Aloha!
Let’s get right to it.
This morning was pretty fun to watch the boys come in from their host
homes. From the perspective of the boys,
they were all smiling and very happy with their host families. From the perspective of the host families,
they were thrilled with the boys and eagerly awaiting night number two of
hosting tonight. The boys took right to
their jobs and got the bus loaded in great time. On the way to our first stop we watched
another episode of “How the States Got Their Shapes”, which the boys love. Today included Texas, which was an added
bonus.
The first stop of the day was at the 6th Floor
Museum and the site of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. It was one of those places that you could
just feel the history and the weight of the events that happened there. Before we could feel the weight of the site,
we needed to take-up a collection amongst the boys for loose nickels and dimes
we could use to feed the parking meters.
It seems our blogger was tired of lugging around 30 pounds worth the
change in his wallet and cleaned it out that very morning. Smooth move.
Rodney gave us a dime, but I told him the “thank you” letter for the write-off
would cost 12 cents plus a stamp, so I rejected his donation. J
We arrived about 30
minutes early (before the museum was open) so we took the boys to the Kennedy
Memorial and the infamous “Grassy Knoll”.
To the majority of the boys, the “Grassy Knoll” was a hill on the side
of the road with grass on it. Tonight,
most of the boys probably still think that, but in about 30 years it will hit
them that this wasn’t just any grassy hill on the side of the road. It was “the” grassy hill on the side of the
road, earning it the distinction of a “knoll”.
The staff was pretty much in agreement: this was one of the best museums we have ever
been in. You start on the first floor of
the old book depository where you receive what is essentially an iPod with a
pair of headphones. Then you take an
elevator ride to “the” 6th Floor where Lee Harvey Oswald took his
infamous shots. Each chapter on the iPod
device is a part of the story, beginning with the culture of the 60’s and the
race between Nixon and Kennedy for the Office of the President. Then it goes into the Cold War and some of
Kennedy’s stances on social programs before bringing you to the day of the
assassination. There were great
artifacts, such as an invite for a Presidential luncheon that Kennedy was
headed for after the parade. No aspect
of the story was left untold and by the time you got to the actual event, you
felt a connection with a President that died now 50 years ago (this fall). I am assuming there will be a lot of special
stories on the assassination later this year and now the boys can say they were
there. Incredible.
The museum has everything, including the actual room and
window where the shots took place. It’s
encased in glass now, but you can look right at it and look out the next window
over or the one on the 7th floor directly above it. You are almost as close to history as you can
get. It was great, but they wouldn't
allow you to take any pictures inside, so you have to imagine it a little. Some of the boys took a long time going
through the exhibits, which was awesome.
You never know what you are going to get bringing boys through museums,
but this was as close to a home run as you can get. We all made it through the gift store before
heading back to the bus for lunch.
We made our way from downtown Dallas to the suburb town of
Arlington. Along the way we saw numerous
impressive road systems. Texas does not
mess around with their overpasses and bridges, so you should not mess with
Texas. We also passed one of the cooler amusement
parks ever in Six Flags, as well as the amazing Ballpark at Arlington where the
Rangers baseball team plays.
Our appointment for the Cowboys Stadium was at 1:30pm. You cannot possibly fathom the size and
enormity of this facility until you have seen it for yourself. Holding 80,000 people for a game and 105,000
with standing room only seating, this monstrosity of a stadium captivated the
boys for most of the afternoon. (…and to
think the new Vikings stadium is supposed to rival this one…)
Our tour guide came out and met us at the stadium. The first stop was the premium seating where
we were able to sit in these amazingly padded seats and stare up at the largest
suspended television in the world.
Before we could even ask, he let us know that “yes, we do play video
games on there all the time”. The ends
of the stadium is apparently supposed to be similar to the new Vikings design
as it is the same designers on both projects.
The next stop was the luxury suites. On the way, we passed a fraction of the over
3,000 HD TV’s in the concourses which added-up don’t equal the size of the big
screens over the field. No expense was
spared for this incredible building.
We took the freight elevator to the basement where the
corridors are large enough for motor coaches and semis to drive right into the
stadium. The boys got excited when the
guide said they were going to see a locker room and got even more excited when they
were told they were going to the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader’s locker room. They were allowed to take pictures in there,
but only if they attempted the exact same pose as the personalized posters
hanging above each Cheerleader’s locker.
After that, it was over to the player’s locker room, but
before entering they were told in no uncertain terms that they were not allowed
to touch anything. The reason of course,
as any locker should be, the lockers are made of imported wood from Africa and
have a value of more than $9,000 each.
The boys were then given the chance to suit-up with pads and
jerseys. Next to the locker room was the
press room, which is sound proof. That
is where the boys sang a song at the tour guides request. His reasoning was so we could say “we sang at
Cowboy’s Stadium”. From there, it was
through the tunnel that leads from the locker rooms, through a ground-level restaurant,
and onto the field directly at the 50-yard line.
The first thing we did on the field was gathering on “the
star” for a group photo. One boy,
(Arteom) blinked during the photo so they photo shopped Tex’s eyes (Dillon) on
Arteom’s face. It was amazing how soft
the turf was. The guide said we could
stay as long as we wanted, so we did.
Boys raced the length of the field, played catch, ran around, and did
everything else a boy on the field at one of the coolest buildings in the world
would do. It was great! The only way we could get the boys off the
field was by telling them that this was one of the last opportunities they
would have to spend their spending money before we had to give it back to their
parents. There was no way this was going
to be allowed to happen on their watch, so to the Pro Shop we went to help line
the meager pockets of poor Mr. Jerry Jones.
For dinner, we cut across the stadium parking lot and found
a great Cici’s Pizza. Each boy started with
a salad before cleaning-out the pizza selections. There was even Macaroni and Cheese pizza
which was a huge hit. After another
bathroom break, we headed back to the bus.
The ride home was filled with lots of stories and
laughter. You’d think for being as busy
as the boys were today they would be tired, but they were wound-up pretty
good. They probably walked several miles
over the course of the day, but it didn’t faze these guys. We promised them ice
cream for having such a great clean-up two nights ago so we made-good on the
promise at a Braum’s Ice Cream parlor on the way back. (We knew they could clean-up quickly. We just needed them to know they could do it
and ice cream usually helps teach them that.)
Following our snack, we got back to the church where all of the host
families were eagerly awaiting the return of the boys. Within 3 minutes, the parking lot was
cleared-out and everyone was on their way to finish the great day.
Whew! That was a
lot! Tomorrow is on to Bella Vista where
we will meet-up with Mary Jo for her first day ever on tour. This should be fun!
A quick housekeeping note: We are well behind our goal of raising $1 for each mile of the tour. Please consider sending this link to your friends and family in hope that they will considering supporting this great program for boys. Click here to Donate
Until then,
Until then,
-P.J.
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