In our last day in Dallas, we got up early to go to the Stars practice, so after dropping Stellina at doggie day-care, Jen, Sam and I headed out to Frisco once again! The boys were already out on the ice by the time we got there, but that was okay! We still had an awesome time standing around, watching them practice their drills, their set plays and shoot on Marty and Alex in net. Mike Modano looked really good out there on the ice, but poor Jere Lehtinen looked a little slow. Mike “Skeezy” Ribeiro makes my skin crawl. Seriously, I’ve never felt anything like it! But it was good to see “the old boys” again (Steve Ott, Brenden Morrow, Mike Modano, Jere Lehtinen, Stephane Robidas… even Trevor “Ghetto” Daley, who I’d still trade for a Starbucks coffee and a bag of chips!) out on the ice. And it was really interesting to see the new guys, the “young guns” out there too. Guys like James Neal and Jamie Benn, Matt Niskanen and Tom Wandell. And of course, our new “veterans” like Brad Richards and, of course, Skeezy. I say it with a very distant love, I swear!

After practice, the three of us waited in the autograph line to wait for 6 players: Jere Lehtinen, Mike Modano (unlikely spotting as he usually ducks out the back), Brenden Morrow, Steve Ott, Stephane Robidas and Marty Turco.

Skeezy came out of the locker room first, apparently he does that a lot, because then he usually runs back into the locker room “for something” and does the line twice, just in case someone missed him the first time. *Rolls eyes*

Brenden came out first (of our list) and was very happy to pose quickly for a photo. He was smiling, happily putting his arm around each of us and didn’t complain at all, even though the tunnel was bitterly cold with the wind coming through it. A lady who was standing near us got Brenden to sign a piece of paper, which we thought was weird, and then after a few of the other boys came out, she’d gotten Trevor Daley’s autograph. She then came to me and asked who he was! I replied, “Trevor Daley.” She didn’t understand my accent. I even had to phonetically spell it for her! It was rather unusual, and yet hilarious.

Next off our list was Stephane Robidas, who was gracious as always and like Brenden, happy to pose and smile. Jere Lehtinen was next and, well, Jere doesn’t smile, but he was happy to pose for the photo and was then on his way. Otter was next, and happily smiled and posed with us. He’s a real champ!

Marty Turco is notoriously the last member of the team out of the locker room. Whether it be onto the ice for practice or out of the locker room to go home from practice or a game (which is ironic because during a game he’s the first one onto the ice!). In 2006, we had gotten a frosty reception from Marty, which was a little disconcerting as we’d never spoken to the man before. I said to Sam that maybe he was having a bad day, or perhaps he was just in a rush and didn’t want to hang around. We were near the end of the line after all. So, in 2009 we wanted to give him another chance.

Shouldn’t have bothered, really. Marty, dressed in a suit, came out of the locker room last and we politely asked him if we could have a photo taken with him. We didn’t want anything signed, just a photo. He said, “Sure, no problem!” loudly, and then Sam and I turned around and posed. Marty kind of rubbed his hands together and then just stood there while Jen lined up the shot.

Marty muttered, “C’mon, c’mon, just take the damn photo!”

Whether he meant for Sam and I to hear it or not I don’t know, but it was rude and uncalled for. I don’t care how cold he might have been from the tunnel – we’d been standing out there in that cold cement tunnel for an hour waiting for them. The least he could do was be courteous and keep his thoughts to himself. Jen didn’t hear him, but she did say that Marty in the photo wasn’t Marty. Usually he was all over the fans, and they’d had trouble getting him to shut up.

Maybe it was just Sam and I?

Whatever it was, I then said to Jen and Sam that I wanted to leave then and go to the store. I didn’t want to hang around and see if Mike snuck down the tunnel after everyone had left. I didn’t want to chance my heart being broken a second time by a player I adored above all others, after Marty Turco was just rude to us for the second time in 3 years.

We went into the Stars Stuff Store and got a few more things that we wanted (Sam got a jacket and a couple of t-shirts. I got a scarf, and a couple of other things). After we got our loot, we headed to Ulta, a cosmetics store near Jen’s that sells brand names often on sale. She was sure I’d be able to replace what I’d lost through Bella’s washing machine!

Jen was right, they sold EVERYTHING. >From perfume to cosmetics, hair care and even fluffy robes and slippers. A truely pampering place. I managed to get L’Oreal foundation, powder, 3 different eyeshadows, eyeliner, and consealer, and 3 Revlon lipsticks all for $73USD, which at the moment is about $77AUD.  Can you believe that? The lipsticks alone were $3.99 each! Back home, those exact lipsticks are $20.95 each! BARGIN! With the money we had left over, Sam got some cologne from Bvlgari – OMG SO GORGEOUS. I love it!

Then it was time to head home to Jen’s and wait for Jesse and Rhonda, who were coming over after work so that all of us could go to Jen’s parent’s house for Chicken Fried Steak and watch The Hangover. Our friend Julie also came along (she lives in Fort Worth, like Jen’s parents, and she’s friends with everyone – we met Julie through Jen!) which was awesome because we had only seen her twice – at the basketball game and she also came to Stratvos with us and Rhonda’s family.

Jen’s Mum is a riot. She’s so like Jen! While we waited for Julie to get there from work, Rhonda, Jesse, Jen, Sam and I played some weird card game we’d never played before called Skipbo (a game that was created in Texas in 1967), but it was a lot of fun!  When Julie arrived, we’d moved onto Uno and Jen had disappeared from the table. Dinner was old fashioned southern chicken fried steak, veges and gravy, with sourdough biscuits on the side. It was DELICIOUS! After dinner, we watched The Hangover. While it was funny in parts, it wasn’t really Sam’s and my cup of tea. But it was entertaining none the less.

By the time the movie was over, it was midnight, and time to head back to Dallas and say our farewells. We said goodnight to Jen’s parents, and then goodbye to Julie in the carpark of the motel where Jen’s Mum is the live-in manager. The hour long drive back to Dallas seemed to take no time at all, and then it was time to say farewell to Jesse, who isn’t into long goodbyes. Leaving Jesse is hard for me, because he’s such an awesome guy and I love him to pieces. Anyway, we said “See you later!” because it’s not a goodbye, according to Jesse, and then he left and went home.

Rhonda stayed a little longer and she and I snuggled on Jen’s couch before it was time for her to leave too because she had school in the morning. Hugs and kisses and fond farewells later, and it was time for us to go to our room and pass out on the bed. Tomorrow it’s time to pack up and ship out… well… fly out. It’s the end of our journey, but boy have we got a ton of wonderful memories to take home to Australia!