Wichita Mountains Trip

I've been making trips to the Wichita Mountains (which contrary to popular belief are NOT in Wichita Falls, but rather in Oklahoma) most of my life. I always have a blast and talk about it to my friends, so we decided we all needed to make a trip.

There is a town close to the mountains called Medicine Park. It was founded in the early 1900s and most of the buildings are made of cobblestone. Since it's less than 2 hours from WF, I've never stayed the night, but have always wanted to stay in one of the cabins there.

I'm usually not the one in charge of planning trips (I'm not the best). But since I had been there a lot, I figured I'd take charge. It's a super small town, so there weren't many options that would fit 7 people. I tried two other cabins before this one and they were booked, so this is where we stayed: https://resnexus.com/resnexus/book/more.aspx?B=28&ID=811&ResID=25814.

So we all assumed from the pictures that these were all separate rooms (living room, kitchen, bedroom). But oh were we wrong. This was all ONE room that was smaller than a two-car garage...for 7 people (Andrea, Annette, Sherrie, Jana, Rustin, Casey and me)! We made do though - Andrea and Annette slept in the "loft" which should be more accurately called a crawl space. Annette even took a nasty fall early Saturday morning, which woke everyone up laughing. 

Sherrie and Jana were going to sleep in the pull-out bed, but upon opening it, found a pair of dirty socks and a stick??

I guess it was too many girls for poor Casey because he slept on the porch. But I must add that I'm pretty sure the wrap-around, screened-in porch was bigger than the cabin. 

During all my previous visits, it has NEVER rained, so of course it rained all day while we were there. Luckily it wasn't coming down too hard so we went for a hike anyway. 

After our hike, we went to the Visitor Center and then to eat at Meers. It was DELICIOUS as always. If you're not familiar, Meers is a hundred-year-old restaurant that serves longhorn burgers the size of pie plates. 

Back at Medicine Park, we went to the lake there. There were a lot of fish, ducks and turtles around for us to feed. 

The next morning we decided to go to the only bakery in town. To be honest, we didn't have that high of expectations but it was really good! They had these "muffins" that were made of biscuit mix, sausage and cheese and served with gravy all over them. 

There are many other funny stories to tell, but most of them are the "you had to be there" type. Hopefully I can talk them into going again and we can get a bigger cabin and no rain! 

30th Birthday

That's right - I turned 30. I usually don't really care too much about my birthday. I think after 18, it just became another year passing. But I was excited about this one because, selfishly, I was looking forward to kicking back and relaxing and not feeling guilty about it!

The celebration really started on Thursday. My mom was still in town so she watched Avery that morning while I went to Starbucks and got my favorite breakfast - chai tea latte and cranberry orange scone. Then I went and got a pedicure! I thoroughly enjoy my pedicures because I really only splurge on them twice a year. (Don't worry I don't let my toenails grow three feet the rest of the year - I just do it myself.)

Friday night we went to the Downtown Square in McKinney. It is one of my favorite places to go. Casey was in town so he came with us and two of my friends who live in McKinney - Natalie and Michelle - met us.  

On Saturday, Rustin woke up with Avery so I could sleep in. While I was sleeping they went to get me Starbucks and donuts. He also gave me a gift certificate for a manicure/pedicure at this spa in an old house in downtown Allen I've been wanting to try forever.

I know some people plan huge celebrations for their 30th, but I just didn't want that. When I thought of having something big, it stressed me out. So we stayed in town and did something small. 

I LOVE staying at hotels. Eventually I want to stay just one night at each of the "fancy" hotels in Dallas. So Andrea booked the Mansion on Turtle Creek for a few of us girls.

During the day we hung out by the pool. The only picture I got was at night - 

After the pool, we got ready for dinner. When I came out of the shower the girls had decorated the hotel room!

That night we went to dinner at Nick and Sam's Grill. They even gave us a champagne toast!

The next day we went to brunch at Oddfellows, which is this place in the Bishop Arts District that I've wanted to try for a while. The coffee there is supposed to be amazing and it did not disappoint in that area. It was the best chai latte I've ever tasted.

I'm very thankful for all my family and friends who made my 30th very special. Avery even had a surprise for me that day, but I'll save that for another post...

Broken Bow Trip

Last weekend we went on a girls trip to Broken Bow, OK to celebrate Annette's 30th birthday. Several months before, I kept going back and forth on whether or not I should go. Of course I wanted to, but the thought of leaving Avery for so long stressed me out (Friday night - Sunday afternoon). But in the end I figured she'd be ok with her Daddy and decided to go.

We joked and said we were "glamping." If you know me, you know this is the only way I prefer to camp :) Our "cabin" was huge (two stories) and super nice. It even had a hot tub outside! Here are a few pictures -

Us hanging out the night we got there -

The next day Sherrie cooked a delicious breakfast and we packed our lunches and headed to canoe. I've only gone canoeing three times in my life. The first time I was sick and my canoe capsized the moment we got in the river and all our stuff went floating downstream. I refused to canoe again, but when we went to Broken Bow for Andrea's 30th, I did (she should feel special) and it was a lot of fun so I wasn't too worried this time. We saw a lot of wildlife - fish, turtles, snakes, and more bugs than necessary.

That night we got cleaned up and went to the winery in town - Girls Gone Wine. I love that place! They offer free tastings and have great wines. All profits from one of their wines - Bark - benefits the local animal shelter, which I thought was really cool. We had a great time there as usual.

That night we went back to the cabin and Sherrie cooked another delicious meal then we got in the hot tub. They all stayed up later, but I went to bed. I was just so excited to get some sleep!

Then the next day we headed home. I was sad to leave but couldn't wait to see Rustin and Avery. As we were leaving the cabin, a cat came up to us. He was so sweet but didn't have a collar and looked really skinny. I was riding with Andrea and she wouldn't let me take him, but if I had my own car you can bet we would be cat owners! (I'm sure Rustin is thankful for Andrea's decision.)

Trip to Salado

I finally did it - I left Avery overnight. My friends planned to go to Salado, TX to celebrate Jana's 30th birthday. I had an email typed up saying I couldn't go, but I really wanted to! And I figured Rustin could hold down the fort for one night. Plus, I've known Jana since jr. high and really wanted to celebrate her 30th with her.

We stayed at the Salado Inn - 

It was very cute and quaint. The people who owned it made a home cooked breakfast in the morning and it was delicious! There were also journals in each room in which people who stayed there could write entries. A few were pretty interesting!

We decided to get a few pics on the balcony -

And of course had to get one of the birthday girl -

We went to two different wineries. One was horrible! The wine was so bad, but the lady running it was super nice and we got to sit outside and enjoy the weather -

The other winery we went to - Salado Creek Winery - was *really* good. They had several unique wines. One was called a "Chocolate Lab" and it seriously tasted like a grape tootsie pop. My favorite was the sweet white, and I brought home a bottle for Rustin :)

We also went to some antique shops and an art market. It was a lot of fun and nice to get away. I thought about it - that was the first night in about six months that I haven't slept with a monitor next to me. I could also really sleep in. Granted, I still woke up at 7 because I'm so used to waking up early, but that's better than 5:30! And Rustin did a great job watching Avery!