Dallas

Until now my knowledge of Dallas was mediated through the TV series. Actually I am staying in Lewisville at the excellent Residence Inn, a first for me at this chain of hotels. The landscape here is quite flat with a gentle climb to the north. Wendy's, Red Lobster, TGFI and other eating houses are here, giving a strange sense of deja vu but with a Texan accent. As yet I've not heard anything as broad as one Continential Airlines cabin crew member who doubled the number of syllables in "trash" as she collected the "tray-ash" before we landed in Newark. Most of the few people I've talked to are not Texans.

Today I got to the local Barnes & Noble bookstore. Discovery no. 1--the coffee they serve is actually Starbucks. Even so, the range of books, CDs and DVDs in this store far surpasses anything local to my home.

The challenge before I go home is to find a walking route from Residence Inn to the Target store. Today the highest point I reached on my way back was the intersection of two highways, the bypass crossing the interstate by bridge. Target is in the opposite diagonal from my vantage point. The bridge appears to have no side walk.

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