Killing time in Dallas

Have finally gotten used to the heat and the body clock is now functioning on Texas time. As I write this it is about 7am in the moning and I feel normal. Well - what has been happenning? Apparently (as far as Bo is concerned at least) when you are killing time in Dallas you go shopping! We picked up a rental car yesterday and armed with my trusty TomTom GPS set out on our first right hand drive adventure in over 11 years. When I ordered the car I told the rental people that I didn't want any Jap or European car - give me something American! Hell I am in Texas and I needed a Texas car.  Well I guess I should keep my mouth shut and reflected on my request as I tried to negotiate the USS Enterprise though Dallas traffic. Now you have large cars, followed by even larger cars and then you have bloody american cars. In this case a Mercury Grand Marquis Ultimate Edition (aka the Enterprise). This thing is so big I am sure I saw a couple of medium size jets swing round  looking to land on it as we moved along one of the many motorways in this city. This is the sort of car I wear my cowboy hat in - and I did!

Anyway it apparently goes like this - Bo sees the car and realises that the boot is big enough to put a small family along with their pets, close friends and most of their furniture inside and still have room for the groceries! In her case that means shopping and lots of it. Now we are talking about a woman who cannot stand malls and everything they represent, dragging me into Walmarts and  Costco's like some shopping diva on a mission. Actually I have to say that Walmart  is unbelievable. They sell absoulutely everything from food (as in real huge supermarket) to really good quality clothing and electronic appliances. And everything - and I mean everything - is so damned cheap. From here we moved on to Harley Davidson dealership's and stocked up on some items - about $1300 (US) to be exact with Bo buying most of it! Now these places are also huge - well we are in Texas! - and the gear is unbelievable. You obviously have all the bikes and the bling that you can put on them but most of the showroom is taken up with HD apparel. And they do it so well. It works like this. You arrive and are always greeted by Miss Universe and her twin sisters. Where upon they show you around and become your personl shopper for the day. And it gets better.

I'm standing there looking at stuff and one of the Miss Universe twins says "Hey yo'all drink beer?"  I think - Jesus did I hear her correctly and I say " Hey darlin I am a kiwi - is a duck's bum watertight?". She says "Waal we ol just opened up a keg and I could bring yo'all down a beer if you want?" I go "Waal hell yeah". And with that two ice cold pints of beer arrived and I had the bizarre experience of walking around a shop knocking back free pints of beer while I tried on T shirts and jackets. As I said in my last blog - I love this place! You will be pleased to know I left with the kiwi reputation for knocking them back considerably enhanced.  Thankfully, and despite Bo's best efforts, she could not fill that boot up. This was a relief to the family that had taken up residence in it while we were shopping.

That's the USS Enterprise in the foregroud and the shop is Longhorn Harley Davidson.

This is North Texas Harley Davidson where my personal shopper was Barbie! Hey yo'all!

The day rounded off with my neice Emma's 13th birthday and all the fuss that goes with it. Lots of presents and noise. (Nole - if you are reading this I can confirm all your gifts have been well received and thanks given).

This is a shot of my nephew Dean with the Birthday girl Emma cutting her Banana Split Ice Cream cake and her sister Chloe to the far left. Awesome kids. People started arriving last night with Michael the first, having flown in from Auckland. Craig and Darryl arrive this evening - god help us all. Bo is still asleep. Until the next one - LTGTR