After a fond farewell to Kansas, we proceeded southward to Dallas, Texas, where Dallas spent five years after college (that’s right, y’all…Dallas from Dallas). The trip from Kansas was the worst yet, as the engine just would not cool down despite having flatter terrain than on previous legs of the trip. This was especially odd given that I had had the coolant flushed while in Kansas. However, Dallas’ brother, Wes, diagnosed our problem as a faulty water pump and recommended that we purchase a thermostat, water pump, and timing belt from the auto parts store. So we took his advice and took the parts to a discount service station. It seemed a little sketchy, but we decided to take a chance on them since they were so much cheaper than their competitors. Initially they sent us away because their mechanic hadn’t shown up for a couple days (on a bender, apparently). But they called back to say that a cousin across town could do it. So we were in luck! I returned to pick up the car to find their KFC leftovers strung all around the small room with the 9” TV that could be considered a waiting area (hence, the low-overhead price). Haggling over the price was short and sweet, and I drove away with a much improved cooling system.

The Strip Mall Service Station

 Back at the ranch (actually just around the corner from Southfork Ranch where the TV show Dallas was filmed), we talked with Wes and Tiffany about our plans to sail around the world together and shared our progress with various related tasks. One such task was sewing a new sipper into the mainsail cover. It turns out that Dallas is the most talented seamstress of the group, but even with his assistance, we later discovered that we were feeding the cloth into the machine backwards! Looks like we have a lot to learn on the sewing front, but we’ll have many months on the boat to figure it out. I know Tiff can’t wait to become a master seamstress!

Southfork Ranch

Riding Sugar

Dallas after Felling a Tree

 

 

Next was Springdale, Arkansas, where Dallas spent several years of his childhood camping, hiking, and trying to find his way out of caves with his two brothers and their friends. Dallas’ mother is a fantastic cook, and we enjoyed sharing meals with she, Dallas’ stepfather, grandparents, and eventually, both of his brothers and their families as well. Naturally this led to rousing games of wiffle ball and endless entertainment playing with Dallas’ niece and nephew.

He Caught It!

The Gang's All Here

  It was a long trip from Arkansas to Florida, but reluctanly I agreed to take turns driving through the night to take advantage of daylight hours upon arrival to the boat. Rather than immediately crashing as I thought we might when we got to the boat, Dallas and I both became energized and wildly attempted to find space for all the containers coming off of the trailer. It turns out that finding space for things is a constant endeavor…