Amarillo or Bust!

 Sounds like the theme for a cattle drive or old western--but it actually reflected my hope that I could actually make it to Amarillo as planned for time with my sisters and then with all of my siblings.  We had developed this plan back in August when we set the dates to visit Scott and Chantel for the first week in October. With my sister, Valerie, we decided that we wanted to spend some time with our sisters in Amarillo prior to me starting our mission. So a plan was set for Gary and Jena to leave me in Mesa as they headed home from Scott's house and then we would fly to Amarillo and spend a few days and fly home.  Then it expanded to including our brothers who all live in Texas currently.  It turned out that the weekend would work for everyone (well, except for Kara and Tommy--their fifth child was born the day Valerie left--but other family members stepped in to help out with their other four children.).  It was also the weekend of my brothers' birthdays--Mike on the 16th and Todd's on the 18th.

Unfortunately, we couldn't make it down to Oro Valley because of the amount of stuff needing to be done at Gary's mom's home.  At the last minute (almost) I decided to go ahead and fly down to Mesa on Monday the 12th so I could catch our flight from Mesa to Amarillo on Tuesday morning and spend the week there until flying home on Saturday afternoon.

It was wonderful and amazing!! Never in the years since we started getting married have we gathered without spouses or children.  We will definitely do it again sometime.

Found in the Las Vegas Airport--a Lego machine.  I could have used one of those when we were living in Hong Kong although I can't imagine keeping track of all of the pieces on the plane.

And of course, when in Las Vegas.......

Being in this airport reminded me of flying here to pick up Jena as a five week old baby.  I literally walked out to the street and met the social worker and took Jena and put her in my car seat and went back and boarded the same plane back to Dallas, Texas.  We told her we got her from a slot machine in the airport.

The Amarillo Airport....

Statue of Rich Husbandman who died in the Challenger Explosion.  I didn't know until this trip that my brother, Rick, went to high school with him.

Welcome to Texas----

Valerie and I arrived on Tuesday afternoon and Robin and Lynette picked us up (thanks to Lynette who drove us around most of the week).  We spent the next two days visiting, eating fun food, and playing games.

Wednesday morning, I took a walk around the area of our hotel. 

My goal was to get to this area--MediPark.  It was near Kilgore Psychiatric Hospital for Teens and Children where I worked as a young adult and solidified my interest in mental health.  Even before I worked there, I would walk in the mornings occasionally from our house on Carlton up here and back home again.

It is nothing like it was back then.  Before it was a retention pond and some small slopes with grass.  Now it is a full-fledged park with a botanic garden (see below), walking trails, bridges, etc.

And the building where Kilgore used to be is now a medical spa.  Times change....So while it was an okay walk, it wasn't what I remembered--the quiet out of the way place that no one went.  Now it is in the middle of a bustling medical area with hospitals and offices everywhere along with the supportive businesses like gas stations and eating places.

We tried some different restaurants for dinner.  This is the Burger FY--complete with branding on the bun.  Their claim to fame was that their meat was fresh and from the best of cattle.  I wasn't that impressed, but it was good and the French fries were yummy.

When in Amarillo, you have to get a sign for the Historic Route 66.

Thursday for dinner, we decided to try to Texas BBQ complete with coleslaw.  It is a Texas thing.  We ended up at Crazy Larry's.  Food was great and the people very friendly.  I would go again for sure.

Traditional--pulled pork, ranch beans, coleslaw, and potato salad.

After dinner, we headed to the grocery store and then moved into our AirBB for the rest of our stay for

...the brothers were coming!!