Yellow, TX (Steph)

So, here we are. As Matt said, a bit more time on our hands now. As I write this, Matt is laying on the floor of our hotel suite. Mari is in her diaper (between clothes and pj's) and is climbing on him. Now she's bouncing on his head and giving him "blasters" (aka: zerberts) on his arm. Faith is in her inbetween clothes and pj's stage and is using her toy vet kit to check out the wooden ducky. Oh the hotel life!

So, yeah. Amarillo (which means "yellow" in Spanish if you didn't already know, but they don't pronounce it with the Spanish pronunciation here) isn't bad at all. We've had good meals today. We don't mind staying here. Good hotel rooms and things to do.

The biggest drawback is that my parents (aka: Gamma and Gammpa Durkee) are leaving on a two week trip of a lifetime out west/northwest on Thurs. morning. We were pretty much going to have one chance to see them before they left after not having seen them for over three weeks. Let's face it, THEY were going to have one chance to see the girls. Not that I don't think they love Matt and me too, but I am keenly aware that if it just involved us, they'd be sad but not that sad. Since it means they can't see their girls, it's extra sadness. Sigh. We all feel badly about this... We promised them a full day of us once they arrive home. Who WOULDN'T enjoy a full day of us? :-)

OK. It's time to finish putting on the pj's and read books and drink milk. I'm sure you'll be hearing more from us soon!

Steph

Flying off the (Pan)Handle - Matt

Stuck in Amarillo until at least Tuesday. Just dropped the RV at the Amarillo Truck Center - it's Saturday so they won't get to it until at least Monday.
Dad is handling things actually quite well, considering we're somewhat stranded in Texas' 12th largest city (can you tell we've got more time on our hands now?).
Several thoughts on the situation. 1) All things considered, this could have happened at a lot worse time than now. Imagine if it had happened at our first lunch stop out of Cincinnati...or in the middle of Utah with no services, let alone a sizable town, for over a hundred miles? We're in a decent city, with decent food (steaks and bbq and huge portions - not bad at all), and it doesn't foul up the rest of our vacation. 2) The spirit of the trip is to make positives out of negatives. So we're all viewing this as a chance to explore Amarillo and enjoy another couple of days out and about. It's an adventure, and any adventure that comes with a King bed is okay with me.
Anyway, we'll keep you all informed as we learn more. Hey, if money gets tight, there's a restaurant in town that offers a 72 oz steak for free, if you can eat it in an hour. Hmmm....