two vacations in one

I planned my trip so that I had nearly a four hour layover in Dallas so that I had a chance to leave the airport and have lunch with my Mom while passing through. First off, on the way to California, I had the bizarre experience of passing through D/FW. I love that airport, but it was weird on Thursday to not leave it. I've only ever arrived or departed from there (for obvious reasons). Anyway.

I had a great time with my Mom. We went to this little French bakery in downtown Grapevine and then looked through a couple of little cute stores (most of the wineries were closed since it was Monday). I bought a wine stopper that I've wanted to get since I've had a few corks that don't quite fit back into the bottle, and this one's great: it's the state of Texas (complete with a lone star) and a bunch of grapes. It was either that or an Armadillo. Or maybe a Cowboy hat.

So we got back to the airport about ten minutes before my flight boarded, and when I arrived at my gate I saw that there was quite a long list of standbys. And they had seats open at the next few flights that evening (so no vouchers or anything). And I thought...hmmmm...spending the night in Texas? Count me in!

The agent gave me an odd look when I asked for a flight for the next day(yesterday) instead of later on Monday. I surrendered my ticket, turned around and called my Mom: "Hey, turn around. Come get me."

The really nice thing about it was that she and my sister were going out to dinner that night for her birthday since it didn't quite work out the last week. So I was happy to get to celebrate my Mom's birthday with her since it's been about seven years since I've done so. And I got to see my sister who was unable to take off for a late lunch in Grapevine. And...laugh all you want, but I also got to go home and see my cats.

So it was like having two vacations what with my second little, tiny, mini-vacation. Recaps of California coming soon. In a nutshell: Redlands, Laguna Beach and Riverside with some shopping and good food.