Advertisement
Published: June 13th 2017
Dining in Dallas
First of our south of the border meals. With Barcy Fox, Patrick Arnall.Geo: 38.6276, -90.199
Day 1
My husband Patrick Arnall and I are celebrating our 40th anniversary this year. Hard to believe we have been married that long. Harder still to believe that he has had the patience to put up with me all these years. ;-)
I have never been to South America so it was a natural for my bucket list. He, on the other hand, traveled here oodles of times on business for Monsanto. But as he said, you can only see so much from a taxicab window. So off we go, into the wild blue yonder, heading WAY south of the border to see more of the Americas.
I must admit that, like many Americans, I usually think of US residents when I use the term "Americans". I know that I rarely think of Canadians and Mexicans as American, even though they reside in North America. And I hardly ever consider Brazilians, Argentines or Chileans when I toss the term "American" around. I know they are Americans. I just get lazy in my thinking.
So, on this trip, we are setting out to get to know some of our southern neighbors who share the "American hemisphere" with us. We are traveling
Temperature range challenge
A little bit of this and a little bit of that when it comes to packing. Temps could range from 40 to 100 before we're through. with Tauck Tours. This is our 5th trip with them and I'm hoping there will be many more. We are visiting the ABC's ... Argentina, Brazil, and Chile.
Packing was a bit challenging as we will be near the equator at Iguazu Falls, with temps of almost 100. And we will be in the snowy Andes Mountains in Bariloche, where it could drop to 40 at night. Two weeks ago, Tauck Tour participants swam in the heated pool at Llao Llao resort while it snowed on them! So we have a little bit of everything and played reindeer games with all the size and weight packing restrictions set forth for us.
Patrick and I flew American Airlines from St. Louis, MO through Dallas, TX to Santiago, Chile for the first leg of our adventure. In Dallas, we met up with
Barcy Fox of Santa Fe, NM, a friend from my Maritz days, who has been a traveling companion on two other Tauck tours and numerous USA excursions. We grabbed a bite of southwest cuisine ~ the first of many similar meals I'm sure ~ at Reata Grill at DFW. Barcy and I did some last minute travel shopping and we boarded our flight to Santiago.
Patrick and I save up our Citibank American AAdvantage miles for just such a trip, so we are in business class all the way. Great for the legs attached to his 6'6" frame.
Despite all the chargers I brought (PC, camera, iPod, iPad, iPhone), this flight has DC outlets like car chargers. Luckily, I threw one of those in for good measure. So I am able to write my Day 1 blog in mid air ... actually one of two preliminary days before Tauck's ACTUAL Day I. Our actual tour starts on Friday, October 24.
Several weeks ago, American Airlines gave us an opportunity to select our entrees. I chose halibut and Patrick selected beef. We got what we ordered so that's a good thing. It was prepared adequately, if not a tad overcooked.
In Santiago, we will unite with the rest of our traveling tribe:
Anne Leverone, of Douglas, MI and Saint Paul, MN (she summers on Lake Michigan and winters in Saint Paul, as odd as that may seem). We have been buddies since college (she helped me plot to land my first date with Patrick) and she was a bridesmaid.
Candace Martz, of Saint Louis and Evergreen, CO, whose husband was our best man and my husband's best friend. 40 years of friendship. She lost John in 2010 and now travels with a gaggle of friends. This is our first major trip together in years, although we have done Disney World, Cheyenne and have visited each other's "other" homes frequently.
Marti Lanese, from Saint Louis and Darien, CT, one of Candace's travel group. We did our Disney Princess tour in March with Candace. I'm looking forward to getting to know her better.
So six compadres in all. Off to see the American wonders south of the equator.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.151s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0583s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Susan Fitzgerald
non-member comment
Congratulations on your anniversary. Again I am living vicariously though your adventures. I love reading your blogs. Enjoy.....