"...And you wagered...Texas with a dollar sign in front of it."
I know for a fact that classic "Celebrity Jeopardy" bit from Saturday Night Live has absolutely nothing to do with anything. However, just thinking about it made me laugh. As a result, I decided it was the perfect way to introduce a blog post about our family trip to Texas. Hopefully it made someone else chuckle at least a little bit.
On Saturday the 30th, the four of us piled into the Traverse, hopped on I-35, and headed south towards Texas. The reason for said visit? We wanted to visit our friends, the Lindholts, who moved to Fort Hood earlier this year for Allen's new job as a chaplain in the U.S. Army. Of course, Ellie has spent most of 2022 pining to see her friend, Lydia, so that played a big part in us arranging this trip. On Day 1 though, we wouldn't be going to Fort Hood. Instead, we had plans to stop for the night in Runaway Bay, Texas to spend the night with Aaron and Eileen, Bethany's cousins, at their picturesque lake house.
By the time we reached Runaway Bay, we were all definitely ready to burn off some energy and stretch our legs. Ellie and Ethan spent their time leading up to dinner basically sprinting back and forth across the backyard with Aaron's and Eileen's grandchildren. After dinner was served, Aaron had a surprise for the kids as he was taking them out on a boat ride around the lake. For the record, Bethany and I had been privy to the surprise so we had made certain to pack the kids' life jackets for the occasion.
While out on the lake, Ellie became enthralled by watching her cousin, Levi, tubing behind the boat. Once Aaron stopped the boat and Ellie if she was interested in tubing, she wasted no time in joining Levi on the tube for a trip around the pond. While Aaron kept the boat at a pretty slow pace to begin with, it didn't take Ellie long to get to the point where she was consistently encouraging him to go faster and faster. Interestingly enough, at one point, Levi went tumbling off the tube but Ellie continued to cling tight. By the time she was done, Ellie had a smile plastered across her face from her trip across the lake.
The next day, we left Runaway Bay around 9:00 am to continue on our trek towards Fort Hood. With only three hours ahead of us, we took the opportunity to enjoy listening to some audio books. Before we knew it, we had arrived at Fort Hood and pulled into the Visitors' Welcome Center where we found Allen and Lydia patiently waiting for us. The reunion between Ellie and Lydia was honestly the stuff of legends. It's basically how you would expect two five-year-old best friends who have been separated for half a year to react upon their reunion. Before long, Bethany and I received our security clearance and we were on our way to the Lindholt home to see the rest of the family.
After reconnecting over lunch with plenty of time for playing, we all set out for the town of Salado for the afternoon. When we arrived, we immediately wandered into a creek that runs alongside the town. In some parts, the water was so crystal clear that we could watch baby fish and/or tadpoles swimming with the current. Once we wrapped up our time playing in the creek, we changed out of our swimsuits and headed to Rio Salado Cocina for some awesome Mexican cuisine. Allow me to take this opportunity to brag about the fact that at a table with five children and four adults, we only had one spilled drink the entire meal. I think that's rather impressive myself. After heading back to "Casa de Lindholt", we proceeded to get the kids ready for bed. For our trip, Ellie would be sharing a full-sized bed with her friend, Lydia, while Ethan would be sleeping on a bunk bed in the boys room with his friend Miles and his older brother, Jackson.
The next morning, our merry little group set out relatively early for Waco, TX and the Magnolia Silos. Of course, there was one very important stop that we had to make along the way: the famous Buc-ee's gas station chain. We have heard plenty of stories about Buc-ee's over the years but truly didn't know what we were in for. I'll be the first to say that the scale of the store totally shocked me. Imagine your local Target as a gas station and you have a fairly apt comparison for the size of this establishment. After a short sojourn inside the store where Ellie and Ethan pretty much begged for every piece of merch with a beaver emblazoned on it, we all loaded up and continued on our way to Waco.
Once we arrived at the Magnolia Silos, we immediately made our way inside the Magnolia Home store for a rousing game of "Guess That Price". For the record, we lost the game in resounding fashion. From there we made our way outside to a wiffleball field sitting in the middle of the complex. There, Allen and Kayla entertained the five kids for a little bit while Bethany and I explored the rest of the Magnolia complex. Once we met back up with our friends, we headed toward a courtyard where food trucks were parked so that we could eat lunch. Of course, no trip to Magnolia is possible without a mason jar full of sweet tea. Actually, I don't know if that's true or not but I couldn't resist. While we waited for our meals, the kids made themselves right at home in some super comfortable bean bag chairs. Once we finished our lunches, the kids spent a little time playing soccer in the courtyard until we all decided it was time to make our way back to Fort Hood.
The next day, Tuesday, would mark our last full day in Texas. Unfortunately it started with a bit of a shocker as we learned that our hosts were both COVID positive. However, after a little deliberation, we decided that there was really no reason to change our plans especially since we'd already spent two full days together. Our plans for the day did change slightly though as we were no longer comfortable going to a local pool. No worries though as we had plenty of fun around the Lindholts' house. Allen spent most of the day smoking a delicious brisket that we had brought all the way from Missouri to share together so it was just as well that we were around the house. The kids spent plenty of time playing on a swingset and an inflatable water slide in Allen's and Kayla's backyard. As for me, I spent a fair amount of time hanging out with Jackson and learning the intricacies of Fortnite and Minecraft. For the record, I'm not really good at either but it was still fun!
Wednesday came quicker than any of us really wanted. However, Bethany had to be back at work (from home) bright and early on Thursday morning. Therefore, we bid adieu to our friends around 8 am and hit the road for a marathon trip back to Missouri. Of course, we did have the audiobook of Wonder to keep us entertained for approximately eight and a half hours. By the time we made it home, Bethany and I would both attest that the drive went much better than we ever could have expected. In fact, we now are confident that we can take the kids on long road trips!
That being said, I don't think we're ready to take on another long road trip any time soon. Let's stretch those bad boys out at least a little bit.
#DaddyWrite
No comments:
Post a Comment