Dallas, Texas

I celebrated Christmas with my aunt, uncle, cousins, and brother at Dallas, Texas. I was able to get a free flight from the Air Force Aid Society as I am an E-4 or else I would have paid $600. I got a parking pass by being a new USO volunteer at the SLC airport, and I pretty much mastered going through SLC when traveling. The flight to DFW got delayed by 2 hours but I mentioning this because it was delayed once I already boarded, which usually never happens. I made it in time for the Christmas dinner at my cousin, Valentina’s house with my brother picking me up whom drove 10+ hours  from his base Holloman AFB to Dallas. I didn’t know so many people there but I still have a good time talking to my cousin Michael who’s about a decade older and meeting Tina’s 3 daughters (one does gymnastics). I’m glad I bought $80 worth of gifts and the food as good. That was Christmas Eve and for Christmas it was just my brother and I going to asian plazas as they don’t close for Christmas and then eating at Asian Buffet with him, my aunt, and Michael. Friday, my brother and I explored Downtown Dallas and checked out the George W Bush museum, ate a $150 restaurant called Jose (used my brother’s Chase Reserve OpenTable credit), JFK museum, and Galleria Mall (very big with a Netflix store and ice skating rink). Then we ate a family dinner with the family. On Saturday, my brother left to drive back and Michael and I went to the Hilton Resort in Rockwall as I had to use my free hotel credit before the new year. Rockwall is at a lake and it reminded me of the Bay Area and I enjoyed it a lot as Downtown was a bit too busy. Sunday, we ate a greek breakfast restaurant, head back to my aunt’s house, which I’ve been staying throughout the week, and just chilled at the airport lounges (Delta was small, waited too long for Centurion) as I head back to Utah. Overall, I enjoyed my trip to Dallas as I haven’t seen that side of the family in over 10 years and Dallas itself is pretty wide, cheap, and is a good all rounder place to live.