Texas!

Sorry for the delay in posting...this will be pretty short.

We left our hotel in Arkansas around 10am on Monday morning and drove through the rest of the state, including Little Rock.  I am really not a big fan of Arkansas...it was very flat and had the most boring landscape yet...though there were some nice foliage views.  The roads are also poorly maintained even on the highway.  We stopped only once and finally reached our friends near Denton, TX at about 3:30pm.  Patrick was at work, but Erin gave us a tour of their beautiful home.  So nice!  She also has a newish kitten named Wilson who is small, orange and adorable!

The three of us sat and chatted for awhile and then we decided to hit up a Mexican restaurant for dinner.  It was about a 20 minute walk away
and the weather was gorgeous so we hoofed it.  Their neighborhood is gorgeous!  There are several ponds and lakes and all of the houses are beautiful.  It was in the high 70s or low 80s that day and it still is today!  Patrick met us at the restaurant and dinner was delicious as were the gigantic margaritas.

 

(photo from web but this is exactly what they looked like)

Erin and I felt a little sick from all the tequila and greasy food so we decided to take the long way back (about 45 minutes) on foot and the boys drove.  We felt much better a few minutes into the walk and got to catch up on all of our girly talk.  Very fun.

Later that night Patrick's sister, Michelle, arrived and she will be spending Thanksgiving with us too.  She has been driving around the country since mid-October and we are happy she is joining us.

Yesterday Erin and  Patrick showed us around parts of Denton and took us to a used book/music store where Geoff and I got 3 new books.  Very exciting!  In the afternoon we three girls laid out by the lake in the sun with cooking magazines and planned our Thanksgiving dinner.  Last night our hosts took us out to the Cheesecake Factory for a surprise birthday dinner for me...it was amazing and delicious. 

Today the girls are going grocery shopping and starting to cook...tomorrow we will finish the cooking and eat until we just can't anymore!  Happy holidays!

48 Hours...

...until we hit the road.

Well...give or take.  Any of you who know us know that we can never manage to leave for anything on time *cough*Geoff's fault*cough*.  Either way, in approximately 48 hours we will be hitting the road and heading to Texas.

I can not even begin to tell you how excited I am for this.  It will be our first real trip together (the farthest we've gone before is Vermont) and my first semi-cross-country drive.  Our plan is to leave on Saturday morning in our rental car and drive as far as we can.  We'll probably stop in Maryland or Virginia for the night and then drive all day Sunday and stop in Tennessee or Arkansas.  Monday we will drive until we reach our next stop...a town outside of Dallas, Texas.  Two of my best friends (married to each other!) live down there and have invited us to stay with them for the week of Thanksgiving.  It will be my first time spending Thanksgiving with friends and also my first time making a Thanksgiving dinner...so many firsts this week!

Erin and I have plans to drink wine and coffee while cuddled in our pajamas reading girly magazines.  Hello perfect week!  Thursday we will make a delicious dinner for our boys (while watching the Pats game...sorry Erin!) and then we'll eat until we can't eat anymore.  I plan on gaining about 10 pounds that day...I need to be warm this winter after all.  I can't wait to see my friends...they are two of my favorite people in the world and I could never put into words how much I miss them.  What's so great about Texas anyway you guys?

Friday afternoon we are driving to another part of Texas to stay with my Uncle Chris and Aunt Karen for the night.  I have not seen them in years and I'm very excited to get to spend some time with them as well.  While I wish that they lived closer so that I could visit with them more often, I'm thankful that we are able to make them part of our great Texas vacation.

Saturday we will leave bright and early for our next destination: Nashville, TN.  I'm a little (only a little!) embarrassed to admit it, but I am a country music fan.  Geoffrey on the other hand is decidedly not.  Unfortunately for him it is my birthday weekend so I got to choose the city and Nashville was easily my #1 choice.  We'll arrive at our hotel Saturday night and I made sure to find one that was located in a great part of town.  We are one block from the downtown bar scene and one block from the Ryman Auditorium, the former home of the Grand Ole Opry.  The night we arrive we will do some barhopping and the next morning we are going out to breakfast and then to a tour of the Ryman.  Johnny Cash exhibits for the win!!!

The rest of the trip will involve hurried driving and exhaustion trying to get back in time for work on Tuesday, but it will be so worth it I am sure.  We will try to take a lot of pictures (I am terrible at remembering to do this) and post them here for you all along with updates of our trip.  I can't wait to share our adventure with you!