Filet at "The Coutry"

That is the beauty about staying in a place where you have friends: You are being taken care of. And, for great hospitality, Noeha pulls all strings. To start, there are iced towels with lavender oil to cool off in the pool (yes the pool is not so cool itself here in Dallas), then, she prepared what she calls a simple meal. Call it what you want, for a carnivore like me it was right on spot: Filet from the grill, oven fries and a nice mesclun salad. If only she had a recipe against mosquitos. While we had dinner, we were dinner for them too. No amount of Off or Antibrum could keep them away.

PS: I am proud to have completed my first run on this trip today (and a little bit embarrassed, that I always used the heat as an excuse, I did just fine today in the Dallas heat).

Another sick day... how is this possible on an extended holiday in the middle of summer...

Ahh, my cold has gotten worse. For most of the morning I stayed in as I was lacking energy for anything really. At least, I got to watch the start of season 4 of True Blood to entertain me and had Pinta keeping me company and feeling sorry for me.

By early afternoon, I got enough energy together - and a big enough appetite - to drive to the mall, have lunch and try retail therapy again. Then, I went back to Cat's pool house pretty soon for a dip in the pool and more rest on the couch,  a bit of blogging and searching for good deals for my next and last stop in Myrtle Beach.

Flowerbed outside Dallas Northpark Mall

Cacti inside Dallas North Park Mall

Tour 18: two birdies (one on my miracle hole!)

An hour drive away is Tour 18. A course where I have good memories of a nice round with Joe two years ago. They feature replica holes of famous golf courses, including Amen Corner.

One of the par 5s - hole 14, HCP 2 on this course, I call my "miracle hole". It is a replica of hole 16 at Firestone in Akron, Ohio. When I played last time, I topped my approach with a 9 iron, it went straight for the lake in front of the green, but skid a couple times, hit the "ramp" up to the green and settled about a foot and a half away from the hole for a tap-in birdie. Hence my, miracle birdie hole.

Today, I was a bit over ambitious there and thought I could reach the green with my second shot (a 5 wood). Well, I almost did, but hit the ramp and the ball rolled towards the water. After fishing out 2 balls, I saw my ball being held up by bushel of grass, literally hanging over the water. Oh miracle! I dared to chip it (hanging over the water myself) and hit it within 7 feet of the flag and went on to make my second miracle birdie on this hole!


One (repeat) miracle, two birdies, 4 pars, 35 putts and a 94. Not bad for playing in 100 degrees on a course with a rating of 77.3. A great round with Joe who sported a "beat the heat" look that reminded me of both Sean Connery as King Richard in Robin Hood with his sword at times, and of a friendly smurf in his blue shirt at others.

Mani, Pedi and Massage and 110 degrees in Big D

Did I say I like the heat... :) 110F today (43.3c). Yes my Dodge Charger gets a bit hot and I am thankful for the powerful AC and valet garage parking at the Ritz Carlton

JC Nails for mani and pedi ($62 = three times the price of what I payed in Bangkok) and then a dip in the pool and sports massage at the Ritz downtown (14 times the price of what I payed in Bangkok...). So, I guess, I will not have the pleasure to get one every day now.

But the most important event and number today is another 62: Happy birthday Mami!

Dinner with friends at Eno's in the Bishop Art District

Neuhaus, TLC and Primos

Feeling a bit under the weather (no, not the temperature outside, but the cold I have caught on the flight over...), I decided to make this a treat me well day. So, it is all about food :) and fun.

Cafe Neuhaus on Royal and Preston welcomes you Texas style. Everything is big. Even my Salade Nicoise and even more so, my dark chocolate, caramel and almond praline (about the size of a saucer). Filled with energy, I started retail therapy and headed over to one of my favorite discount stores in the US: TJ Maxx. It has been too long... on my whole trip I have restricted my shopping urges, as I did not want to carry everything around the world... but now, so "close" to home... Maybe, I am a bit out of practice. I only filled one bag. Or, I have learned to live out of a suitcase and am so looking forward to all the nice things in my closet in Zurich that will feel like new things all over again to me when I am back.

For dinner it is TLC. Texas Land and Cattle serves my favorite sirloin. It is hickory smoked and pepper crusted and soooo good! Tuesday nights are Primos' nights and we met up with Noeha after dinner for a drink there. So good to see the girls! Dallas does feel like a home away from home to me. And, I love the heat so far!

Touch down in Phoenix and fireworks for 4th of July in Dallas, TX

The day started with scenic views of Arizona from the plane. The seat on this plane was much nicer and more comfortable. No inflight video either, but on the approach to Phoenix airport, I counted eight golf courses from my window seat. Not only the courses, but also the green fields look nice against the dry lands around them.

At Dallas Fort Worth, my golf bag did not arrive at first, but then after a long 45min waiting in line at baggage services of US Air, finally someone assisted me and paged the guys in the oversize baggage department. They checked for the bag and it turned out that it had gotten stuck on the belt. Cannot believe that they would not have any other oversize items in almost an hour. But, I am not complaining, at least I got my clubs.

The highlight of my transfer here though is my rental car. When in Dallas - and by the way, this is the only place on my world tour that I have been to before - I usually rent a bigger car. Here in Texas everything is oversized and sitting in a small car is a bit scary next to all the trucks. I am a bit worried though about the black interior and black exterior of my Dodge Charger: weather forecasts are in the triple digits every day (between 38c-44c for the next couple days).

Cat has rented out her house by White Rock lake and moved to a new neighborhood into a lovely pool house. After unpacking, we headed off to go sailing with friends of hers and get ready to watch the fireworks for 4th of July on the lake. Amazing!

Maui North Shore and the prospect of a long journey to the mainland

Packing up my bags... uumph for the xth time (losing a whole day I think for packing and unpacking on this trip). Then I headed off to the north shore, stopped in Paia for lunch and ice cream and watched the surfers (waves and wind) in Ho'okipa Beach Park.

Travel Itinerary today: smooth and short flight from Kahului to Honolulu on Hawaian. Long and uncomfortable red eye on US Air (chair reclines 3 inches, no inflight video screens and no real food served) to Phoenix... hopefully the flight to Dallas will be smooth tomorrow morning.