Weekend trip (#1)

   

             Remember this last February? Well, over the last several months I've kept in contact (like, all the time) with Gavin and Katherine, wishing I could see them again. At last I got the chance! There was going to be an HSA get-together in Nebraska and they were going! So then the question arose, how was I supposed to get there? I have my learner's permit but can't drive yet (not like I have a car either) so me going up by myself was out of the question! Amber and Stephen to the rescue! Amber has been wanting to go to Canada to visit her fiancé and accompany his family on a short trip this September. So Labor Day weekend (which happened to be the same weekend as the NE get-together) my parents, Amber, Angela and Ben planned to drive up to Canada, leave Amber there and come home Tuesday. They were driving right past Nebraska! After some discussion it was decided that Gavin's family would meet up with us, get me, and then I would go to the get-together with them, which also meant getting to meet and spend time with the rest of the family. :)

           Have you ever called someone at 4:30 in the morning? I did... last Thursday. :D Gavin and I were talking about how to let them know when we left (we wanted to be out of the house by 5) so he said to go ahead and call his cell phone, though I was hesitant to do that that early in the morning. We were walking out the door about 4:30 though we didn't actually get out of the neighborhood till a little closer to 5 since we decided it might be nice to have that food that we'd accidentally left in the fridge (rather essential, I'd say).

            The nice thing about leaving so early in the morning is that one can sleep (anyone except the driver - and whoever volunteers to keep the driver awake) and so there are only a few hours of driving during the waking hours of the day. It was 5 hours to our meeting place and I was able to sleep almost that entire time! I was finally fully awake about the last half hour or so of the drive.

 

The scenery out the Buick window a while before I switched vehicles

            At last we reached the truck stop where we'd planned to meet.  They were there and waiting for us when we drove up. Luggage was switched to their car, some of us made a trip inside and then we said good bye and got back on the road, my family to Canada, me deeper into the depths of the vast state of Nebraska! 

           We made three stops between the truck stop and their house (3 hours away). The first was just pulling off the road to look at some wild flowers though that didn't last very long. The second stop was a bit longer. Gavin, Katie and Mr. S. had seen a little gravesite on their way to meet me and so wanted to stop and take a look on the way home. It was a small historical spot with only 4 or 5 graves nestled in a corner of a cornfield.

           The next stop was one that I half-expected to make at some point during the trip. And this was to a little coffee shop for lunch. As many of you probably known, I'm not much of a coffee-drinker. (I generally prefer tea) However, Gavin had suggested I try a caramel macchiato so after a delicious ranch chicken wrap we all had coffee. It was pretty good, I must admit. ;)

Allie in her princess dress the next morning

             When we reached their house the two youngest girls, Gwen and Allie were watching for us. I felt so special: Allie even dressed up for me in her princess dress! The two little girls dashed into the house when they saw us driving up and in a moment the rest of the family poured out the backdoor.  In a moment I was surrounded by girls, most of whom I had only met over the webcam, and swallowed up in hugs (which, if you know me, you will know that I absolutely loved!).

            The first thing on the agenda (after unloading my stuff and seeing around the house) was a tour of the farm.  Having lived in the city all my life I've had limited experience on farms but it's been one of my dreams to one day live away from the big city and perhaps even on a farm (though whether or not that actually happens remains to be seen).

Vivian coming to join us as we head toward the barn

Some of the goats. I THINK that one in the front (laying down) is Sage

Indiana

Lilly milking Ireland (I got to milk a little bit but I didn't get any pictures, and I don't remember which of the 3 milkers I actually did)

My question is: is there usually that big of a crowd when the girls are milking? :P

Looks like Katie's goat got away from her as she shut the gate

What's a farm without chickens?

And of course there's Ginger!

Katherine and the chickens

Allie the Princess and Gwen the Photographer on Friday morning

Lily with Sierra (on Friday)

 Friday morning called for a walk to the back field

Ginger just had to go along

Anyone who says sunflowers aren't pretty has never been to NE this time of year! They were all over the place and were just beautiful!

Lily (out front), Katie, Vivian, and Gavin

The hole... we were debating what kind of creature had made it. I must admit, it was probably a little strange for other people who weren't there to come across a picture of a random hole in the ground. :D

Field of flowers

The farm buildings across the field

Do I have an obsession with holes in the ground? Oh no, of course not!

The golden field

What is this? I don't think we ever figured it out for sure

Gathering wild flowers on the way back home on the walk. I LOVE this picture! It looks like it ought to be in a movie from the 1800s!

Another favorite picture from the walk. Lillian on the other side of a patch of flowers.

A mini-bouquet

I spy a dog named Ginger!

If Katie looked like she belonged on the prairie, Lily looked like she'd just stepped out of an old western!

Katherine, Vivian and Gavin after Lily had gone on ahead back to the house to start lunch

We aren't the only ones who live next to a train track!

Our flowers combined for Mrs. S.

Bread-baking on Friday

And yep, had to wash the eggs too

Penguin and tomatoes

I think this was actually taken on the last day but it just goes with the farm pictures, I think.

What happens when you snap a shot of folks swinging at twilight? Phantoms in the sky! :D

 So, there's the first 2 days in a nutshell. I can never tell everything that happened, there was too much for one simple post... and much of it is of the sort that would only be fun for the people who were involved. So those of you who weren't there will have to just dream and wish that you had been there with us. ;)  Check back in the next few days for another couple of posts about the weekend. :)