Saturday : Online Party at the Throckmorton Mining Company at the ‘crossroads’ in Dallas. A room full of men with little nametags with numbers on them so small, you had to put your eyeballs mere inches from them to read. The gist: write a little note and stick it in their numbered mailbox. Giggle. Then mingle.
At this point I realized I had slightly sprained both ankles while recovering from a potential fall the prior day on the tour. (ouch)… I sat and nursed a beer, hopin to get outta there and over to the rodeo. It was a brief affair. I won the largest stuffed polar bear at the end of the shindig. Perhaps, I thought, my luck was changing.
Left there with my friend Chris from Oakland and got thoroughly lost en-route to Fort Worth. After many u-turns and miscalculations, we decided the rodeo was best skipped, and my ankles were swellin up nicely.
Back to the hotel I stuck some pillows under my legs, took an advil, and slept. That was a smart move.
Later, I felt like shoes were reasonable enough to wear and I could walk. I got in a cab with two fellas outside the hotel and split the fare to the Eagle. The bears weren’t there yet it seemed, but the faux cops were out in full force. It was dark. Too dark. I called my friends from the area to rescue me and the evening got better at the Roundup country bar. It switched over to bump and grind music at midnight and we moved over to TMC. Got on the dance floor, created some flopsweat. Went back to the hotel, bid my friends adieu and did the advil + legs above my heart routine.
A brief stint there led to some Bear Tunes thing. I bumped into
The Hidden Door was bittersweet. Great folks, worst beer lines ever. EVER. I have few triggers in life, one is: standing in a line. Especially when some forethought and planning could avoid it altogether. Grrrrr. After a few trips outside to pee behind a minivan (the bathroom lines were equally atrocious – and I wasn’t about to pee in the trashcan, as was the popular second choice), it was time to go and grab some vittles with
The Bear Run, was over. I’d gladly return to Dallas on some less frenetic weekend and explore the city proper and hang out without any schedules or hoo-ha. I’m thinking with my personality type (and build for that matter), I’d have a better time saving those registration fees and long beer lines.
Monday : A wonderfully lazy morning. Packed and headed down to the crossroads area for a bleucheese burger with Chris and headed off to the airport to head our different directions. Was nice sittin in the fancy Delta Crown room and gettin free beer as his guest, but time passed all too quickly and it was time to hug and hobble to the gate.
I got bumped to First Class as they canceled the return flight. The fella next to me had this horrible cough, and after seeing way too many news reports in the airport about SARS, I was really fretting some airborne disease. I played my GameBoy and breathed through my nose as little as possible. I figured puttin my shirt over my face to form a protective mask woulda been too obvious.
Happy now, to be home, but some bright spots and good folk made the trip worthwhile in the long haul.