So we found this wonderful little place in Addison called Dunn Bros Coffee that has free internet access and free computers to use when you buy their coffee. Have I mentioned how much I love Dallas?!?!

So update on the trip so far - Jesse got a shutout on Saturday night but we didn’t go, we went back to Rhonda’s to watch the Red Wings beat the Oilers in a shootout and then the Kings beat the Blues … three games in one night on television. Have I mentioned how much I love Dallas!?!? *GRIN* It’s great here!

Sunday, since the boys won in San Jose, they were given the day off from practice. It didn’t stop us from going to Frisco StarCentre anyway just to have a mooch around and check things out again. We watched the peewee league play on the Stars practice rink - the Dallas Stars unfortunately lost to the Houston Aeros 3-0. We then went back to the Stars Stuff Store and gave in to our temptation and bought 2 jumpers, 3 t-shirts (2 for me and one for Sam), an Olympic puck, a Stars shotglass, 2 foam hands (got to do the stereotypical thing at the games!), a Stars watch for Sam, a Jokinen jersey for the guys to sign that we will frame when we get home, a Stars umbrella, and the piece de resistance…. a Stars Skateboard! I finally got one! I’ve wanted one since they were giving them away with the Christmas tickets on the Stars site. I’m going to ask Mike if he’ll sign it for me since his picture is on the bottom of the skateboard.

The guys at the Stars Stuff Store thought we were hilarious, especially Ben who kept laughing at my accent. I asked what was so funny and he was like, “Nothing, it’s just so cool!” We chatted for about an hour. They looked after our skateboard while we wandered around and went to watch the last few minutes of the other peewee league game, the Aces Vs the Hounds - Hounds won 3-2. Man, the sports parents here are just insane. There was one mother waving a COWBELL… which was fine for all of one minute but then got really annoying. We dropped back into the SSS, said goodbye to the guys and picked up my Skateboard before heading next door to Stonebriar Mall again for something to eat.

And this is where it happened. My first Star Experience.

We went inside at Dick’s Sporting Goods, and up the escalators to the second floor and walked towards the food court. Who is walking the other way with his wife and child, but none other than Stars Defenseman, #3 Stephane Robidas!! OMG it was… exciting, amazing. I don’t know how but I kept my cool. I have a rule. I don’t bug the boys when they’re in their private time. If they’re at the rink, they’re working and fair game. If they’re with their family, I leave them alone. They’re not working and deserve to live their lives as normally as possible. So… Stephane looked at us, and read our jumpers which both said Dallas Stars. I smiled at him and said, “G’day,” and we kept walking. He nodded acknowledgement and gave a small smile, so I think he was grateful that we didn’t bother him while he was with his family. I could see him thinking, ‘are they going to stop me? they’d know who I am…’ but we didn’t.

Anyway I elbowed Sam after he passed and said, “That was Robidas!” (pronounced Roe-bee-dah - he’s French-Canadian) and he said “Who?” because he didn’t hear me, so I repeated, “That was Stephane Robidas! Stars Defenseman!” Sam said, “Ohh I thought I recognised him!” I said “I’d know that nose anywhere, and see I told you I wouldn’t bother them if I saw them on the street!! You didn’t believe me!” Short but sweet. I’ve been on that buzz for the last 24 hours.

Robidas was my first Star. Has a nice ring to it!

Last night we just stayed home and did laundry and fielded phone calls from Rhonda, Chris and Leni. It was good to just stop for a moment and relax. We had steak burgers for dinner, home made in our kitchenette, and watched a couple of movies and tv shows on telly. It was great.

Tonight, its our first Stars Game!!! I’m so excited, because we just got a call from Randy with the Dallas Stars, who said he got an email from JeffK, the Stars Music Director, who said we’d love to be the Stars Fans of the Game and gave him our cell phone number which I’d posted up on the Stars forum because well we’ll only have the phone for two weeks and then it won’t work anymore. Anyway I said, sure we’d love to be! So we’re going to the West Media Entrance at 5.50pm to ask for Randy and he’ll come down and get us and take us up to be interviewed. Jesse has our jerseys from Kelly so we should be dressed up just right!

I’m so … amazed and excited and there are just no words right now. I have butterflies already!! I can’t wait for tonight, it’s going to be AMAZING!

~ Wendy

We finally made it!! 32 hours of travelling - starting in Brisbane (we went to the wrong airport too which was pretty embarrassing but allowed us to get our bags to be gladwrapped for $9 - take THAT drug dealers in baggage claim!) and jumping down to Sydney, then over to LA (LONNNNNNNNG flight) and after a 7 hour (and freezing cold) layover in LA, we finally flew to Dallas.

Oh…my…god. I’ve never seen anything so big in all my life. As we flew in over Dallas… there was nothing but lights to the horizon in every direction. It was spectacular. Rhonda and Jesse met us at the airport, which was fantastic, and we then started the adventure of “Find Wendy & Sam’s Luggage” as it didn’t come off the conveyer belt for C15 where our flight’s luggage was supposed to be. Our bag actually flew in on an earlier flight, so we got into Jesse’s monster truck and drove up to C4, and picked up our bag (I actually hugged our suitcase). While Sam ran back to the car to pick up the ID to get our bag, the guy that was behind the desk told Rhonda and I how much he loved Aussies and kept repeating “Bloody mate” over and over, causing us to be almost on the floor in laughter.

It was too late by then to pick up our rental car, so Jesse drove us all back to our hotel, we checked in and then I took a shower because 37 hours between showers was TOO long. Fresh and ready to go, we then all headed to Rhonda’s house to watch the Stars Vs Kings game. MAN… that was a GREAT game! Not just because we won (4-1!) and Mike got the final goal, but also because it was kind of live, it was on a tv, we were eating Taco Bell, and we were IN DALLAS!! Plus, Pete, I can see what you mean about watching the game without knowing the score now. Still… it was fabulous!

I love my friends. They’re fantastic! We had so much fun with Jesse and Rhonda - Rhonda is as loud as I am when watching it on TV. I bet we’ll be able to hear her from the rafters at the AAC. Anyway we got back to the hotel at 3am.

We got up Friday morning at 9am, and checked out. We took the shuttle to the airport again with our bags and had a really lovely shuttle driver. He was excited to talk to Aussies too. Everyone seems to love them here. The airport had a shuttle from where we got dropped off at Delta to where the rental cars are, and we went to Enterprise where we booked for our car. We were given a PT Cruiser (Exchange PT for CHRYSLER and think Gangsta car!) in red, and we were on our way. Of course we got lost on our way to our hotel that we were moving to for the rest of our stay. Finally there an hour late, checked in and then found our room.

Of course the lock on the door wouldn’t work. Sam had to go back to the front office twice before they gave us a new room. We dumped our bags and ran out the door to meet Leni up at Frisco, but of course we got lost. A guy at a toll booth did a double take when we said “G’day” as we handed over the dollar bill for the toll as we didn’t have any quarters. He said “Did you just say ‘G’Day?’” and we were like, “Yeah.” And he said “My brother lives in Tasmania!” Small world. No, we didn’t know him. HAHA.

We got to Frisco at 2pm, and missed Leni unfortunately. We did go into the StarCentre. OH MY GOD…. I was home. Seriously. I saw the ice where the Stars practice. OH MY GOD… I am home. Yes, I’m repeating myself. I was in reverence silence. We went into the Stars Stuff Store and I almost cried. Jerseys on the walls, tshirts, jumpers, even a BIKINI… which obviously will be staying on the rack. Man there was EVERYTHING there. And I wanted everything too! But we left empty handed. I’ll probably pick up a jersey on Sunday when we go back there.

Stonebriar Mall was our next stop since we hadn’t eaten since midnight the night before when we ate Taco Bell with Jesse and Rhonda. OH man… I though Indooroopilly was big. Oh lord. Stonebriar Mall is a shopaholics dream come true! It’s so huge. We ate and left though because we wanted to get a cell phone and there was no Best Buy at Stonebriar, it was in another mall complex type place up the road. So we went and got a cell phone, which has made our lives a WHOLE lot easier now that we can get in contact with people.

We got lost not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES coming back from Frisco to Dallas. Oh lord. It took us TWO HOURS to get home. Anyway after we got back to the hotel, we called Rhonda, had showers and she arrived for us to go to BILLY BOBS OF TEXAS. Mate… MATE…the place rocked. TOTALLY ROCKED!! Rhonda and Dave came with us, and we just had a total blast. We were ID checked, and then got inside. It was MASSIVE. We almost missed the Rodeo, but Rhonda talked the lady into letting Sam and I get in after they’d closed the gates because we were from Australia and it was the only time we were going to get to see anything like it. That was pretty great of them. We have a couple of photos but I don’t know when we’ll be able to get them uploaded. There’s a computer issue which I’ll get to at the end.

We drank Shiners - Texan beer - and played pool, and ate cheese nachos. We drove DAYTONA video cars and just talked and laughed and took photos and had a fabulous time. It was the best. We got home at 2am.

Today… Saturday, we slept in until 11am. We found a Target and got a couple of Stars t-shirts and jumpers, because man it’s FREEZING here - we thought it would be warmer than it is. We got some makeup for me since i left mine at home by accident, and some food. WOW there’s like NO grocery stores here. We have to find a Wal-Mart. We went to Val’s place to watch the Stars Vs San Jose Sharks game - which was great. Stars won 4-3 in a shootout where Jussi Jokinen was finally stopped, but Mike Modano had a goal, two assists and a shootout goal as well! It was great! We had Pizza for dinner with great people, we’re having a total blast. A TOTAL BLAST!

Tonight, we’re going to watch Jesse play hockey - he’s a goalie - and then tomorrow it’s off to Frisco again.

We don’t have net access at the hotel since we don’t have a net account in the US so we’re basically updating via Internet Cafes and friend’s places. I’m borrowing Val’s net at the moment. So I don’t know how often the updates will be I’m sorry - and of course they’re not as detailed as I was going to do but I’m on a time limit unfortunately.

Anyway I hope to update again soon. Please feel free to leave messages or comments. We’ll reply when we get back on here!
Take care!
~ Wendy

168 days ago we started counting down to when we would arrive in Dallas. And here we are, less than 13 hours from departure time. I have about four things to pack before we’re ready to go, not including my laptop, which I’ll be doing at the end of this post - Thanks Lizzie for the lend of the laptop bag! It’s a gem, and Geoff, I promise it’ll be returned on April 5 in one piece. *GRIN*

Hockey update before we get onto other things - Right Winger Bill Guerin (#13) is currently out on injury. In the game against the Canucks, Billy took a highstick to the right eye, causing him to incur a fractured orbital bone - which is located at the top of the eyesocket. Billy is scheduled for surgery on Thursday (US time) and is expected to be out for a week. Here’s to a speedy recovery Billy!

And onto other things… today was long and fun, but exhausting. I got up at 7am, unable to sleep, and started to pack the suitcase since all the clothes were now dry. Sam got up at 7.45am, and while he cooked breakie, I continued packing. I’m sure I’ve got everything - and whatever I’ve forgotten, we can buy over there. I’ve got the carry on packed - complete with gifts for Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen, Sam’s Finland jersey in case he gets cold, our tickets, and the food, glorious food that we have to declare in LA. I just hope that the Vegemite will be allowed. It’s in tubes instead of jars. We’ll see. No biggie if they’re not. We spent most of the day with our friend who is probably going to be moving to the UK while we’re away. We’ll miss him, and very much enjoyed the 6 or 7 hours we spent with him today!

Our lovely friend, Rhonda, is going to meet us at the airport in Dallas! I can’t wait. It’s going to be great to see her and catch up! After following her to our hotel (I think this is the plan) we’re going to go to her place to watch the Stars play the LA Kings - the game that is playing while we’re actually flying from LA to Dallas ironically. Should be a good game, and one we desperately need to win, if for no other reason than the psychological need to beat them. We’ve lost all except for the first game against the Kings this season, though we should have beaten them in the last game before the Olympic break in February, but we got arrogant when we were in the lead and left our defense in the locker room - and the Kings came back to win by one goal after being down 5-2 at the end of the second. It was downright disgusting the way we played. We need the win in this game!

Anyway enough of my hockey ramblings. Tomorrow is another exciting day. And the next time I post on this blog, we’ll be in the U.S. of A.!! Until then…

~ Wendy

It was a good thing that I asked Sam to email our travel agent to ask about our luggage transfers for our trip because there’s been a change to our flights both to and from LA, as well as our flight to Dallas from LA. Now we fly out at 11.15am, instead of 12pm, and we’re going via Sydney not Auckland. Our itinerary has been updated to reflect this change. It also means that the flight to LA will be 13 hours instead of 16 which is great news in light of the medical concerns we had for Sam and his ability to fly. At this stage, everything is still a go, so we’re crossing fingers and toes that it remains that way.

I haven’t fully packed yet, as resetting up my laptop after Sam formatted it for me today has taken longer than expected, but I’m now back up to max capacity… I think. I’m pretty sure I’ve remembered everything I need while we’re O/S. Browser - Check. Word - Check. Photo editing software - Check. That’s basically all I need to do the journal so I’m happy.

Site update!! - Check the Dallas Stars page under the heading Contents Of The Stars to see pictures of the players we’re talking about!!

Hockey update!!
Stars have just played their last two games against the Vancouver Canucks, on March 11 (US time) in Vancouver and today, March 13 (US time) , at home in the AAC (American Airlines Centre) in Dallas. We won on March 11, 2-1. Mike Modano, our fearless leader and my all-time favourite player, scored our two goals, was first star of the game, first star on Hockey Night In Canada, and second star for NHL.com! It’s great for Mike to get acknowledgement of his achievements.

In today’s game, Mike had two assists and the game winning goal, leading the Stars to a 4-2 victory. Again, he was named first star, with linemates Jussi Jokinen (You-see Yo-kin-en) and Jere Lehtinen (Yair-ree Let-hin-en) second and third star respectively. Mike’s goal was actually given in error as he was offside when he took the shot on goal, but the ref’s awarded the goal before a review could be done so there was nothing they could do. He lead by example in today’s game, and by all accounts had a formidable presence on the ice.

There are no words that are able to express exactly how I feel right now, knowing that in less than two days, I’ll be in Dallas - the home of my favourite sports team. I have had this dream of watching the Stars play live since I first discovered ice hockey all those years ago when I was a mere thirteen year old and I saw a 22 year old Mike Modano, wearing my favourite number - 9 - on his jersey, billowing behind him as he streaked up the centre of the ice, weaving and outskating his opposition before potting the puck into the net. A simple arm raised in the air in celebration as he skated around and back to his teammates before being enveloped in celebratory hugs showed just how modest he was about his talent and skill as a hockey player. Mike was the one who ignited my passion for hockey. Still, I can’t believe that in five days, I’ll finally get to see him flying up that ice with my own eyes and not via a taped coverage. A truly special day indeed.

I’ve tried to follow his career, and my beloved Stars over the years, and thanks to the Internet it’s easier than ever to keep track of them now. Those early years, though, were impossible and the year we won the coverted Stanley Cup over the Buffalo Sabres was a year that I had no access to Stars coverage at all! This trip will certainly make up for that!

Enough of my rambling. Tune in tomorrow, same bat time, sam bat channel!

~ Wendy

2 days, 12 hours, 53 minutes, and 10 seconds left until the plane departs Brisbane!

We had a big scare today with me almost being unable to fly! To make a very long story very short, i’ve been given the all clear, so it’s Dallas here we come! Wendy mentioned in the previous update that we were going to go camcorder shopping. We did that on Thursday just gone. After hunting around a vast number of stores we eventually found a Hitachi DVDRAM video camera we liked. After wondering why it was so much cheaper than the rest of them, we noticed it was 50% off due to being the end of the current line of that model! So, we ended up getting a very pricey video camera for next to nothing! DVDRam simply means the video is burnt directly onto a mini DVD disc, removing the need for tapes.

It’s Wendy’s last day of work tomorrow so while she’s busy there i’ll be at home making sure we have everything washed, dried and ready to be packed! It’s very exciting!

~ Sam

Friday morning and there’s less than a week to go before we jet off. After a few minor issues with funding, which have now been sorted, we are actually above budget and set to have a fantastic trip. We’ve even been able to replace our old Panasonic Lumix digicam for a Canon Powershot S2 IS, and we’re shopping for a camcorder this weekend. So look out for some interesting photos in the weeks to come.

Now there’s not much more to do than pack, get my nails done (tomorrow), and fly out. I’m a little nervous about going through LAX because everyone has a LAX horror story to share. I’ve never been on a 16 hour flight before so that will be interesting and I know that Sam is going to drive me nuts unless we medicate him with either alcohol or drugs - neither of which would probably be a good idea in a confined space.

Other than that… we’re doing just fine. Everything is done. Now it’s just a waiting game… and everyone hates waiting. Still… this is a trip worth waiting for!

~ Wendy