So all too quickly we arrived at Sunday morning and said goodbye to Judi, who left before 10 to drive back to Dallas and her plane home to Louisville. There are always slight anxieties at the moment with American Airlines flights because the pilots are taking spasmodic industrial action and some planes are being delayed or cancelled - we do hope Judi got back OK. She has been such a good friend to us and our sons over the years and welcomed us this time generously, introducing us to Philip who has, we think, become another of our rare friends in the USA!
Our time with him had little of the tourist trail about it - eating and drinking enjoyably, shopping and chatting, and also watching a good deal of the first series of Downton Abbey which we'd not seen, and which he has on DVD. All of this passed too quickly as long-anticipated events tend to when they finally arrive. So yesterday morning he drove us to the airport and we spent much of the rest of the day in that limbo that is airports and shuttle trains and boarding, flying and disembarking.
This was all to take us to the beginning of the main purpose of our trip, to visit Mary's cousin Barbara Byars and her husband Alan in Midland, amid the oilfields of western Texas. To do this we had to fly east from Austin to Houston, then back west to Midland. As we took off from Austin I spotted one of the Cruise missile silos Phil had told us we might see, but otherwise the flights were unremarkable until we neared Midland when the endless plain of oil wells stretched all around us.
Our luggage was successfully transferred with us to our destination - always some anxiety as one is parted from belongings like this - and we were greeted warmly by Barb and Alan. They live in a lovely area with lots of grass and trees between spread-out houses, and their house is a large sprawling complex of rooms mostly on one level, though there is a little upstairs area to which they have just installed a lift and spiral staircase (still being finished). We spent the evening settling in, catching up with each other's family news, and eating Barb's excellent meat loaf with some good wine, part of a collection Alan had assembled for our enjoyment. He is an enthusiast as I am and knows a lot about American wines which we don't really know well.
Just before bedtime the sky lit up with rapid-fire sheet lightning to the north. Over the past few days there has been some of the heaviest rain for years after nearly 2 years of drought, but although a few drops fell last night the storms stayed north, but the light show and rumbling were spectacular. But this morning has dawned sunny and fresh. Now we look forward to exploring this unusual place.
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