Monday, May 05, 2008

• Texas!

  Well folks, I just got back from Texas yesterday. TOTAL FUN! I felt like I had just arrived and suddenly I was back at the airport, slipping off my sandals for security. But the first time around I didn't confound security with a crystal cube in my backpack.
  
  I wrote two journal entries on the trip, so I'll copy them down for you and fill in the blanks afterward.Oh, and for the record, "Tutu" is Hawaiian for "grandmother." It is more informal than "Kahuna" and is used for any respected older woman.
  
  Also, for the record, my grandmother is a retired bar tender. So, not to change the subject or anything, please don't be offended by any language!
  
  April 28, 2008
  I'm sitting in the Cincinnati  airport waiting for my flight to San Antonio. The plane from South Bend was fun! It was a little bitty baby plane - we were all packed in like sardines. As the guy sitting next to me said, "We need a shoehorn to get in!" I, of course, had my nose glued to the window for half of the thirty minute flight! Fun! Time to board the next one!
  
  4-31-08 or 5-1-08?
  I've been in Texas a few days now and loving every minute of it! The first day I met Tutu Linda and Ray and got acquainted with the ranch and its inhabitants, a neurotic chihuahua named Ziggy and a stays-close-to-home cat whose name I've momentarily forgotten though we called for her for quite a while that evening (Noel).
  
  The next day Tutu and I drove to Corpus Christi and soon found ourselves swearing a blue storm at the OnStar system in her new car. "S***! Shut the f*** up! Here, read the instructions!" and a packet of OnStar information was thrown my way. I told Tutu she should give it a name so when she's mad at it, she has a name to yell. She said, "How about Ethel? That sounds like an annoying name. It sounds like she could be an annoying person." So begins Linda and Ethel.
  
  
  
  We cruised through Corpus and straight to our hotel on/in(?) Padre Island. We were early and our room hadn't been cleaned yet, so they gave us a handicapped room on the second floor. We got in the elevator, blabbing, when finally Tutu says, "This elevator is slow." I said that I thought it was quiet. We hadn't pressed the button. Griswolds.
  The room was nice though the toilet came halfway up my shins. Everything was nicely accessible for the handicapped, except the designer, with a wicked sense of humor, put the hair dryer and electrical outlet up quite high. We had a balcony with a great view of the ocean. Of  course, the first evening we were standing out there when Tutu decides to go back in. "F***! We're locked out!" Panic sets in, it's late, no one's outside, we don't have our cell phones and it's starting to get cold. "Oh, wait. Nevermind. It's open!" Whew!
  That first day we changed into our swimsuits, got in the elevator, talked, got out of the elevator and walked down the hall. Dead end. Came back, walked the other direction. Dead end. Came back, got back in the elevator and punched one. We went down. Griswolds.
  We laid out on the beach and chatted a bit before heading to the bar. I had mentioned earlier that my favorite drink is a Miami Vice. "What the hell is that?" I told her. "Don't say Miami Vice, it'll piss off the bartender. Just tell him you want half pina colada and half daquiri." We went to the bar. She told him how she wanted her tequila and said, "My granddaughter will have a half pina colada and half strawberry daquiri."
  "Oh, a Miami Vice?"
  "Shit."
  I just laughed.
  
  I met the family and bonded a bit with Trinity who is eight years old and not shy in the least. [My cousin's daughter] She wrote a sweet essay called "My cosin in Michigan."
  
  The next day was particularly windy and was spent at the pool. Chicago has nothing on Corpus wind-wise. Lunch was a girls outing at a quaint women-run restaurant, the Dragonfly. I had crabcakes and my first ever vanilla bean crème brûlée. Aunt Nan was impressed I knew how to tap it with my spoon. All credit goes to Amélie.
  We went to their house for a fabulous dinner and I met Judah [my cousin's son], a very sweet toddler who asked for "le baba." (He has a French Grand-Mère)
  
  The drive back to the ranch had our exciting moments of nearly running out of gas (we stopped at a podunk town, Swinney Switch, to fill up at a one pump gas station with the old-fashioned ticker numbers on the pump. It took Tutu three tries to get the car on the right side!) and me missing an exit (we had to call OnStar who couldn't find where we were trying to get to - we settled for Sea World because Tutu knew the way from there, and we had to shut it up again a couple of times).
  
  Now I'm sitting at the ranch watching a deer graze, squirrels frolic, birds squabble, buzzards soar and wind rustle the leaves and wind chimes.
  
  5-2-08
  I called Uncle Kevin yesterday. I wasn't quite prepared - he sounded just like my Papa.
  
  5-4-08
  I fed zebras and an elk yesterday at a wildlife park. Tutu and I saw a five-legged zebra trying to mate. The female was less enthusiastic and shook him off. Loooong!
  
  
  ***
  
  And that was my Texas trip! The crystal cube that had security poking around in my nicely crammed backpack was a pencil holder from China - one of many beautiful presents Ray (Tutu's husband) brought back for me from a business trip. I was spoiled rotten! After clearing security and catching my flight to Cincinnati, I had a few hours to spare before the next flight to South Bend. I bought a book on a whim (totally unnecessary, I've already started two others and had a third sitting in an Amazon box on my bed at home), and sat and read for a bit before a Japanese girl about my age hesitantly asked if I could help her. She had missed her flight to Detroit and was worried about missing the flight from D-town to Japan as well. She had a toll-free number to call for help but didn't feel confident enough speaking English to make the call herself. So I called for her, was dubbed a "Good Samaritan" by the operator and told to take her to Gate A12 where there was another plane to Detroit scheduled to leave in thirty minutes. Perhaps she could catch that one. No luck. They were full. I left her in the capable hands of an airline employee who was about to head to Gate A11 where another plane to Detroit was waiting. I gave Miss Uchida (I think) a hug and wished her luck since I had to get back to my gate. I'm hoping and praying she got a flight because the ticket was from Japan and very rigid.
  
  Sorry the post was so long! Time for me to continue catching up on emails and phone calls! I'll upload pictures later.
  ~Toodles!
  

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