Frisco, Texas

Grab a snack and get a comfy chair.  Here we go. Dave and I had never had a vacation without the kids since we got married.  So when I heard he was going back to Texas, I invited myself along.  We had a fabulous time and the kids had a wonderful time with their grandma.  The guys we went with where lots of fun. One of them is very into Nascar racing.  On the way from the hotel to the place they were working was a go-cart place.  It had electrical cars.  It was a ton of fun.  We even went back the next night.  When you are done your rounds they give you a little print out of your best time and how you could improve.  The second night Dave got 1st place.

I know they have roads like this a lot all over the world, but they still fascinate me every time.  There is hardly any crosswalks in the Dallas area.  You just cross wherever you want and driving straight across 3 or 4 lanes is just fine.  Dave drove the whole week.  Every one else was trying to give him their GPS systems, but Dave doesn't like those.  He would study a map for a minute then drive right there.  Then he knew where he was going the rest of the time.  After the second day every one just sat back and let him drive.

It was really hot while we were there, yet I was freezing most of the time.  Outside is blazing and they make up for it inside.  Every place you went had air conditioning.  I don't think you could live with out it down there.  But they always had it turned up so high I really was cold almost the entire trip.  Next time I go somewhere really hot I am taking a jacket. Friday morning we dropped off the rest of Dave's coworkers at the airport and then went back to the hotel.  We got ready to go in to Dallas.  We walked all over.  First was the Sixth Floor Museum where JFK was shot.  These are the crosses on the road where he was hit.

We then went to the Dallas World Aquarium.  This was really neat.  It had 7 floors.  We started at the top and you work your way down then over and all the way back up again.  They had so much in the building.  There was even little tanks on the walls sometimes.  Really maximized their space.  We didn't have to walk forever to get from one exhibit to the next.  This sloth was just hanging in a tree.  I guess it is so slow that it didn't need a cage, it wasn't going anywhere.

Up on the top floor you can see all the way to the sixth and they had huge manatees swimming around.  I couldn't believe how big there are.  We saw lots of turtles and 2 big crocodiles.

The seals loved to play with the kids coming by.  They were very friendly.

Down underneath the manatees.  We also walked through a shark tank.  It was all glass except the floor and they would swim all around you.  There were a couple of different types of sharks.

A sleepy jaguar.  We saw a dragon seahorse.  It really look just like a leafy thing floating in the water.  It was really neat.  On the bottom level they had fish "from countries around the world. Such as Japan, Australia, British Columbia, ..."  I thought that was so funny that British Columbia was a country.

The garden eels are the freakiest thing I saw.  We were looking at all the pretty fish when suddenly they start coming up out of the sand.  They are really skinny and bright colors.  It  looked like growing grass.  The eel doesn't come all the way out, just up a little then down.

After the aquarium we had lunch.  We had really great service every where we went.  Each person seemed to love their job. Even when a place was packed and we were getting six people in we never waited longer than 10 minutes.  And we got the bill right away.  We then took a ride on the trolley.  After a long day we headed back to go to sleep.

Across from our hotel is 17 soccer fields.  There was a game going every minute of the day, every day.  It is right next to FC Dallas stadium.  Dave and I walked over and watched part of a girls game one night. (That started at 9pm)  Really talented it was very interesting to watch.

Dave had told us from his first trip about the waffle maker at the hotel.  The kids really wanted to see it.

Our last day we just lazed by the pool and then watched a movie in the heat of the day.  We later went to the Dallas Temple.  As always it was beautiful.  Marble outside.  We had had a frozen yogurt at Yumilicious at lunch.  It was the best ever, I had avocado and taro, so good. It is a self serve place.  You grab a cup and fill it as much as you want.  You can have one flavor or all 12.  Then you add any topping you want.  They had tons for fruit and candy toppings.  It is all paid for by weight, not each topping.  I loved it so much that we went back again that night.  I would have waited but it was our last day and when I looked it up they are only in Texas so I knew I would probably never get it again.

Sunday we were up early and to the airport.  It was all smooth sailing until the landing in Great Falls.  Our pilot would speed up and then slow down, then speed up again.  We were in the clouds and we had turbulence.  That didn't bother me it was the speed changes and the turning left then right.  I was sure our pilot had no idea what he was doing.  Of course Dave said it wasn't near that bad.  I was still happy to get off that plane.  It was great to see the kids when we arrived.  I am so thankful to Myrna for taking the kids the whole week.  That is a long time.  And to Amber who had them over the weekend a bit.  We could not have done it with out you.  It was a great holiday and I am very glad I went.