Texas for Christmas - Dec 2023

Following our trip to Vegas and Phoenix, we arrived back in Texas on Sunday Dec 10 in time for Keith to have his second toe surgery on Monday the 11th.  The surgery was as seamless as the first, and the pain was mostly zero for the two weeks "of toes in the air."  There were a few to-dos that we caught up on, and Shawna was able to do a girls trip to Des Moines while Keith was in recovery.  Peter came over for lunch once day and had pizza with Keith and his parents.  Shawna did more of the cooking, and we used most of the 24th to pack for the east coast trip.  

Keith second surgery

Peter came over for lunch

Christmas Day was a bit quiet as it was just us with Keith's parents.  The four of us saw Boys in the Boat around lunchtime, and Margaret and Peter both came over mid-afternoon to chat.  Dinner was just the four of us having lamb chops.

Boxing Day was the "official Christmas" for us.  Keith had his 2-week post-op that morning, with the whole family arriving just after 11am.  Of course the first priority was opening the pressies for the kids which is always fun.  Graham participated as well virtually via video! Christmas lunch was a traditional turkey, with crab legs for Margaret.  Lily and Boone stayed the night at the house on the 26th.

Dodds Xmas in TX

On the morning of the 27th, we got up at 5:30am to get ready to leave on our epic 5-month east coast road trip.  

Saying farewell for our roadtrip

But, the first stop was Moreauville, which we got to at 3:30 in the afternoon with Shawna driving most of the way while Keith sat in the back with his feet propped up.  A bottle of red wine for dinner, with gumbo for the 3 of us that Shawna had left frozen from our trip a few weeks earlier.  We then opened presents, which for us included new sleeping bags for our retirement adventures.  Then it was to bed early again, as we had a 7am start to get to the first leg of the trip: a beach house in the Redneck Riviera with the RDU gang!

Christmas with Honey in LA

Des Moines - Dec 2023

Shawna went to Des Moines for a girls weekend to visit Eva (who she worked with at Cigna and who lives there) and Stacie (who she also worked with at Cigna and who flew in from Nashville).  Keith joked that this was going to be "Girls Gone Wild, Healthcare Executive, Des Moines Edition"!

Shawna and Stacie both flew in on Friday, arriving around 1:30 where Eva picked us up at the airport.  Stacie had not eaten lunch yet so we stopped at Franka for a pizza and a glass of wine.  We went back to Eva's house and after getting settled in and getting a tour of the beautiful home, we relaxed and chatted for a while.  That evening, we went downtown to have a few drinks at the speakeasy bar, In Confidence, where we got a few yummy cocktails.  We then had dinner at Bubba's, a restaurant with southern style food with huge portions.  We got a few apps for the table and then got fried chicken and chicken fried steak for our entrees.  The food was tasty.  Back at the house, we stayed up chatting a bit more.

Dinner at Bubba's

On Saturday, we all slept in and had coffee in the morning.  We then went to Cooper's Hawk for lunch where we had a bottle of wine and yummy roasted brussel sprouts and meatballs as appetizers. Shawna had a grilled cheese for her entree.  Back at the house, we napped and then headed downtown again, first stopping at the rooftop, Christmas themed bar, The Republic on Grand to have a few drinks.  It is here that we met up with a friend of Brian's (Eva's husband) and his date.  After drinks, we watched the Iowa Hawkeye Women's Basketball team who were in town playing at the Wells Fargo Arena - Eva really wanted to see them as they have a star player that is getting lots of attention.  The game was fun and the Hawkeyes won, scoring over 100 points! We stopped at a sports bar, Caffrey's, on the way home for a few more beers. Back at the house, we chatted some more, this time with one of Brian's daughters and her two friends.

Hawkeye Game

On Sunday, we slept in again and then went to Eatery for brunch where Shawna had some tasty chilaquiles.  We then went to a 'paint and sip' popup where we painted a Christmas themed decoration on wood panel boards.  The joke was that Stacie kept calling it 'paint and stroke'.  We found out that painting will not be our second careers!!  Back at the house, we napped again and then went to Gastro Grub & Pub for some tasty burgers and beers.

Work of 'art'!

Shawna left early on Monday morning with Stacie leaving later that day.  It was such a fun weekend filled with many laughs!!

Vegas and Phoenix - Dec 2023

We flew for the weekend to Phoenix to visit Rak and Ria and decided to do a quick trip to Vegas for one night to see U2 at the Sphere, something Keith had wanted to do ever since he read out this venue.

Sphere Vegas

On Wednesday, we arrived into Vegas in mid-morning and checked into Caesars Palace where we stayed one night.  We grabbed a quick lunch at True Food Kitchen where we had two salads.  Since we had time to kill before the concert, we got a massage in the spa and enjoyed the amenities.  That evening, we had dinner at Gordon Ramsay Pub and Grill where we shared the scallops for our entree - food was just OK.  We then walked over to the Sphere and truly enjoyed the concert.  The graphics on the screens were just amazing and while we were in nose bleed seats, the seats were still quite good!

U2 at the Sphere

Since it was a late evening, we slept in the next morning and then flew into Phoenix, arriving around 5pm. We took a taxi over to Rak's house and then went out for Cornish pasties - our favorite - with both Rak and Ria.  

On Friday, Shawna went for a run in the morning and then we met up with Jen and her husband Todd for lunch at OHSO - Jen worked with Shawna at Cigna.   We then picked up groceries and Shawna cooked that evening at Rak's house - serving cheese and crackers to start along with arugula salad and pasta for the meal.  It was great to hang out.

Lunch with Jen and Todd at OHSO

On Saturday, we slept in a bit and then went to play Top Golf - both Shawna and Ria were pretty bad to start but then significantly improved by the third round!!  We had lunch at Nelson's, each getting a sandwich and then Rak picked up supplies for dinner that evening.  Back at the house, we took a nap and then enjoyed some hot tub time before Rak made a yummy meal of mussels, swordfish, mashed potatoes and green beans.  

Top Golf with Rak and Ria

Dinner at Rak's House

We left early the next morning - Rak gave us a ride to the airport and we flew back to Dallas where we were going to stay for a couple of weeks while Keith recovers from his second foot surgery.

Houston and Austin TX - Nov and Dec 2023

After our road trip to Louisiana, we returned to Keith's parents house for two nights and then did another road trip to Houston and Austin for a week.  Our first stop was in Houston for two nights.  The first night we stayed at Christine and Greg's house - Christine is a childhood friend of Keith's.  When we arrived, we chatted for a bit and had a glass of Prosecco.  That evening, we went out to dinner at Tribute - a nice restaurant in their country club.  We shared the wedge salad for appetizer and the duck for entree.  The food was very good.  

Dinner with Christine and Greg at Tribute

The next morning we had some coffee and then met Ginny and Mike for lunch at Coppa Osteria.  Ginny is Shawna's step sister.  We shared a salad and pizza.  We then went over to their house which was a few blocks away for a small bowl of ice cream.  

After lunch, we headed out to Kingwood (suburb of Houston) to stay one night with Nick and Joannah.  Nick is a childhood friend of Shawna's - both of their parents were very good friends and Shawna traveled with him and his family quite a bit when she was younger.  We chatted with them for a while and then had Prosecco while Joannah made us a healthy and yummy meal of salad and soup.  We also met their youngest son who is a junior in high school.  Shawna got the news of all of Nick's siblings.  The next morning, we had coffee and then packed up to drive to Austin.

Dinner at Nick and Joannah's House

In Austin, we stayed for three nights at Jeff and Nina's house - Jeff went to grad school with us both.  The first evening, we went out to dinner with them at Aba in downtown Austin - a great Mediterranean restaurant with really good food.  There is a sister restaurant in Chicago which we had been to several times.  We started with a cocktail and then moved to wine while we shared a bunch of dishes for the table.

Time with Jeff and Nina

On Friday, Shawna went for a long run in the neighborhood and then we met Jackie and Fred for lunch at Eldorado Cafe.  Jackie is another childhood friend of Keith's and is Christine's sister (who we stayed with in Houston).  We shared a yummy pork dish.  

Lunch at Eldorado Cafe with Jackie and Fred

That evening, we met up with Lily (our niece) and had dinner at Texas Roudhouse - we told her to pick the place and this was her choice!!  We shared the ribs which were tasty.

Dinner with Lily at Texas Roadhouse

On Saturday, we met up with an elementary school friend of Shawna's, Heidi, and her husband Bruce at the Salt Lick in Driftwood (outside of Austin).  It's a great BBQ place.  We got the sampler which includes multiple meats and sides and caught up on lots of years!

Lunch with Heidi and Bruce at Salt Lick

We had some time to kill between lunch and dinner so we went to the LBJ Library in Austin which was quite interesting.  We only had a little more than an hour before they closed so we did the power tour, learning quite a bit about his wife, Lady Bird Johnson.  That evening, we had dinner at the Odd Duck in downtown Austin with Nancy, Hall, Tracy and Dave - all Fuqua alumni.  The food was very tasty - we shared many dishes for the table.

Dinner at Odd Duck with Tracy, Dave, Nancy and Hall

On Sunday, we got an orientation from Jeff and Nina on what to expect/do when we return in May to watch their son Ryan.  After that, we went to Patrick and Lauren's house (Patrick is a childhood friend of Keith's) where we stayed for two nights with them.  They have two adorable kids - Shane who was three and Sky who was one year old.  When we arrived, we had a delicious and light lunch of salad and shrimp paella that Lauren had made.  We then walked over to Patrick's parents house who live seven houses away to catch up with his parents who we had not seen since their wedding.  That evening, we drove into Austin and had BBQ at Terry Black's.

The Shami Family

Dinner with Patrick at Terry Black's BBQ

On Monday, we had a great vegetarian lunch at Casa de Luz and then rented a canoe and paddled along the river in downtown Austin.  We then had a couple of beers at Zilker Brewing, sitting outside in their beer garden.  

Canoeing on the river in downtown Austin

That evening, we had dinner with Jen (Rebecca's sister, who is a childhood friend of Keith's) and her husband Nathan at Kome, a sushi place in central Austin.  We shared a bunch of dishes for the table - all tasty.

Dinner with Jen and Nathan at Kome

On Tuesday, we packed up and drove back to Dallas where we stayed one night before hitting the road to Vegas and Phoenix for the weekend.  That afternoon, Margaret came over with Owen and Josie so that Owen could open up his bday gifts!