Girls Weekend Number 2

I got back late this afternoon from my whirlwind trip to Missouri. Over 520 photos later and lots of hours in the car, I am back home, doing laundry and relaxing before going back to work tomorrow. WOW! We did have a blast!

FRIDAY: My friend Becky and I drove to St. Louis in the afternoon, toured the St. Louis Museum of Art, walked down to the Grand Basin and then headed to dinner before driving another couple of hours to Becky's parents home in Rolla. I immediately liked her Mom and Dad. They made me laugh. Maybe I'm crazy, too?!

SATURDAY: Becky and I went to Columbia and met up with her 2 college guy pals for some lunch at Cracker Barrel. Becky's friend Thad had 3 of his 5 kids with him, and while the other adults caught up on life over the last few years, "Aunt Mel" found it much easier to bond with the kids. Timothy (8), Benjamin (6), and Matthew (5) were lots of fun. We played the peg game and then started making up our own games with the pegs as well.

After lunch, we all drove over to the University of Missouri Columbia (aka Mizzou) for a tour of the campus. The "boys" gave me my own tour as we lagged a bit behind the other adults. All drainage grates became "dungeons," the student center was a "castle," etc. I don't know that there ever has been quite another tour to match it. It was in a word magical.

On our afternoon drive back to Rolla, Becky and I stopped in Jefferson City to walk around the capitol building and take lots of photos. You know me and my love of architecture. It was awesome! I really enjoyed capturing some of the fine details of the building. Love those columns!

SUNDAY: After church, we celebrated Becky's bday with a cookout. We had some awesome barbecue burgers and chicken. There was also a special segment that Becky and I hosted in the kitchen called "Cooking with Becky and Mel," where we got put in charge of the macaroni salad and got a bit creative since neither of us had ever made the salad on our own. AHEM! But it turned out rather tasty in the end.

We took a drive into Rolla after lunch and walked the lake trail at Lion's Park. It was a breezy but pretty day. We spent the rest of the afternoon working on a puzzle in the basement and then played Bible Trivia after dinner. It was a fun relaxing day.

MONDAY: In the morning, we all headed back to St. Louis and the Missouri Botanical Gardens. We toured the large fabulous gardens courtesy of Henry Shaw. Becky enjoyed the enormous rose garden, I fell back in love with dahlias, and her parents started planning their backyard renovations in style. There were special sculptures on display throughout the gardens. I found them rather disturbing, but I think you'll understand why once you see the photos.

We had lunch in the cafe and then headed to Forest Park. We stopped at Turtle Park for some awesome photos. I have a thing for turtles...not sure why, but I do, and so we took lots of fun photos of the turtle playground and then headed to the zoo.

I love the fact that the St. Louis Zoo is FREE. It's awesome! I got to see lots of live turtles, enjoyed watching a snoozing 33-foot Burmese python, wanted to cuddle a polar bear, felt sorry for the caged big cats, chuckled again at the caymans and how they don't move for hours at a time, and thoroughly had a wonderful day! We had dinner in the city and then headed back to Rolla for the night.

TUESDAY: Becky and I headed back to Indianapolis. It was a nice day for a drive.

I'm a bit tired, but it really was a wonderful weekend. I needed to get-away and recoup for a bit before the start of the busy holiday season ahead, and my idea of a good vacation is seeing new places and learning new stuff rather than just hanging out at the beach or something like that. I relax and unwind better with discovery and enjoying new places, and that's what Missouri got me the last 4 days. Thanks for an awesome weekend, Becky! Your parents were great hosts, and the whole weekend package was just what the doctor ordered. I'm ready to go back again...just say the word. Hee hee!

P.S. I'll post a link to the photos soon...