Amarillo By Morning... Or Whenever We Can Get There!

Following our eventful July 4th, we headed southwest on Southwest for Kevin and Kim's wedding in Amarillo. This trip started as an adventure but luckily, it ended quietly with our making all connections and landing safely in Philly.

We started trying to get to Amarillo at 3:25 PM EST on Friday via a stop in St. Louis and connecting flight in Dallas. We would have arrived in AMA at 8:40 PM CST and been fully rested for the following night's festivities, but did this happen as planned? Nope... not at all. You see, I insisted on working that Friday, and the All Star game was being played in St. Louis, so we took the last available flight out and well, missed it. It was completely full.

So we headed down to TB's office to wait for the next flight to HOU that would take us to DAL for the night to meet TB's parents then we'd get to AMA by 9 AM CST the next morning. Once again, no such luck. We made our listings for the flight only to find out that the flight was delayed due to mechanical problems in Pittsburgh and was scheduled to be in PHL for take off 2 hours late! At this point, we started looking for alternate route to get to Dallas on Friday, and our other option was to go through Chicago. Sounds like everything is set, right?! Wrong again! That flight departed 10 minutes prior to the news of the delayed flight from Pittsburgh. UGH!

Meanwhile, I am on the phone with Dave and Teresa and trying to decide what to do with their flights. We decided that it was best for them to head to DAL, and we'd stay in HOU overnight. So... I call the best B&B around and luckily, TKA&I had one available bed and 2 available couches to put us up for the night. At 10:30 PM CST, Todd picked us up from Hobby, and we headed to Missouri City. The girls were sleeping, but we got to spend a little time with T&K and got to see the girls for a few minutes on Saturday morning. It was great to get unexpected Abby and Izzy love!

So... at 8:00 AM CST, we were on our way to DAL where Troy's parents were anxiously awaiting our arrival. We checked in for our flight to AMA and landed safe and sound (and tired already) around 11:30 AM CST. By this time, we'd been trying to get to AMA for 17 hours. We headed into town for Teresa's hair appointment; my brief shopping excursion at the Amarillo Mall; and then for lunch with Dan, Mary Helen, and Tamara. Nothing is as good as Mexican food in Texas... you just can't beat it! After lunch, we headed back to Meadowland Drive for wedding day preparations.

Since we've made it to AMA, things seem to be headed down the right road... until we open my luggage. My face wash punctured a hole in my quart size baggie and then proceeded to leak all over the inside of the baggie and because it was so squished in my luggage, it leaked OUTSIDE of the plastic baggie. Gross, right?! Not as gross as the nice spot it left on my brand new red shoes (purchased solely for this event). They are unwearable except for with long pants to cover the spot where the face wash ate the red dye off of the leather. Great fun. Teresa ironed all of our clothes, and Dave and I set out for the mall, again, to look for shoes. I didn't' find any, but was glad that I was able to wear the extra pair that were stowed away in my luggage. I guess Clinique means what they say when they call it scrub the day away face wash... some of their makeup could be considered dye, so that mess would have to be potent to get it off. I'm just upset that it works so well!!

Clothes ironed... check. Shoes in tow (all 4 shoes with 1 ruined and 1 without a match now)... check, check. After all was taken care of, we loaded up the rental and headed to our suites over looking the power plant at the La Quinta Inn. The rooms were nice and sufficient for what we needed. We showered, dressed up and headed out for the brief journey to Canyon, Texas and Whitaker Ranch where the blessed event was scheduled at 7:30 PM CST.

We got to the Ranch and made our way to the water fall and barn area where the wedding was set up. It was a beautiful day and the scenery just as lovely; HOWEVER, it was hotter than the core of the Earth, and we were baking in God's convection oven with the blistering breeze that was blowing our way. Although it was a bit stifling out, it was hard to focus on the heat with all of our family close. We haven't seen everyone in a while, so it was nice to visit with everyone.

After the wedding, we headed to the baseball field for the family picture... yes, you heard me correctly, the baseball field. There are about 1, 237 members of Troy's family... not really, I think Dan said that Kim made #40, but unlike my teeny family, this crew won't fit on a park bench for a picture! The setting was fantastic, so we all gathered around and the photographer snapped the picture of our crew. We ate, visited, drank lots of Gatorade, and watched the newly weds dance with each other and the kids play in the fountain. Needless to say, it was a great day!

Around 10:00 PM CST, we headed out to get ready for our return trip home. We packed our bags and laid the day to rest. We met Mary Helen and Dan for breakfast at Cracker Barrel on Sunday morning, and then headed out to the Amarillo airport (where TB was selected to be searched... hehe!) for our trip home. We were headed to DAL then to STL then to PHL without getting off the plane. What a trip! It was scheduled for 6 hours and 35 minutes. We were nervous that we'd get pulled off in STL and would have to re-route through MDW, but thankfully, we made it through!!

We got home, had dinner, and settled in for the night with two very excited pups to have their pup-parents home.

To sum it up... a 52 hour trip, with 19 hours of travel time, and 33 hours of actual feet on land time = one really nice weekend with family. We'd do it again in a heartbeat!! Oh... before I forget... per her request, this is a shout-out to Grandma! We love you both!!

Yankee Doodle Came To Town A-riding On A Boeing...

Oh, say can you see... wait... I'll say what I saw! My mom actually made it to Philly... well, first it was Jackson (she got on the plane) then she landed safely in Baltimore and we drove into Philly after we picked her up!

It was a fun-filled weekend that started with lunch at P.F. Chang's in White Marsh, and then a little shopping in Glen Mills. We then headed home where two very anxious furbabies were waiting. This is the first time that Mom has seen them in a year and two things are constant... Max hasn't changed, and Marlee is a monster! LOL!! They were so excited to see her... and she was just as excited to see them in return! After a stint outside, we came in and relaxed to wait for Troy to get home from work. We all just hung out and visited on Thursday and planned our busy Friday!

Friday started with a haircut for me and KC and a little war time fun for Troy (gotta love it when the mother-in-law's in town and can keep the wife occupied)!! We then got ready for the day and headed north to West Chester for ... wait for it ... do not say!!! The QVC Studio Tour... first we made sure that mom was medicated, for this kind of excitement could just throw her over the edge... hehe! Then we hydrated and headed in. I went to the counter to pay for 3 tickets for the 2 PM tour, and just our luck, the tour was free because of construction... QVC saved us money, once again! We spent about 3 hours at the Studio, then lounged in the QVC Garden, where I almost got stuck in a oribital swing thingy and we headed South to our apartment. We got home and started dinner which was lasagna and garlic bread. It was sooo yummy... I introduced mom to ground turkey in two forms... the lasagna and my turkey burger on Saturday (and... gasp... she liked it!). We then watched some television and relaxed because the big day was Saturday.... the parade and the tour of downtown!

We got up Saturday morning and headed to Panera Bread for breakfast and then to the Old City for the parade. We parked at the airport and took the train into the Market East Station where we walked Market Street into the Old City. When we made it into the parade area, the festivities had already begun. There were people galore and flags were flying high! Troy had to go and play manager while Mom and I visited the Liberty Bell. She was in awe... loved it, I tell ya! From then on... she was one of them ... shreak... a TOURIST! LOL!! She snapped little mini photos with her camera and posed for not one, but several pictures across town. I promise, when the parade started, she stopped and spoke to every street liner that was there and offered peanuts and stickers to everyone!! She fit in nicely! We finished with the parade and took the L-train to Suburban Station where we walked through LOVE Park and showed her where we lived on the Parkway. We walked down the Parkway to Logan's Square and saw the fountain and the museum. We weren't able to get to Rocky because of the concert and such, but she was happy to see what we could see for the day. We then made our way back to Suburban and waited on the R1 to the airport to get home. That night, we finished out our visit with a little R&R and a little M&M!

Mom's flight was at 10:15 the next morning, so she, Troy and I loaded up and headed to Baltimore. It was sad to see her go, but we had such a good time. I can't wait for her to visit again. Check out the pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/mandyeblack.