Road Trip - Eufaula, OK

A couple of months ago, I told Mike that I'd like to get out of town for a weekender. It didn't have to be anything fancy or far away, but I wanted time with him, possibly even to celebrate our anniversary (June 30th).  Within a couple of days of my hint, Mike found that Gary Allan was going to be playing at a concert in Eufaula, OK, a little over 3 hours northeast of home.  I was definitely up for it! 

A little back story, the last two times we've gone anywhere, it involved one of us getting extremely ill The first time, it was Mike with a bad stomach virus and we ended up at urgent care to get meds to help settle his issue and the second trip was my turn. After a trip to urgent care in Round Rock, I found out that I had an upper respiratory infection, sinus infection and a fever of a 104.  We do it up big, I tell ya!  Of course when Mike told me Thursday that his stomach was feeling bad, I had a bad hunch this weekend wasn't going to be much fun.  Fortunately, for myself and for sickly Mike, it all turned around on Friday and we had a GREAT time!!

HH stayed with his Nana and Papa (Colleen and Leonard) and Kiki and Lucy stayed with Granny and Granddad (Ruby and Jeff).  Mike dropped everyone off Friday morning so I could work a half day.  When I got home from work, we packed up the car and as we were headed out, I stopped in HH's room to make sure there wasn't anything there that he might need. I saw his Bart Simpson doll laying on his bed. I thought it would be fun to take Bart and put him in our travel pictures.  I'm so glad we did it, the laughs and pictures were awesome.  Overall it was a fun way to capture our trip without having to pose for cheesy pictures.  We had several people ask us about him along the way too. 

Friday after I got off work just after noon, we headed up 75 and stopped at the OK state line.

Then up to Choctaw Casino to donate a little cash to the reservation. Ha!

Oklahoma is a beautiful state with lots of trees and hills. Very different from the flat city here. It's a slower paced life and that was perfect for us.

We checked in to the Eufaula Inn before checking out the rest of town. I don't have an opinion on the place other than I won't stay there again nor will I recommend it to anyone.  Hey, you know the old saying, if you don't have anything nice to say....

We drove around town a little bit and by that I mean we covered Main Street in about 3 city blocks.  Next we headed down by the Lake to find dinner.  We stumbled upon the amphitheater where the concert would be the next night.  After that, we saw this and just had to stop to get a picture for our firetruck lovin' little man.

We went inside and got information about Jellystone Parks cabins and fun stuff to do. We're planning a trip there as we know HH would have a great time and it's family budget friendly as well.

 

After more driving around the lake, we finally found the Stuffed Olive.  I saw it online and figured it was worth a shot.  I didn't order the right thing because my review was "Meh."  Mike loved the spaghetti, even took home a to-go box to eat later.  Bart enjoyed the view of the lake.

 

Once we were done eating supper, we drove around a little more, stopped by the gas station and the grocery store (I forgot my toothbrush) before heading back to the Inn for the night.  I think I crashed out right before 10pm and Mike wasn't too far behind me.  I guess something about being in a sleepy little town had the same affect on us. 

Saturday morning started a little too early for either of our liking. In fact, we were both wide awake at 6:20am. Anyone who knows us well knows that is insanely early for us, especially without a kiddo or the dogs to wake us up.  We lazily took our time getting ready and went into town for breakfast about 8:15am.  We ate at JM's restaurant. Food was awesome!!

The waitress saw Bart in my purse and she asked "Are you suffocating Bart Simpson?"  We laughed and Mike told her we were taking him on our trip to show our son when we got home.  She told us she thought that was a neat idea, but I couldn't help but wonder if she thought we were crazy.

 

After breakfast we started walking on Main Street to do a little shopping.  We went into a few shops and bought a couple of little things.  We also stumbled upon this poster....

 

Have I said how much I love Gary Allan?  Well, I do!

 

We headed down to the EufaulaCove Marina to check the place out.  In all honesty, I wanted to compare the marina to the place my parents have their boat. :)  The weather was perfect, upper 70s and a nice breeze.  It was gorgeous. I told Mike then that I wanted to retire to Eufaula and live on a houseboat.  I think if we were 30 years older, he would have agreed right there. Everyone we talked to was so nice and friendly and told us about how much they loved the people and the Lake nicknamed the Gentle Giant. 

 

Bart enjoyed the ducks

 

 

 

 

Mike spotted Taco Mayo when we drove in the night before and insisted we eat there for lunch.  He enjoyed his lunch, all I wanted was a nap!

We went back to the Inn and I laid down for a nap. I didn't set an alarm, was curious how long I could sleep without any interruptions.  Three and a half hours later, I woke up!  Talk about awesome!!  Mike told me that he read on the concert's website that they were collecting donations for the tornado victims in Moore.  We went to the store and picked out several things off the list and headed back to our room to get ready for supper and the concert. 

We went to Adelita's for dinner where we shared fajitas and enjoyed the people watching.  Mike loved the grilled onions and swears that he will find their secret!

We went back to our room and called the taxi to take us to the concert.  We figured traffic would be rough with that many in attendance and we didn't want to deal with it. 

The concert was definitely an experience of a lifetime.  We had great seats and we were so incredibly close to the stage. 

 

 

Gary Allan that close to my face.  My my, me oh my! There were several thousand people in attendance but thanks to VIP tickets, it felt much more up close and personal.  Definitely worth the splurge!  Oh and the people there were beyond polite.  In Dallas, if you bump into a drunk (or even a sober man), he will stare you down or try to fight you.  In Eufaula, everyone was overly polite and apologetic, even if it was your fault for bumping into them.  We really loved that and felt comfortable, more like a family atmosphere.  

 

After the concert, the taxi picked us up and took us back to the Inn.  We crashed out that night and got up the next morning to head back home.  Although we had a great time, we were both ready to be back home.  We were missing HH and the dogs and quite honestly, we missed being home. 

 

Oh and we stopped when we got to the Texas state line. That's something I've always wanted to do. Bart got his last two pics in before his road trip ended.

 

 

It was a fast trip, back home in just a little over 48 hours but it was incredibly nice to hang out with Mike without a schedule, without having to be anywhere (except that glorious concert!) and no real responsibility.  We knew Henry was having a blast (he's getting his own blog post about his time away!) and the dogs were safe and having a good time too so it was easy to cut loose.  We are so blessed to have such great parents that are always willing to pick up the slack so we can do stuff like this.  We had a great time just laughing and spending time with each other.  I even learned a couple of new things about Mike and he learned that I'm incredibly high maintenance about where I sleep at night and that I will wear shoes in a hotel room even when I never wear them at home. :)

Until we see you again, Eufaula!

Mother's Day weekend 2013

This Mother's Day weekend has been so much fun, definitely memorable and it's not official Mother's Day yet.  I figured I'd post what we've been up to as tomorrow will mostly be church and a lazy day at home, just what I want. :)

 

Friday night, me, Mama and Nikki met up at Chuy's for supper.  We had a great time, great food and great conversation. After supper, we went out for dessert and just talked and laughed maniacally over the silliest of things.  It was so great to visit with just my Mama and my sister, no kids, no interruptions. It's funny, all 3 of us are different but we're also a lot a like. Love them to pieces and so blessed to have them in my life!!

Saturday morning it was time for my niece Emma's softball double header.  Henry piled up in Papa's lap to watch.

 

But then he wanted his own chair. I'm not sure who told him he could grow up and be so independent. It's fun watching his personality come out as interacts with his family.

 

Of course with kids, especially boys, if there is a dirt pile nearby, they will climb it.  For anyone who has known Henry since he was little, he's the cautious kid. Well he must be letting go of that because he climbed right up this hill like he'd done it a million times before.

Up there with two of his cousins while E was playing softball.

I love this one. I just can't get over how much he can do now and that he's a big kid.  I'm totally fine with all that, baby and toddlerhood weren't nearly as fun!!   But don't grow up too fast, Little Buddy.

 

Later in the afternoon, we loaded up and headed north to Ray Roberts.  Oh the lake was incredibly peaceful, just what I needed after the last few stressful weeks.   We floated for a bit while we ate dinner and cruised the shoreline for a couple of hours.

The sunset over the glassy lake

My Mama and my Ge-Gee

Ge-Gee and D-Dad - I love her smile and him in his hat. This one is definitely a keeper.

 

Mama, Ge-Gee and me - In hindsight, I wish I could have fit H's big head in for a 4 generation shot.

 

Everytime Henry wanted down onto the deck tonight, he would squeal "Airplane, Daddy!" and throw his arms out.  I think this goes down as my favorite picture of the two of them, just in time for Mother's Day. I love these two more than words can describe.

So. very. peaceful.  I wonder if this is a sneak peek of what Heaven looks like.  

 

So there's a good highlight of what we've been up to this weekend.  So glad to have my Mama, both of my grandmothers, my aunts and my sister that have helped make me the mom that I am today. We may not always make the perfect decisions, but our intentions are always good.  God, thank you so much for the gift of children for we get the chance to be their Mamas.  Wishing all you Mamas out there a very Happy Mother's Day!