Journey to Dallas - The Good Stuff (Part 1)

Our journey to Dallas was anticipated for a very long time.  Our daughters are very involved in competitive cheerleading, and unless you are familiar with the competitive cheerleading world, you wouldn't understand it.  We allowed our daughters to stay behind in Minnesota so they could compete with their teammates.  The "superbowl" of cheerleading competitions is NCA nationals in Dallas.  Our plan all along was to drive from Houston to Dallas, watch our girls compete (especially Courtney, who has been cheering competitively for seven years and will no longer be competing after this year), and then bring Carly back home with us to our new lives in Houston.  Courtney will continue her journey in life by finishing her senior year of high school in Minnesota, graduate high school, and then take a much anticipated trip to Europe with some of her classmates.  After her trip to Europe, she will fly to Houston and start college at the University of Houston-Clear Lake in the fall.

Our original plan was to drive up to Dallas and make a weekend of it.  However, after a very agonizing decision, we decided to pare it down to one day due to our autistic son having a very difficult transition from Minnesota to Houston.  We even factored in our furry family member, Cali, who also had a difficult transition.  Both of them are finally settling in to a routine and it was decided it was better for all involved if we just drove up to Dallas on Sunday morning, watch the girls compete, visit briefly, and then drive back with Carly on Sunday evening.  This would allow our son to stay home and avoid the long hours in the car, and also avoid the large crowds.  He would have been on sensory overload and had a meltdown.  It also avoided Cali being boarded at a kennel, which would have upset her and she would have boycotted eating for a week.  (She is just now eating normally after being here for a month.)

We were so focused on this ideal plan that we did not anticipate that mother nature would crack her whip and show us who is boss.

We left Houston in the morning at it was 72 degrees.  I was wearing a short sleeved shirt, capri pants, and sandals.  We were planning to be indoors all day and we dressed according to the weather in Houston at the time.  Chad, who always wears Planet Spirit (the organization the girls cheer for) clothing to cheer competitions, wore a long sleeved black polo with the PS logo on the front.  I actually told him he was crazy for wearing long sleeves and told him he was going to be hot.  Chad agreed with me but said he didn't have a short sleeved PS shirt and didn't want to wear a PS sweatshirt.  We were in our little bubble of happy bliss discussing our fashion, having no idea what was about to come.

About halfway to Dallas, it started to rain.  Chad needed to use the restroom, so we pulled over to a gas station and filled up with gas/used the facilities.  The rain was freezing and I was upset that I had to walk in the rain from the car to inside of the gas station for fear that I would mess up my cute hairdo.  As we left the gas station, Chad looked at the car's thermometer, which displays both inside and outside temps, and said (honest to God), "That can't be right."  The thermometer said 38 degrees.  I said, "It's right.  Didn't you feel the temperature difference when we went inside the gas station?"  He said, "I guess, but that's just crazy.  That's almost a forty degree temperature difference in just two hours."  It still didn't occur to us at that time that the weather may be an issue.  Remember, we will still in our happy little blissful bubble, living in Houston with warm weather and completely focused on getting to Dallas to see our daughters.

We arrived in Dallas and got to the hotel that the girls were staying at.  The hotel's parking was in a covered area, almost like a parking garage.  We couldn't believe how cold it was when we walked from our car to the hotel.  We walk into the lobby area and Carly's team, Storm, is starting to gather to walk down to the venue where the competitions are being held (Dallas Convention Center).

 

 

We stop and speak to Carly's coaches, Mike and Jason.  All of a sudden Carly comes flying out of no where and jumps up on Chad's back like a monkey and hugs him.  I lose it and start crying.  It's only been a month but it felt so much longer due to the circumstances.  I grabbed her and hugged her a little too hard, because she yelped and told me I was crushing her.

 

 

Since Carly needed to go with her team to the venue, Chad and I decided to go upstairs and find Courtney.  She was still getting ready with her teammates, because they didn't need to be at the venue until a later time.  We also wanted to give her a birthday present, since she will be turning 18 in a few days and we won't be in Minnesota to celebrate with her on her actual birthday. 

 

 

I again am a puddle of tears as I see our oldest - she is just so mature and grown up.  She is assisting her teammates in getting their cheer curls done, and Courtney can do a mean cheer curl.  They actually have a "train" going, girls helping girls getting ready.  Even off the cheer floor, these girls are all about team work.

 

 

We pause for a few minutes to visit and let her open her presents, and then we leave them be to finish getting ready (don't want to make them late).  We promise to see Courtney later at the venue.  At this time she starts putting in her requests for items she wants us to purchase at the venue for her - a specific pair of shorts, a specific shirt, etc.  We chuckle because as parents, you are always a walking ATM.  We know that this is our last cheer nationals with Courtney and we are more than happy to help her get a few souvenirs.  We head back to the hotel lobby, and we have a discussion about whether or not we are going to walk to the venue, or drive the car.  Since it is so cold, we decide to drive our car to the venue.  This is where everything about the trip turns into a nightmare.