We did it. We successfully left the ranch. I will spare you the many chores required to do so and instead throw thanks and praise at our dear friends, Mark and Christiana, without which we could not be going on this trip. They loaded us up and drove us to our favorite tiny regional airport, SBP, for our flight to Dallas on December 14. I told Jinx I loved him about 7 million times before we left in hopes he couldn’t forget. Jeaux strutted by a few times to express her annoyance at the change. The chickens didn’t let out a single cluck. I guess they like Mark and Christiana better.
We got to DFW a bit early, which will always bite you in the butt because this is an airport that never has a gate open so being early SUCKS. We did the requisite runway sit. Then we waited an hour for our luggage to emerge. But, on the plus side, Dave, Kari, and their daughter Kate, were waiting and so also, who cares?
Once we finally had everything, we drove home to their place and sat up late chatting and snacking and drinking. I think I went to bed after midnight! Granted that’s only 10 PM ish for me back home but also, we all know I go to bed around 8:30. I AM READY FOR THIS ADVENTURE.
The next morning, I figured I would be up early like I am 99.99999% of my entire existence and I planned to sneak out and have breakfast with my cousin. I woke up groggy and my watch inexplicably said something heinous like 8:45. What in the hell? The day was practically over. Who lives like this? Damn.
I drug myself downstairs to find coffee and texted my cousin that I slept my life away. Also, apparently, we were having a party there at Dave and Kari’s in just a few hours and so we had to skip our breakfast. Such a bummer!
Soon the house was in full bustle- Christmas movies, kitchen all a buzz, sweet little pup Lola running around with her festive toys. Brisket on the grill (old school style, overnight low and slow). Things were looking up.
We had a lovely time seeing Dave’s mom and dad, sister Heidi and BIL Troy, and friends Ashley and Grant who had just been out for harvest. We stayed up late again laughing and catching up. So much fun. Right until it was time to wake up Monday.
Whew!
Dave and Kari took us to the airport Monday- despite our repeated attempts to tell them we’d uber so they wouldn’t have to drive across town. And, they were so happy to do it but then a big pop up thunderstorm rolled in and I said, “bet you regret not letting us take that uber now, huh?” Nope - they were still happy to drive us.
Now, a glorious thing happened at the airport which is we found out that we FINALLY got to go to the first class Flagship lounge. Heck yes. This is what I’m talking about. We found a place to sit, poured glasses of Cakebread Chardonnay, and hit the sushi buffet. When in Rome and all that.
When it was time to board, we strolled up to row 1 and discovered our seats were facing backwards. Haven’t seen that in awhile! But hey, lay flat seats regardless of what direction they face, are the best things to ever happen to anyone flying so I AM GOOD.
The flight was awesome. About 10 hours because we were late leaving. A terrific dinner was served- braised beef short rib and lobster Mac and cheese and both tasted great! I wolfed it down and then got myself ready to sleep. I can always sleep on a plane but when you combine being SO tired, nighttime, great meal, good wine, and the loud white noise in a plane - well, good night. Peace out. Ciao.
Everything was going along splendidly until about 5 am when the dude in front of me had some alarm that started going off and would you know that he had no idea how to stop it? I know this because it went on for hours. I started to feel real hate in my heart for him. I tried to conjure my Christmas spirit but it wasn’t working. When it suddenly stopped, I’d never heard such glorious silence in my life. The bliss.
We rolled off the plane and found a VERY long walk to customs but then it was easy peasy to clear that, hit the nothing to declare exit and find our driver who was waiting with our sign! He didn’t seem to speak English but I did seem to speak Spanish so all was well. As we walked outside I saw mountains on both sides and said, “Y… este montanas? “ and he pointed to the large ones and said, “Andes!” WHOA! I was seeing the Andes with my very own eyeballs. THIS IS THE BEST. Man, I love the feeling of seeing things with my own eyes that I’d only ever read about or seen pictures of.
We got in the car and were driving for about 10 minutes when I realized I’d once again done the thing that I only ever do in foreign countries which is- get into cars with unknown people, don’t confirm anything, and just assume I’m going where I think I’m going. Hey, it’s never not worked yet. About half way there, driver man turns to me and says, “eh, el hotel. Es hotel ritz, yes?” I said, “yes. Si!” And then felt relieved that I was going where I wanted to go. I’m nailing this trip so far.
Our first view of the city was superb! Clean, vibrant, bustling, lovely, modern. Quite a bit of traffic but it was rush hour. Lots of dogs out walking their humans. Nothing sketchy or off putting.
Before long, we’d arrived at the Ritz and we were DELIGHTED when we went inside to check in and the room was ready. After 24 hours, we wanted nothing more than a) a great cup of coffee, b) a shower, and c) some place to sit down or lay down in our comfy clothes that was private. Praise be - we could score all three.
Day one was looking good!
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