Vacation

At this time last week Wesley and I were driving east towards the Ozarks.  We hadn't been on vacation since 2011 and we were both chomping at the bit for a few days of rest and relaxation.  My folks were excited at the chance to keep Kenyon for several days and I didn't think they'd lose their minds watching him..... too much. 

I won't give you a minute by minute rundown of everything we did - just the highlights.  

• Branson was gorgeous.  When we ate at fancy restaurants we usually chose to sit out on their patios and watch the water/light/fire show that occurred every hour.  There was also a zipline in the background and we watched other folks blow their money on it.  We were too frugal to splurge on such a nonsensical thing. Side note: Every time we ate in Branson we experienced HORRIBLE service at our restaurants.  It was like the servers knew we were tourists and the likelihood we would be back soon was nil, so they put forth as little as possible.  Branson tourism board, take note.  

• Of course there were cattle involved on this trip.  We stopped by a friend's place and watched him weigh up cattle from area producers.  It's a country cattle purchasing facility that takes in cattle certain days of the week.  Our ENTIRE TRIP was planned around this weighing day.  I kid you not.  This log wall was inside one of their barns.  It didn't look like they used it for much besides storing hay these days, but I was nevertheless fascinated by the construction of the log walls.  Super neat to study.  

 

• We stayed several nights at a resort just south of Branson.  It was super fancy and definitely out of our normal comfort zone.  When I booked the room they asked if we were celebrating anything special - birthday, anniversary, baby, etc.  I told them we were celebrating our anniversary (a few months early, cough, cough).  They had this little cake waiting for us in our room upon arrival.  It's little things like this that made us feel special.  They don't do this at the Motel 6!  (Sorry, I'm easily impressed.)

• The grounds of this resort were gorgeous and manicured to a tee.  I never saw so much as a blade of grass out of place.  Also, I was amazed at the total lack of wind.  I never even felt so much as a breeze the entire time we were there.  No wonder they have beautiful flowers; they don't have to worry about them bending and breaking in 60 mile an hour gusts.  

The giant fish was part of the mini golf course on the resort.  It was huge, but oddly enough didn't look out of place in the least.

• My normally frugal self decided to splurge and get a massage while we were at this resort.  It was ahhhhhhhhhhhmazing.  I arrived at the spa a bit early and was the only one there so I didn't feel quite as dorky while I snooped around and took pictures of their decor 'designed to promote a sense of tranquility'.  

 

Of course I couldn't partake in the lovely hot tub due to my pregnancy, so I decide to sulk by the fireplace instead.  I suffered, I tell ya'. 

But wait - there's more!  Future posts will cover more of our trip: salebarns, cave tours, a fish hatchery and bar fights.  (Sigh.... that has to be one of the most random sentences I have ever written in my life.)