If you can take off and land the Stick, with those tiny wheels, I'm pretty sure your instructor will be able to 'cut the cord' very quickly. Even after you are soloed, you can often get help from the instructors when you're ready to try new things. We've had a few competitive flyers in our club and they all volunteered to be instructors. They all have liked it when any pilot asked them to show them how to do something and they'll stand right there to coach them through it.
Garland is northeast of downtown Dallas. My brother and I are members of
http://greenvillerc.com and the flying field is about 45 miles east of Dallas. It's a long drive but we really like all of the club members and have a great time. We flew yesterday and were surprised to have the field totally to ourselves. There was a direct crosswind blowing in our face but it was 5 to 10 mph and sometimes totally calm.
There is a club in Rowlett, probably 8 miles from my house. The flying area is too small for me to feel comfortable. A lot of people have no issues at all but I tend to keep my planes pretty far away until it's time to land.
The drag strip near Ennis is about an hour from my house. One zip code for Ennis is 75119. I put that in the AMA club search and it shows clubs in Waxahachie and Corsicana. If your business will keep you on the South side of the area, they might be easiest to visit.
75201 is a zip code in Downtown Dallas. There are 25 clubs within a 50 mile radius. Some of the distance info is misleading. Richardson RC Club is listed at 17.48 miles from downtown. That is the distance to their PO Box in Plano. The flying site is about 35 miles from downtown Dallas. So, be sure to click 'flying site details' for any club to find the real location.
If you head east, we have a few guys who fly during the week but our most common flying time is Saturday afternoon.