Welcome to My World

Hi Y'all

I have decided to create this blog to record my recent, amazing adventures in the USA. This took place in May/June 2011, when my friend Cameron & I traveled through 7 states on a  three week "road trip". Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Colorado & Nevada, a big circle starting and ending in Dallas, Texas. 

We spent a fair bit of time on the famous "Route 66" - or what is left of it - and took other roads and routes to explore off the track places and also some big cities.

We basically hired a car and just drove, with only  a few  hotels pre-booked along the way.

It was soon obvious that we had fallen in love with small-town USA, and the natural wonders  of this breath-taking part of the world. From the deserts , plains/prairies, canyons, rivers, mountains, forests, ghost towns and wide  open roads.  But you will see this as you join me in reliving my journey.

This was probably the best holiday I have ever had. Many life-long  dreams were realised and I am already yearning to go back. (I believe  this is a common symptom of post-holiday blues.) This was my first proper holiday since 1998, but I had already planned much of it in my "dreams" since I was a little girl in the 1960s.

So please, come along for  the ride, and enjoy!!!

NB: Please ignore  the dates at the top  of each post, and in the Archives  listings. -- I had to change them for some reason to make this blog go in the right order. Otherwise  it would be going backwards. Oh, and the " Older Posts " link near the  bottom of  the page is what you click on to see newer posts.OK.?? I wish they would sort this out!!

OFF WE GO - COME FLY WITH ME!

Qantas just recently introduced a new flight schedule from Sydney direct to Dallas, and back via Brisbane. We were on the second only such flight. If we had been on the inaugural flight we would  have had John Travolta meeting us in Dallas!

 

As you can see there is not much between Australia & the USA , just a very boring and cramped 16 hours, ( and  only 2 meals, they also ran out of bottles  of water! ) I was in agony for much of this time, the old back injury & sciatica proving the long flight to be  most uncomfortable.

But I was very excited when I first saw  land, and that land being Baja California. I was already interested in this barren and beautiful peninsula, with it's craggy islands, stunning coastline and colbalt blue & turquoise sea. The Sea of Cortez! And I knew what was down there in the sea - giant Manta Rays, White Pointer Sharks & Hammerhead Sharks, Whales,  I had seen all this and more on TV documentaries, and read John Steinbeck's  book ( The Log from the Sea of Cortez ) so Baja California has held a fascination for me.

I wanted to take photographs but alas my camera was  in my bag in the overhead locker,  and I was squashed next to two other people.  ( not Cameron - he had moved to  a roomier spot up the back )

But here is an idea of what I saw: ( these are NOT My photos )

Decent into The Lone Star State!

As we started our decent into the Lone Star State, I kept my nose firmly pressed against the window pane. I managed to get to my camera and take a few photos of what was below us - Mexico!

In the top photograph, the round darker spots appear to be crops..or maybe they are crop circles??? 

Out in the west , Texas town of El Paso, from the air. The Rio Grande, (known in Mexico as the Río Bravo) conjures up all kinds  of images of the Old West when battles were fought between Texans, Indians and  Mexicans. Bandits, Outlaws, Texas Rangers...the goodies in white, the baddies in black. ( Cue Ennio Morricone Spaghetti Western music here, as I did on my MP3 player!! )   But looking down here  from the  plane, I thought of  modern day Mexicans trying to cross over into the "Land of the Free". Border Patrol cars would be a common site later on during our trip.

 

Texas from The Air

Some more pictures of the Martian-like landscape of West Texas from the air. Very much "No Country For Old Men" territory, some of  which we would see from  ground level later  on. Top photograph, I think,  could  be Big Bend National Park, part of the Chihuahuan Desert.

 

Flying into Dallas - NOT  my photograph. I had my MP3 player on, with the Theme from "Dallas" on repeat. The stewardess told me I had to turn it off, but when I explained, she let me be.

Debbie Does Dallas - with Cameron

We had picked up our hire-car at the airport - A blue Mazda 3, which was to be our best friend and day time home for three weeks.This already had a dint in it, not that we cared.  And the woman at the car hire place tried to sneak in an extra charge for "under aged driver " !!! (Cameron is in his 40s. I guess according to the woman there,  that made me his Mum.??)

Our very first hotel was the Holiday Inn , Market Centre in Dallas (below). A very typical chain hotel, but nice enough, clean and comfortable. 
There were a few, well, interesting (??) people sitting in the lobby when we arrived. Sitting on the sofa was a couple who really looked like they stepped right out of the casting call for Deliverance,  man and wife ( I assume )who did seem very out of place there. I had not become intrepid in my photo taking, so alas I have no photo of them.

As usual, when we found our room, the first thing we did was turn on the TV. (This would become a habit throughout the trip and we would come to love a handful of USA shows - mostly American Pickers, Hardcore Pawn & Pawn Stars )

Here is our first hotel, ( above ) The Holiday Inn , Market Centre. It was nicely placed between a train line and several busy freeways. Repair work  was going on too. Oh yes, and the curtains didn't close.

A few weeks later I came across a vintage postcard of this hotel in an antique shop in  Arizona!

How it has changed!! Mind you they were still doing work on it!! Lots of  banging and  hammering. Still haven't got it right. I like this old style one a  lot better!

Early that evening we had a look around the downtown area of Dallas, and looked for somewhere to eat. This was  not that easy, and  the first  of many experiences we would have  in finding downtown areas to be  almost completely deserted!  Big tall business  buildings, and  older style places,  with the streets so quiet it was like no people existed here. There were a few eateries and we found  an OK one. But Dallas did not seem to be a  happening place at all,  whether for eating, entertainment, shopping or business ! It  was all very "Twilight Zone", but we would get used to this and the feeling would become strangely normal.

  St Jude statue - Practically the only other "soul" we saw  in Downtown Dallas

Before heading back to our room, we explored a  little  around town. We headed up a  street called Cedar Springs Rd and  got  ridiculously excited  by the sight of a large family sitting on their front porch , enjoying the warm evening, something you rarely  see anymore in Melbourne area. (Well, we were jetlagged)
This lead us to a more  upmarket, arty, trendy and interesting area, with older homes and cool, expensive-looking apartments, " lofts" and condominiums. Hold  on - of course it was  like this! This was, I later learned, Cedar Springs -   a famous gay area of Dallas! 

Apartment block, Cedar Springs

There was also a  supermarket that played MUZAK ! That impressed me, as well as  the really cheap prices for nearly everything - especially make up and face creams!

 The "Hee Haw"couple were still there when  we got  back to our  hotel , just sitting there quietly on the sofa in the exact same positions. Maybe they do this every day?

Breakfast In America

Our first breakfast of this trip was at the cute old fashioned 1950s diner next to our hotel - "The Original Market Diner".

We would go to many diners similar to this one..but we sure had a great breakfast here. 

I actually had "biscuits & gravy" with my breakfast. Basically they are the same as Aussie scones but served with a bland, warm  white-sauce-type-gravy. Not really my bag, but hey, when in Rome....

This could  have been where we heard our first " Y'all " ,  from our waitress. We loved it. In fact we missed it in areas where they did not talk like this.

The Shootings of JFK & JR - Dallas, TX

Two historical news breaking shootings occurred in Dallas Texas in the second half of  the  20th century. Both events caused widespread disbelief and the world stopped in it's tracks, confused and shocked. Some  conspiracy theories continue today. 
Both  victims were very powerful men. One lead  the  greatest  nation on the planet, the other, one of the  wealthiest  Oil Companies. Both had many admirers , but also many enemies. Both men where known to  associate  with questionable characters. And both were loved by many beautiful and glamourous women.

The first shooting was the assassination of President John F Kennedy on November 22, 1963. The other was the attempted murder of the Head of Ewing Oil,  J R Ewing in March 1980.
We saw  the sites of both these crimes.

The Sixth Floor Museum.

This is a  must see for anyone who visits Dallas. A very thorough and interesting museum, it took us several hours to get through all the displays and movies. And there were several school  excursions there at the same time, as well as loads of other visitors. ( So this where everyone goes to in Dallas! ).

The creepiest part was the actual area and window from where Oswald fired his gun. There is a definite chilling and unnerving feeling about this very spot, which is set up exactly how it was  on that day.

And here I am, twice, on the famous grassy knoll... ( of course we thought about that episode of Seinfeld with Keith Hernandez..)

The building behind me is  the Book Depository.  

One of three remaining Polaroid photos taken by Mary Moorman at the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. (Photo: Mary Moorman)

"X" marks  the spot today - photo taken by me

 After our JFK experience,  we had a walk around the still very quiet and eerie downtown area where I found the building used as the offices of "Ewing Oil" in Seasons 2 - 10 of Dallas. It was here  that JR Ewing was shot in his office by the  crazed Kristin Shepard in 1980. " Streets had emptied on March 21st 1980, the night JR got shot. Fifty three countries tuned in to the shooting, the headline making news of which helped sell the series to another eleven countries by the time it came back on air again"

JR cops it in the cliff hanger to end all cliff hangers in Dallas, 1980.

This  building ( above ) is now  the "Renaissance Tower" and  located at 1201 Elm Street in downtown  Dallas. I went into the lobby, but there was nothing to commemorate this epic TV event, in fact nothing at all about  TV Dallas & Ewing Oil.

Here is  the gun used to shoot JR - on display at Southfork Ranch.  More on this  place coming up right here on this blog!! Stay tuned...

The gold building ( above ) in the background was used as Ewing Oil for season 1 and can be found at 2001 Bryan Street.

And this is the  offices of  Barnes Wentworth, a bit out of the central downtown area at what is now the Campbell Centre at the intersection of Central Expressway & Northwest Highway. We came across  this quite  by accident, but being a big  fan of  the TV show Dallas  ( in case you couldn't tell ) I recognised it immediately.

A Few More Doings in Dallas

On our last day in Dallas , as well as  a fruitless search for a post office,  we explored a  little more before heading off out of the big city.
We returned to a not-so-nice area just to get a photograph of this groovy  sign. Note it is "Nightclub II". I can't imagine what "Nightclub I" was like, because this one was decidedly seedy and I reckon avoidable at all costs!

Then  it was back to the Uptown area  to have a look at a recommended vintage clothing shop, Ahab Bowen. The cute wooden house that is  the shop is  Dallas' "oldest house that is still on its original foundation", hence the historical marker outside.  Lots of rooms all filled with interesting items from the 20s on .. but I have seen just as   good very close to home!
I only bought one thing here, a 1980s T shirt for the " 1st Annual New Mexico Police Olympics ". Why?? Because it  made me  laugh!

 Northpark Shopping Mall , in North Dallas is rather posh, and full of designer label shops. Just check out the link. We came across  this again, by accident. However not all shops were totally out of our price range. 

What a lovely, clean and interesting  mall. Everywhere there were gorgeous displays of cacti and  various succulents, also artworks and exhibitions, including a lavish " Mont Blanc Writing Pens Exhibit featuring ornate pens which paid homage to arts patrons such as Louis XIV, Andrew Carnegie, Gaius Cilnius Maecenas (a Roman who lived who lived from 70 BC to 8 BC and is widely regarded as the founding father of cultural patronage), Medici, Elizabeth I and J.P. Morgan, all  immortalized by the luxury brand.

At the Pinto  Ranch Western Fashions store, I bought my first Western shirt of this trip.
It was here  that we were given possibly the best advice anyone could get while embarking on a road trip through the USA West. "Watch out for the Comanches", this coming from an older gentleman who worked in the store. Well thanks, but what is this?1865?? Do we need to form our cars into a circle and take cover? This was after we told him that we were including the Four Corners area in our trip. ( I didn't want to be a smarty pants and remind  him that actually The Four Corners is  Hopi,  Navajo, Ute and Zuni territory, and  the Comanches generally  ruled Texas, Oklahoma & Mexico )

Pinto Ranch Western Fashions

Shirt I bought

Despite all the trendy and expensive clothing stores, my favourite shop here was Paciugo Gelato. What amazing, divine and bizarre flavours!! ( check link ). I tried a chocolate one but fell in love the violet. On our next visit here at the end of  the  trip I would try Raspberry Lavender  and Rose, also superb! I wasn't brave enough  sample the "Organic Maple Caramelized Bacon", but you can see it in this photo.

 So our time in Dallas was coming to an end, and we headed off  in a northern direction, ready for our next adventure, but horrified by the enormous freeways!! Remember  that old 1950s Disney Cartoon "Magic Highway" ?? This is what I was reminded  of. One thing this cartoon really got wrong was " highway signs will be larger and more simple to read"  Not so!!! The roads and  highways are poorly set up and  labelled. They may be big but they are easy to miss!! This would sometimes prove to be frustrating  but on the good side, we got a  bit lost at times and this made our adventure even more surprising when we would  suddenly find ourselves  in strange, fasinating and deserted parts of towns. But more of that later!

Reviewin' the House of Ewing

I watched Dallas back in the late 70s &  80s, and  the again over  the last few years as I acquired DVDs of the  legendary TV show. ( I am at the end of series  9, Debbie is still doing Dallas. ) I was a "Dallas" girl, NOT a "Dynasty" girl.

So I guess it was almost as silly as Pommie "Neighbours" fans going all the way out to see "Ramsey Street" in Melbourne, but I wanted to see the most famous ranch on TV,  Southfork.

We had booked into the Southfork Hotel, which is affiliated with Southfork Ranch -  a  very popular tourist attraction. So we drove a  little north out of the  big city  to a town called Plano.

The Hotel has a Dallas Theme going. One of  the restaurants there is the Cattlemen's Club, familiar to other fans of Dallas no doubt.

 

We did not eat here, but  in the morning we had breakfast in  Remington's Restaurant. This was adorned with large framed photographs of  the TV shows main stars, taken recently at a reunion.

In fact the stars had been at Southfork only  a week or so before us, to film a new Dallas show about the grown  John Ross & Christopher. The lady in the restaurant told me  that the staff had been asked if  they wanted to be extras!! Although she did not do this she was able to tell me  that Linda Gray was  lovely and Victoria Principal  - was stuck up!!  Sadly no comment about Larry Hagman though.

Our breakfast was great by the way, I love American Buffet breakfasts.  I tried  the grits and was not really impressed, but then the same lady specially  made some for me , how  she said they were supposed to  be made, a  kind of milky warm porridge, but made of ground corn and eaten with syrup.

It was a short  drive to Southfork Ranch, through lovely green rural areas. It was an overcast  day, and very muggy.  The Dallas area can get very humid. 

Before we joined a few others on the tour of Southfork we were beset upon by a  photographer who took my photo in the studio style set up.  He asked me who my favourite from  "Dallas" was, and even though I said Lucy or JR, he plonked a hat on my head and sat me in Bobby's ( Patrick Duffy ) chair. I think he believed all females loved Bobby the most.

 ...and this is Cameron & me, but I think Cameron ought to be wearing  bib & brace, have a piece of hay in his mouth  and be called Cletis. ( My C&W name is Rayette, named after Karen Black's character in 5 Easy Pieces.)

The actual Ewing Mansion is much smaller  than it apppears  on TV.  The outdoor scenes were filmed here, and  most indoor scenes were filmed in LA. The Theme from "Dallas' was played over and over again as we were  told the story of the home while sitting by that famous pool. I kept thinking about Sue Ellen  lounging here with a drink, or JR pushing  Cliff Barnes into the pool from the balcony. I would have loved to have jumped in myself!

We were then lead through the home, and here are a few photos of the inside.

Lucy Ewing's room, or how it might have been as imagined by designers of this tourist  attraction.

 We also strolled around the  outside grounds, and checked out  the gift shop and museum. It is interesting to recall being told that the ladies of Dallas would often have to be dressed up in  massive fur coats in that oppressive humidity. The make-up people would have been extremely busy too!

Jock Ewing's Cadillac

Something  I really liked!!! - Texas shaped tiles paving the outside of gift shop.

Sue Ellen's saddle

 

So that was about it, all very amusing. I bought  a few postcards and then  we left good ol'

 Southfork for further adventures, but not before getting a  photo of  that famous entrance!!

Now  that I am back  home, watching Dallas is a  bit surreal, having  seen all those places from the show, the tall office  buildings and the ranch. What fun!!! Back in the 80s, I would never in  a million years have thought I'd be doing all that. ( and I still have Dallas items from those days too !! )

Dallas  intro - season 9 below

http://youtu.be/i8pvz_caupQ