Dallas – mama Betty and exploding tires

After arriving in Dallas on Saturday evening we went to mama Betty’s favorite Mexican food place, La Hacienda Ranch.  They had changed the menu since I last went while visiting during Christmas two years prior, however, it was still very good.  We then returned home and played Yahtzee before retiring for the evening.

The next day we visited the Perot Museum of Nature and Science which was pretty awesome.  They had a lot of interactive exhibits, Garrett of course loved the robots, as well as several other exhibits, with the Universe and Dinosaurs being of particular interest to me.

After exploring most of the museum I got grumpy and tired per usual and we left.  We then went home and regrouped and Garrett and I went to Kroger to pick up wine (duh) and fixings for spinach and goat cheese stuffed chicken with roasted brussells sprouts.  Mom said she had a gourmet dinner, and we ate off china, so I guess we did alright.  We capped off the night with a game of Wits and Wagers.

On Monday we went to the local REI and Garrett helped me pick out all of my camping gear – hiking boots, a backpack, pants, shirt, camelbak, socks and a hat.  For once things actually fit me and they had petite sizes which was a highly unusual development.  My mom waited patiently as I insisted on trying on basically every possible backpack.  Thanks Mom, and Garrett, and store dude.

That evening we went to the Magic Time Machine restaurant which was odd to say the least.  I won’t ruin it for you in case you ever wish to go, but my favorite part was the awesome magician who came to our table and did some sweet tricks.  He gave me a signed card, so that was cool.

The following day Garrett and I washed all of our clothes, repacked the car, went to the car wash (more on that later), and got ready for the rest of the road trip.  We ordered delicious Pizza Hut and just hung out with my mom before the next morning when we would say good-bye at 7:00 a.m.  It is at this point I am sure you will realize that we fail citied our asses off at taking any pictures.  Sorry Mom, we will make it up to you during Christmas – and thank you for the wonderful visit!

After actually getting up early for once and leaving on time, I proceeded to bitch at Garrett for two hours for failing to tell me the alignment was horribly off in the car as he had been the only one driving it while in Dallas.  Two hours into the trip outside of the wonderful city of Vernon, TX as the front left tire exploded while we were doing 80mph in the left lane, I realized it was not the alignment – and instead the left track at the car wash from the day before had somehow mutilated the tire enough to make it blow, but not enough to immediately destroy it.

I used my sweet street racing skills to ensure our survival and Garrett called a tow truck.  Luckily the GREAT people at Charter Tire Service helped us out and got us back on the road within two hours.  We also got more Pizza Hut, because, Pizza Hut.  We arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico only two and half hours behind schedule at the Route 66 Hostel.  More on that to come. xoxo Steph