing to do with the Southfork Ranch or the TV show :"Dallas" but they do give you a discount to the ranch, and they do sell Dallas DVDs and Hagmanabilia in the unstaffed gift shop.

Later that evening, I made my way back up to Fairview to visit cousins from the other side of the family. I had a chance to see some old family photos I had never seen before, and was loved-up by a rescued Doberman with horrendously bad breath.

Posted: Sat - November 19, 2005 at 02:23 AM        


©