I went to Dallas and OMG, IT'S PATRICK DUFFY!!!

I spent the first seven days of February in Dallas, TX attending APPA's Leadership Academy at the Omni in downtown Dallas. I traveled to Dallas on Saturday, with classes taking place Sunday through Thursday, and another travel day on Friday. The class schedule includes two half-days to allow attendees the opportunity to a) enjoy a little bit of the weekend (1st half-day is Sunday) and b) explore a little bit of the host city (2nd half-day is Wednesday). 

Before I could set off on any grand Dallas adventures, I had to get there first! That involved two flights - one from State College to Philadelphia and a second from Philadelphia to Dallas. I spent the duration of both flights and my Philly layover reading "Labor Day" by Joyce Maynard. 

Check out the last paragraph of the page on the left. IRONY!

On Monday evening of my week in Dallas, I decided to treat myself to a nice, relaxing Wolfgang Puck dinner at Five Sixty in the Reunion Tower. If you're familiar with the Dallas skyline, it's the tower with the ball on top. The restaurant where I had dinner is in the ball; the restaurant revolves so patrons get a 360-degree view of the city.

Looking up from street level.

Yeah, buddy!

Ready to head up for dinner.

I wonder what Wolfgang has to offer?!?

Let's start with something to wet my whistle...let's open Pandora's Box!

Pandora's Box and lobster fried rice.

Pandora's Box and lobster & shrimp spring rolls.

We rotated past the Omni, so I had to snap a pic of my hotel.

Chocolate bread pudding.

I know some people hate even the IDEA of dining by themselves. Me? I love it! Especially an evening like the one I had at Five Sixty - just enjoying really good food, a spectacular beverage, a stunning view, and eavesdropping/people-watching. Dining at Reunion Tower was #1 of 2 items on my Dallas to-do list. So after Monday evening, #1 = check!

I returned to the hotel and decided to snap a picture of the ERAPPA display that I'd set-up for attendees to learn more about our region, our chapters, and our Annual Meeting in Atlantic City this fall. 

Tuesday evening, all 10 Penn Staters who made the trip to Dallas for either the Institute for Facilities Management or the Leadership Academy decided to go out to dinner for some Texas-sized steaks.

Clockwise L to R: Dan, Joe, Mark, Ron, Erik, Brooks, Tina, me, Corey, Rich.

On Wednesday - the second half day of the week - I rented a car and drove out to...

...well...

...maybe you should watch this first.

Yup. I went to Southfork!!! If I did nothing else while in Dallas, I was determined to get to Southfork. I grew up watching "Dallas" on Friday nights and I'm also a fan of the new incarnation currently airing on Monday nights at 9 PM on TNT. In fact, that Sunday I was in Dallas, I noticed that Brenda Strong tweeted about being in Dallas filming. I thought, "Whoa. What if they're AT Southfork when I go there Wednesday?!?" but really thought it was unlikely. 

Yeah. Not so much. Not only were they filming AT Southfork, but I got to see several of the actors up close. While they were filming, visitors were not permitted to interact with the actors. We were told that IF they took a break during filming that we might be able to visit with some of the cast. Unfortunately, they didn't break while we were touring the property. And we weren't permitted to take any pictures of them while they were filming. BUT! It's all in my head and the memories are AWESOME!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Before we toured the mansion (where they were filming), I had time to visit the museum.

RIP Larry Hagman

Lucy's wedding dress.

The Ewing Family grill.

Bobby's saddle.

Behind-the-scenes footage and photos.

Promotional poster for the reboot. Unfortunately, when I saw Josh Henderson (front left), he was wearing a shirt. Boo.

I probably stood here for five full minutes trying to figure out this tangled web of a family tree!

RIP Jock

Larry Hagman's hand and footprints.

Cast photos from the first iteration of the show...

...and from the reboot.

Finally, it was time to walk over to the mansion. I have to be honest. If the cast hadn't been there filming the show, I may have been slightly disappointed by the Southfork mansion. It's TINY inside. All of the exterior shots of Southfork are legit; they are filmed on the estate. But all of the interiors are shot on a sound stage which make the inside of the house appear much, MUCH bigger than the actual house would allow. Nonetheless, it was interesting to tour the inside of the house, which includes a room that was used as JR's Mexican motel room where he was murdered by Cliff Barnes. (Not really. Bum shot him because he knew he was dying of cancer and framed Cliff.)

While we were in the mansion, we saw Patrick Duffy (plays Bobby Ewing). He smiled and waved to us. Jesse Metcalfe (plays Christopher Ewing) walked through the living room and said hello. My goodness, he is gorgeous! Brenda Strong (Ann Ewing) filmed a scene in the living room while we were there. And Jordana Brewster (Elena Ramos) walked through and said hello to us as well. She is stunning! I did see Josh Henderson (John Ross Ewing), but only from a distance. In hindsight, that's probably a good thing. He so stinkin' hot...too much of a hot thing might have resulted in a fit of giddiness!

Lucy's bedroom.

Young John Ross' bedroom.

And here's where JR bit it.

 

JR & Sue Ellen's bedroom.

JR & Sue Ellen's bathroom.

80s opulence at its best!

 

Geeking out at Southfork!!!

Sitting in the Ewing living room, under Jock's portrait.

John Ross' Corvette.

JR, Miss Ellie, and Jock's graves.

While photographing the tombstones, I "paparazzied" a picture of the mansion.
You can see some people and some equipment from the filming.

When I got back to my car, I walked around to check out some of the actors' trailers. 

The visitors' center/museum.

Southfork, y'all!

John and Jesse's trailer.

Brenda and Emma's trailer.

 

Mitch's trailer. (He waved to me from the Range Rover he was sitting in while filming an "arrival scene.")

After I'd sufficiently geeked out on the grounds of Southfork, I decided to return downtown before rush hour started. A few of us Penn Staters went out to dinner again, this time for Texas BBQ.

Brisket, pit turkey, and jalapeno sausage with mac & cheese and fried okra.

The APPA U programming wrapped up Thursday afternoon and the week concluded with a banquet dinner Thursday evening. Several of us headed down to the sports bar in the hotel for a nightcap or two before we said our goodbyes and retreated to our rooms to pack for our travel the next day.

There's still one thing that remains on my Dallas to-do list - see a Cowboys game! I could have toured their stadium while I was in town, but as much fun as that would be, I think seeing a game there would be the ultimate for a diehard Cowboys fan like me! I can tell you the date - Monday, September 9, 1991. My dad was watching Monday Night Football and Troy Aikman graced the TV screen. I said, "I shall root for HIS team henceforth and hereunto!" And I have! DEFEND THE STAR!!!

My Rochester Ride

Oh! Hey there! It's been a few weeks, hasn't it? 

I am in Rochester, NY for a conference this weekend. In fact, I've been here since Thursday and the conference is just starting this evening. But because I'm on the Board for the conference, I've been here for lots of pre-conference activities (mostly meetings). Thanks to an adjustment to the pre-con activities schedule this year, I wound up with nearly all of today as free time - hallelujah! Having done my homework before I came to Rochester, I knew that there were several bicycle trails in the area. I opted to bring my personal vehicle to this conference so I could toss my bicycle on the back and get out for a nice ride today...which is exactly what I did!

While other Board members were looking forward to sleeping in, finding a nice spa for a massage, or generally just chilling for the day, I've been looking forward to this morning since I arrived and wheeled my bike into my hotel room!

Naturally, Milton Moo made the trip; he wanted to pose on my bike in my room.

As soon as I got up, I started to get ready - I braided my hair, hit up the ice machine to fill my CamelBak, and put a Lara Bar and a snack bag of pretzels in my pack. I wheeled my bike down the hall, onto the elevator, and into the lobby. I parked it and consulted with a girl at the front desk on my intended route. I was out on the street and riding by 8 AM. 

I headed south on South Street (appropriate) to Broad Street where I crossed the Genesee River and picked up the Genesee Riverway Trail (GRT). My plan to was to continue south on the GRT until I reached the Erie Canal Heritage Trail (ECHT). Originally, I'd planned to head west on the ECHT, but when I got to the intersection of the trails, I opted to head east instead. While I'll never know what I missed by not going west, I do know what I saw by heading east and I'm quite pleased. Let's take a look, shall we?

After leaving the hotel, I rode straight through to Pittsford, NY where I stopped after an hour of riding for breakfast - a Cherry Pie Lara Bar.

The waterfront in Pittsford was very quaint.

Along this portion of the waterfront, bikes must be walked.
(There is an off-waterfront continuation of the trail for bicycles.)

The ECHT runs right through the grounds of the Maintenance Subheadquarters during the weekend.

It was a lovely morning along the Erie Canal.

Erie Canal Lock 32

The Erie Canal - The Great American Canal!

A little bit about the Erie Canal.

Erie Canal Lock 33 - Henrietta, NY

Another shot of Lock 33. Sadly, I didn't see any boats in the canal during my ride.

I noticed this cycling banner and just had to take a pic!

In Brighton, NY.

One of the ECHT trail markers.

Directional signage along the trail.

The East Guard Locks at the Genesee River Crossing.

I found quite a bit of enjoyment on two of the three trails!

Crossing the Genesee River on my way back to the GRT, looking north.

Looking south crossing the Genesee River. Those are dredging boats in the background. Silting happens constantly, so silting is a year round operation.

I thoroughly enjoyed the fulfillment of Waldo. J. Nielsen's vision this morning!!!

Um, yeah...it wasn't very steep!

Approaching downtown Rochester.

The tall white building on the left in this picture it the Hyatt where I'm staying this week.

I doubled back to the University of Rochester campus to tool around just a bit (and add some more miles to my trek).

See what I did there?

And my final mileage. All along I was telling my colleagues that I was shooting for 25-30 miles this morning, so 27.28 works for me!

This morning's bicycle ride was EXACTLY what I needed today. I haven't been out on my bike since I did 33.70 miles THREE WEEKS AGO. I was OVERDUE for a nice, long, mind-clearing ride which is precisely what I got this morning! It was just enough "me time" to put the last few days of meetings behind me before focusing on the actual conference which kicks off in less than an hour with the First Time Attendees Reception. And this morning's ride makes New York the fifth state in which I've ridden my bike...45 more to go!