Sue Visits Dallas in May

On my way to visit Kate and her kids in England in May, I planned my flight route to include a stop in Dallas, Texas where my mom, sister and two brothers live. American Airlines, my preferred airline, now flies a new non-stop flight from Dallas to Heathrow Airport. By deliberately planning a 9-hour layover in Dallas, I scheduled my flight from Indianapolis to Dallas (instead of Chicago) and I spent the day with my mom, her husband, my three siblings, and their kids. I arrived around 10 a.m. CDT at DFW Airport and found my mom, Jackie, and my sister, Ginger, waiting for me. They had arranged for me to accompany them to a luncheon with one of my mother's charitable organizations. The birthday party theme went along with the installation of new officers; each one received a gift. My mom was installed as the treasurer.

Here is my mom holding a birthday balloon.

After the luncheon, we drove to my youngest brother Petr's house to visit his wife, Bonnie. My mom and sister are pictured.
We also drove by the new Cowboys football stadium and the Rangers baseball stadium.

My brother is an architect and his wife is an artist.
Here is some of their artwork.

Before my trip to Dallas, I had been to Shipshewana in norther Indiana on a bus trip. I saw this sign at one of the booths and thought my mother (for Mother's Day) needed it for her "bee room." As a kid I grew up in a beekeeping home. My parents had a beehive in our backyard in town and also seven or eight hives at a garden plot they owned ten miles out of town. My mother has collected many bee items over the years but she needed this 12"x12" aluminum sign, I thought. Didn't she? Well, I never reckoned on the fact that I would have to put it in my carry-on bag because I never see my luggage when I get to Dallas (one of the perks of a long layover—not having to lug around a big suitcase). So, I had a little trouble getting through security in Indianapolis but mostly they laughed at me. My mom loved the sign and hung it in her kitchen right away. Will it ever get to the bee room?

In the late afternoon, my family all gathered at my mom's house; we had a light dinner of sandwiches and homemade peach cobbler and we visited.

My older brother, Bock, took me to his family's house for a tour before dropping me at the airport for my continued trip to England. By 9:15 p.m. I was on a plane flying to London.
It is so much better to spend a long layover away from the airport with family.

Watch for a later post for the details about Bock's wife's gnome (on the front porch in this picture), which made a trip with me across the pond. Kind of like the Travelocity gnome.