A Quick Trip to Dallas & A Day with T. Boone

Friday I flew to Dallas to attend The Wonderful World of Walt Disney at the Dallas Symphony with my cousin, Cory. He works for Sewell Hummer of Dallas and when I landed I called and said, "don't come pick me up in one of those new Hummer trucks, they're ugly." Poor thing. He pulled up in a few minutes in a H3T. I'll eat my words and say they are much cooler in person.

Here we are on the way to the symphony.

The view from the Grand Tier.

Afterwards in front of the H3T.

Out in Uptown.

Saturday morning Cory and all his cronies had to work so I got around and luckily one of his friends was nice enough to take me to Signature North (the hanger for private planes by Dallas Love Field). I was super nervous right before we got there because I was unsure of what to expect. Brian dropped me off and I was greeted by four people dressed in orange which made me feel strangely at ease. Soon, the pilot came to tell us we could go ahead and board the jet.

Let me back up a bit. Last Monday I had the pleasure of meeting T. Boone Pickens and his wife, Madeline, at the office. T. Boone is a Texas oil man and well known in these parts. You can read about him at http://www.boonepickens.com/ or http://www.pickensplan.com/. We got to discussing OSU and he asked when was the last time I had been back. He offered for Marty and I to attend the game and sit in his personal suite with he, his wife and some of their colleagues and friends. I graciously accepted and didn't mention my Dallas plans. After a day of scheming and trying to rework my travel plans, I called his Dallas office to cancel because I just couldn't figure out how to get from Dallas to Stillwater on Saturday. The lady in his office listened to my spill and then said, "Let me make it easy for you. Why don't you get on the jet in Dallas and fly to the game. They're going to the ranch after the game so if you can arrange to have someone pick you up at the ranch that will work out perfectly."

So, back to my story...we begin boarding the $55 million G5 jet. It even has OSU colored stripes down the side.

Once onboard we settled in for the 35 minute flight to Stillwater. The trees were absolutely beautiful as we landed at my almamater.

A shuttle picked us up at the airport and took us to the stadium. Once inside the suite I met all sorts of people at the top of their careers. The CFO of ExxonMobil and his wife, a guy who worked for Ross Perot for 45 years, The OSU Athletic Director and his wife, and the president of OSU's wife. It was a once in a lifetime experience.

Here's the view from our suite.

I got to see some of my friends that were at the game. Joy met me downstairs right before we left.

This is Kim Rosser. Her dad is T. Boone's public relations guy. She was my partner in crime at the game. This was taken right before we left Stillwater for the ranch.

Marty met us at the ranch. He had to wait a little while because the airport is on the other side of the ranch from the lodge. It was breathtaking. I wish I could've gotten pictures of the landscape and everything.

Marty took this of me inside the stairwell at the lodge.

They invited us to stay for dinner, but as it was them and five of their couple friends, I didn't want to risk wearing out our welcome.

I must say, I probably won't ever watch an OSU game the way I did that one, but it was an amazing opportunity that I feel very blessed to have gotten to experience. T. Boone and his wife are to of the nicest, most geniune people I have ever met and I hope our paths cross again.