More from the Adolphus

If you are wondering why I did not post this weekend, we had GBN1 most of the weekend starting Friday afternoon, all day Saturday, through church on Sunday, and after church through lunch. She decided that she really liked riding in “Crew-craw’s” (her name for Toby) truck. It made for a busy weekend, but a fun weekend. We also managed to go see Lindsay in her play, which was a “mystery dinner theater”. Lindsay was great, as was the whole production. The characters mingled with the audience before the show started. After the big murder scene, they mingled again giving the audience a chance to ask questions. Puzzles and clues were provided to each table to figure out “who dun it.” As my table went through the clues, they decided that Basil was the murderer. When they asked me my opinion, I said that I thought the Old Lady did it, but I did not have a good reason – so they poo-pooed my opinion as illogical. After dessert, the lights went out and the play continued revealing the murderer. Of course, I was right, the Old Lady did it. Logic has nothing to do with silly murder mysteries – it is always the least likely person. Jesse said there would be no living with me since I was right.

Before I continue with my Aldophus story, I need to explain a few things. As I said before, we were living in NM and Toby was working for a major waste company. The waste convention that we attended was held in the spring of 1994 in Dallas, and the company put us up at the Aldolphus. It was a week of living high on the hog. Since the convention was in Texas that year, Toby and I decided that I would leave a week early taking the kids and driving our pick-up truck to see grandparents. We stopped in Lubbock for a few days to see Toby’s mother and then on to Wichita Falls to see my parents. I left the kids with my parents and drove to Dallas to pick Toby up at the airport where he had flown in to Love Field. This truck was a 1990 Chevy Z71 club cab. It was perfect for our family in those days, and I loved that truck. I hauled kids and horses all over NM to rodeos and 4-H events in that truck. I also hauled kids and skis to many a ski race in that truck. It was just comfy and smooth – the Cadillac of trucks.

Although I had lived in Dallas fifteen years earlier, things had changed. Traffic was even more horrendous than I had remembered it. Traffic jams in NM are few and far between – they are usually the result of Mr. Ortega’s cows on the road and not due to too many cars on the road. I made it to Love Field and was glad to turn the wheel over to Toby to drive us to the Aldolphus in downtown Dallas. There was a bit of a mix-up at the airport because the company had sent a limo and driver to pick Toby up. Toby dismissed him and we went on together. Once at the Aldolphus, the valet took our truck, and we checked in. Although Toby and I looked like NM ranchers, the Aldolphus made us feel like royalty. It was really a beautiful place.

On our next to last day in Dallas, several ladies that I had met at the convention wanted to go to the Galleria. They were going to take a taxi from downtown Dallas out to the Galleria. That seemed like a long way to take a taxi so I suggested we take my truck. I explained that it was a club cab, but I thought we would all fit nicely if they did not mind the truck. Being trash wives, no one had a problem riding in a truck. So the plan was made, we all met at the valet station, and I handed my parking ticket to the valet. While we waited for my vehicle, I questioned the valets on how best to get to the Galleria. I told them I did not want to have to drive through any traffic lights. Once again, I was dressed western. I played up the part of the country hick saying, “Where I come from, we only had one traffic light and it was always green.” The Valets, most of whom were young black men, were enjoying me and began teasing me, but they said they could get me to the Galleria with very few traffic lights by sending me down the Tollway. About that time, a valet pulled up with my truck, and we started to load up. The valets went crazy! They were hollering, “Five ladies in a pick-up truck!” They laughed and teased us – all good-naturedly – waving us off to the Galleria. When we arrived back at the Aldolphus after shopping, the valets asked how it had gone. In my best Texas twang I said that it had gone well, “but what was that thang you had to stop and throw money in? You forgot to mention that!” The valets all hooted. They got a real kick out of ladies in our pick-up truck, and the ladies loved it, too.

The next day Toby and I had gathered in the lobby with our luggage along with many of the other people from the company waiting on their limos to take them to different airports to fly them to different parts of the USA. Toby went out to give the valet our ticket and get our truck. As the valet pulled up in our truck, I stepped out of the hotel. The valets went crazy again hooting and hollering and teasing me. It caused a big commotion. Even people from the company who did not know what was happening joined in with the teasing. Toby did not know what was going on, but he went along with the teasing and laughing. As we drove off in our truck he turned and looked at me and said, “I take it that you knew those boys?”