Stop 4: Dallas, Dave Ausema Part 1

We have spent the past three nights and two days in Dallas TX. We drove into Dallas around 10:30 on Saturday night and met Dave (our friend from Kalamazoo, my hometown neighbor/best friend/“brother”) at his apt. north of downtown Dallas.

We hung out at his apartment for a while, caught up and introduced Rolla then headed downtown. We went to bar called the Loon. It was already 12:30 so we figured we would just grab a couple drinks and head back home. First of all, a cocktail is not an ordinary cocktail at the Loon. I ordered a Jack and coke…it was a glass of Jack with a splash of coke (we need this bar in EL). We stayed out till 2 then headed home. On the way home we decided to stop at a grocery store named “Tom’s Thumb” to buy frozen pizza. (yes we took a picture of tom giving a thumbs up in front)This was a hilarious experience, and one I am surprised did not get us kicked out. It was 2:45am and in the frozen pizza isle the merchandisers left a sea of corrugated boxes. I think we played in this isle for a good 20 mins until all of the boxes were broken.

The next day we went to Dave’s church, Watermark Community Church. This was a really cool experience. Watermark is a huge part of Dave’s life and it was important to me to not only see it, but experience a service. We expected this church to be like the stereo typical Texas church, but it was the complete opposite. To save space on this post, I would like to anyone who wants to hear more about it to send me an e-mail.

We then left church and went to eat breakfast and tour the Dallas Cowboys new stadium. By now the rain had started full force and did not let up until last night. Luckily most of our plans were for indoor funtivities.

As we walked into the Stadium, we were greeted by the security guard who immediately told us that the tours were full, and we were out of luck…..yup that changed our mood pretty quickly. Not only was it raining, but we just drove an hour to see the gift shop. Luckily as we were walking around the gift shop, some very angry guy walked in and started yelling at the manager saying he had called ahead and he was told there were still tickets left for tours. So we watched from a far and let this guy do all the work for us. As soon as the manager folded, I walked up and immediately said, “the same thing happened to us”. Needless to say we got tickets for the tour. This stadium was amazing. Not only does it have the largest HD video screen I have ever seen, but it is the most state of the art arena built in the USA….sure enough, first thing I said when I walked in was “Merica”. The tour lasted 2 hours, and we ended up playing a short pick up game with the tour guide on the field. It was awesome.

Later that night we decided to grill very very large steaks. This experience turned into a four hour ordeal. After three trips back an forth to get the steaks, then potatos, then lighter fluid for the charcoal, we were ready to start cooking. But no no it was not time to cook, it was time to go see where Dave works. It seemed like the best idea because there was no better time while we were there. So what would normally take 20 mins took around 45 mins courteous of Dallas drivers…thank you rain, and thank you people who apparently cannot drive in it. It was cool to see TD Industries and Daves cubical.  We took a picture walked around and saw the fabrication facility. It was really cool not only because Dave works there, but of what we saw earlier at the Cowboys Stadium. As we walked around the stadium earlier Dave would point out what TD built and installed and to see where the pipes and vents were all made was a cool thing for someone like me to see. The rest of the night consisted of us grilling out as it rained and drinking wine over at Dave’s