3rd Annual Deer Widows Weekend

Deer opener brings a yearly girls weekend with Lauren. For those of you who don't know Lauren is not only my husbands cousin she is my friend. This is our 3rd annual deer widows weekend together. The first year was in Killeen, Texas. Year number 2 was in Ogden Kansas along with this year which is year number 3.  I note where our annual girls weekends happen as every couple of years Lauren moves. You see Lauren's husband Nate serves in the United States Army full time and the first year they were based in Fort Hood and currently based in Fort Riley. I love being able to travel to the different places to visit Lauren. It gives me the opportunity to visit places people wouldn't normally vacation.

So a little bit about Lauren. She is the same age as myself, is married to Nate, and has the most cute, witty, fun loving little 3 year old boy Torin. Her dad is my father in-laws brother. We became friends through my husband Matt and bonded even closer my first deer widows visit in Texas.

About my trip! Note when taking a road trip with a GPS make sure to check your settings prior to departure. What was suppose to be a eight and a half hour trip turned into a ten hours and fifteen minutes to be exact. Apparently my GPS was set to avoid traffic so it directed me around Des Moines, Iowa and around Kansas City. Also please note that Minnesota is the probably the only state where you can pump your gas before paying... I carried cash only with me on this trip and when I arrived in Missouri to fill my tank I noticed no matter where you went it was pre-pay or pay at the pump. So in I go to pre pay which drives me nuts because I had no clue how much it was going to be. When I asked the lady if this a Missouri thing to do that she looked at me like I was nuts. I explained why I ask because in Minnesota we can pay at the pump or pay after pumping. Again she looked at me like I was nuts. Then 2 men ease dropping on my conversation decide to comment and call me old fashioned... Excuse me by the looks of your cities I would have to say Missouri is old fashioned. Call me crazy but I guess Minnesota trusts people more then other states. So I arrive in Ogden Kansas and was greeted with the biggest hug ever from Torin who promptly reminds me he is 3 years old. We spent 3 days visiting, relaxing, and enjoying the beautiful weather. We visited Fort Riley numerous times, spent some time in Manhattan. Yes thats right Manhattan, Kansas.  Attended church for an awesome sermon on Sunday, and had the opportunity to say hi to Nate via skype as he is currently serving his 4th tour for the Army (in Afghanistan).  Torin kept me laughing all weekend with every dinosaur rawer, and repeating almost everything his mom and I said. Saying goodbye was no fun... I wish they lived in Minnesota so I could see them more often. My trip home is nothing to write about except it was much quicker! Till next time "live well, laugh often, and love much"...