This post is being written retrospectively, as I did not begin recording my travel journeys until our 2008 trip to the United Kingdom and Europe. The story begins a long time before this trip, when I had no money and no clue how I would ever realise the dream of travel that I had yearned for all my life. After settling into life in Sydney, I was surprised to learn that Ian had never visited his sister in the 20 years that his sister lived in the US.

We quickly decided to obtain passports and book our flight to visit Scott and Leonie. Abilene would become the base for our future US trips over the next 25 years.

The details of this trip are only those from memory and photos captured to look back on. This eye-opening trip only served to double my passion for travel, especially overseas to new places.

The year was 1999, and the trip was too short, from 14th to 30th November. Little did we know that more time was always needed.

Flying out – with a bonus country

When I started planning this trip, I never imagined that Japan would be the first country outside of Australia that I would visit. However, we ended up staying there overnight and having a simple meal that cost us 6300 Yen (which was quite expensive for a basic dinner for two at the time). When we arrived at Narita, it took us around 20 minutes to taxi to the gate, which was really eye-opening as there were so many gates and planes in one place.

Fortunately, we had no trouble getting to our hotel and settled in for the night. Since our next flight wasn’t until 3pm the next day, we had some time to explore Narita a bit. We visited a supermarket (which I loved and now do everywhere I go) and were amazed at how clean and tidy everything was, even the train station. We also noticed cigarette vending machines on every corner, but surprisingly, we couldn’t find a single cigarette butt, even on the train tracks.

It was long enough to whet our appetite for a definite return visit. As it turned out, our cheapest flying option was via Japan Airlines (JAL), with the bonus of landing directly in Dallas (Qantas opened a direct flight many years later). Back on our JAL flight, the excitement was building for the central part of the trip. We settled in and enjoyed the flight. From memory and looking back, these flights were the longest of our lives because we didn’t know what to expect. Since then, every flight has felt shorter and easier, unlike a quick drive to Bourke or beyond for the weekend. In fact, I feel like I get more jet-lagged doing 11-12 hours in the car over a couple of days than any flight.”

The flight was pleasant, and the food was excellent. Since it was our first time flying, we were pleasantly surprised by the wine served with dinner and the numerous visits from the crew offering snacks and drinks throughout the flight. These small events were exciting to us, but they would probably go unnoticed by experienced travellers. We know we will never have another first-flight experience with that same wide-eyed amazement at every little detail.

Arriving in country number two – USA

Coming off the plane at Dallas Fort Worth Airport (DWF) was so exciting to see Scott and Leonie waiting to collect us for the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Abilene in West Texas. Everything was so new, and we had that strange feeling of being on the wrong side of the road for the first time. Our eyes were on sticks, looking at the roads, the size of the buildings, and how spread out everything was.

We stopped at our first Cracker Barrel restaurant and enjoyed our first taste of the many foods, our first go-to, every time we landed. Gallons of coffee with Half and Half chicken fried steak, eggs in a basket, and bacon were the biggest hits of all and are still the first thing we have when we can get to a Cracker Barrel. The strip bacon and eggs cooked to perfection ruined me for life on our bacon. I now only buy strip bacon, even here in Australia, to this day.

Those first few days were a blur of probably jet-lagged, but I don’t recall being jet-lagged. I remember mornings spent around the kitchen bench drinking coffee and evenings in the sitting room relaxing after another great meal somewhere. I think the food was the one thing we both loved right from the get-go. With everything new, even a trip to Walmart was amazing. We walked around just looking at everything on offer, which is a one-stop-shop in our eyes. Everything is bigger in Texas!!!

The simplest memories come flooding back of Scott dropping us downtown Abilene where we wandered around and sat for what seemed like an hour watch a goods train go through the station, our first train with double containers and I am sure we lost count at over 100 wagons.

Las Vegas – Wow and wow again

We decided we wanted to do one other trip somewhere out of Texas, so we settled on Las Vegas, and Leonie was able to join us for the 3-day trip. We planned to fly out of Dallas 3 days before Thanksgiving and return on Thanksgiving eve (poor Leonie, what were we thinking? Clearly not of her, having to prepare Thanksgiving lunch)

Nevertheless, away we went. With a plane change in Denver, Colorado, we soon flew over the magnificent Grand Canyon and landed in Las Vegas. This was the first of countless trips over the next twenty-odd years. It seems we don’t have a US trip that doesn’t begin or end with a few days in Vegas and doesn’t even include gambling, food, and seeing the Casino and site.

We had booked into The Treasure Island Casino and were blown away by its size and opulence. Then we walked outside and saw a Casino—Paris Paris, Bellagio, and New York, New York. The Venetian was almost completed.

We set out to walk the strip from one end to another and back again (The Treasure Island at the Southern end of the Strip). We certainly bit off more than we could chew and were exhausted when we got back to the hotel. Dinner and bed were the best we could manage after that. The rest of the trip passed in a bit of a blur, and our main takeaway was that we would be back. The casinos and their feature attractions got more impressive with each one, from the lions at MGM, the giant fish tank behind the reception area, the roller coaster on the New York New York rooftop, not to mention the dancing fountain of the Bellagio.

Thanksgiving – It’s a big deal on the annual holiday calendar

Our first thanksgiving was in the traditional style and so much fun, the food was out of this world and just kept coming, I can’t remember if the family came over but I think they did and the first NFL game was on TV. American sport was something that I got the bug for at this time, and this passion has only increased over the years.

All too soon, it is over.

After a sigh of relief (for the cook) and the door closed on the last of the visitors, we settled in for more catch-up and family time. We explored Abilene and had the opportunity to drive to Midland, Texas, where Matthew led the marching band in a high school football game. This was another eye-opener to the sheer size of the event and the logistics that go into each one of these games every week. Rows and rows of buses to transport the players, entourage and band members were incredible, we passed bus after bus on the way home but gee the hotdogs we the best I had ever eaten. We loved everything about getting to the game and can’t wait to get to more sporting events on the next trip(s).

Our final excursion for this trip was to drive the two and half hours to Dallas Fortworth and explore Grapevine Mills (mind blown at the sheer size and number of shops under one roof), Billy Bobs Bar (Biggest Bar in Texas), which has the full-size rodeo arena inside as well as five different stages that all the great country stars perform on at one time or another.

Looking back on the love of the food, the feel of Texas (just like Western NSW), and the warmth of the people, they loved to talk to us just to hear our twangy accents. Writing this as future Ange, I can only say that, boy, we had no idea how significant an impact this trip would be. It was life-changing for me, and the dream to travel exploded into a full-blown passion that, after many trips to the USA, has not waned one iota. We hadn’t even caught the Disney bug yet!