My husband- The Liar!

So, this December Shane and I will have been married for 10 years. Last fall, he mentioned wanting to plan a trip for us to celebrate and he wanted to surprise me. Fine, I said, just stick with the continental US. Last Christmas, he gave me guide books and the itinerary for our trip...we are driving Route 66 all the way to the Pacific and staying in this swanky resort on the beach. Although I could have swallowed my tongue at the cost, I got online, checked it all out and have been making plans since....we are redecorating the kitchen as a 40's diner in honor of the trip. I just love stuff like this.

Then last Friday, I went out with a friend. When I got home Shane had a scavenger type hunt set up all over the house. I got to the final stop (on my pillow) and discovered he had been lying the whole time...not about ALL of it. We are still driving on Route 66 (which is good since I just rented a car) but not to California...the resort reservation was a FAKE itinerary that the travel agent made up for him. So what is our final destination?.... The bottom of the Grand Canyon! We get to stay one night on the south rim of the canyon. Then we will get up early to meet the mule train and ride down the canyon. There we will stay one night at Phantom Ranch before we saddle up again and ride back out of the Canyon. Then we have one more night on the rim before we head for home.

So am I happy about the swap? Honestly, I would much rather ride a mule for 2 days on the outside edge of a trail carved in the side of a canyon a mile deep than wear the bikini he insisted I get for the beach in public. So, although my best friend was right and swapping a relaxing beach resort vacation for a 2 day mule ride had a HUGE potential to backfire, I am so much more excited about the trip now than I was before!

We have a few weeks to plan and I have some serious shopping to do. All the little sundresses and tanks, not to mention the bikini, are not going to work at the canyon. The mule ride has very specific rules as to what one can wear...I need jeans, long sleeve shirts, and boots (preferably cowboy). So a great friend of mine is teaching me the joys of resale shops. We hit 4 yesterday and are hitting 4 different ones next week. More posts about that to come.

Mom's Birthday Trip

I had a wonderful weekend last weekend. I traveled to the Big House in the Little Woods near Shipshewana, IN with my mom, sister, aunt, and cousin. It is Indiana Amish Country and just beautiful! We drove up Friday and ate family style at the Blue Gate Restaurant. At the Blue Gate, Family Style means they bring you big bowls of food to be shared by the whole table (but you don't sit with strangers). If you run out of something, they bring you more. Basically, it is a buffet without the exercise of walking to the bar. :) It was SO YUMMY!!!

Gail at the Big House in the Little Woods made a breakfast of champions Saturday morning...we ate baked french toast, eggs, bacon, etc. The neighbor, Ben, came over and ate breakfast with us before he took some of the guests on buggy rides. We arranged to go on a ride in the evening so we could hit the shops earlier. :)

My photo of the Big House in the Little Woods. It is such a lovely home!

We spent the day walking the little town of Shipshewana. It is full of little shops. There were tourist-y shops, artist's shops, bakeries, restaurants, fabric stores, etc. Everything our little hearts could desire and more. The weather was perfect! It was warm but not like here. There was a nice breeze and it was overcast...a few times it sprinkled.

These were along the street of shops in Shipshewana. The flowers everywhere were unbelievable. It made my little flower bed look even more pathetic.

We all piled into Ben's family buggy and Deana (the horse) took us on an hour ride around the country-side. It was a fun time. Heather got to drive (which I suggested may not be the best idea). Ben answered some questions but was often guarded. He was incredibly funny and told a bunch of jokes. I think he thought Heather may be certifiable. :) We saw the schools, Ben honked his buggy horn and we got Deana moving along at a speedy 10 miles per hour. It was a great end to the day. Very relaxing...although I don't think I'd like to actually travel that way.

Here we all are just after our ride. The lighting wasn't good and I'm not sure how experienced our Amish buggy driver was with a digital camera...

This is Ben's buggy and horse named Deanna. She is actually named for a girl who stayed at the Big House in the Little Woods.

On Sunday, after another serious breakfast, we drove around area looking for the quilt gardens and murals. We had a map but it still wasn't easy. We found several...some looking better than others. Then we headed home!Here we all are getting ready to head home.

It was such a wonderful time but I am so glad to be home! Now to start school for the week! :) That is back to real life if anything is. :)