I Came. We saw. We Conquered.

There are only a few reasons and/or people that I would purposely wake at 6:30am on a Saturday for...D being one of those reasons. 

Friday after work I drove the 100 miles to hang with my baby girl. We walked from her college apartment to the riverfront. We went to a favorite local eatery for burgers and BBQ. Then walked our overstuffed stomachs to the end of riverfront walk, turned around and headed back to D's apartment. 

Later that night we went to the movies to see "Sully." We both really liked the movie. D told me how she use to have time to enjoy Tuesday $5 movie nights, but her senior year has got her by the tail. I'm glad I took her to the movies!  

When my alarm went off on Saturday at the obnoxious hour of 6:30am I reminded myself it was all for a cause. A good cause. I was running a 5K that D's sorority was hosting for their chosen philanthropy: domestic violence awareness. Okay let's be honest here, it was more run a little, walk a lot--1/4 running to be exact. I was nearing the front of the pack rather than the back. The back of the pack consisted of frat boys still sweating Friday night's case of Natty Light or shots of Fireball whiskey. 

I had a crowd of AXO girls cheering my finish. My darling niece snapped this picture. I left the brother-in-law in the dust. He and his drawstring backpack that held his cigarette pack and cell phone.

When it was all done it called for a mother/daughter picture. 

Next on the list was Inspiration Point. We drove across the bridge into the Land of Lincoln for this...

to stand upon this bluff point. Which actually scared the sh!t out of me. It also made me sad to see graffiti sprayed painted upon nature's beauty. Why?! 

And, so, I came, we saw, we conquered--a 5K and the bluff point. 

The Weekend Always Comes Back Round Again

Mother Nature totally foiled our Friday plans. We had intended to spread a blanket out on the lawn in Forest Park, gather delicious options from the foods trucks, pop bottles of bubbly and beer from our cooler and wait for the balloon glow. Rain. Non-stop Friday rain canceled the Great Balloon Race Ballon Glow. BOO! 

On to Plan B. 

What is Plan B? 

There wasn't a Plan B.

I decided King Ralph and I should take Princess A out to dinner at the establishment where we had our first date. Rigazzi's on The Hill. 

King Ralph sipped their famous fish bowl beer, while Princess A and I shared a bottle of Pinot Nior. Princess A's Prince Charming was off entertaining work clients. It was nice to spend time with our first born. 

After dinner we kicked it back in her house. She and I talked about how a woman should have total control of decorating the house. Then we rearranged the kitchen. 

On Saturday D came home from college. Our original plans were to visit her and hike Inspiration Point. Mother Nature messed those plans too. It would have been a muddy hike. So we kicked it back at home and went out for a treat at night. 

It's the kind of STL iconic treat that admits you've bid summer, accepted bidding summer farewell. 

So here we are at nearly Friday all over again! I'll be headed to visit D at college. On Saturday morning she and I will participate in a 5K race, supporting domestic violence awareness. Then we will hike Inspiration Point. 

I love the weekend! Love, love, love the weekend!! 

Kick Back

This weekend we are kinda kicking it back, relaxing a bit. Friday we had a couple of beers and went out for pub burgers. It wasn't our original plan, but when you're kicking back you can be spontaneous. 

Saturday M and I woke up, decided on donuts from a favorite shop and Starbucks coffee. Then we ran a few errands and lingered through a home goods store. Later M napped and I basked in the sun, while sipping seltzer water. We BBQ'ed for dinner and watched a Redbox movie. Kicking it back. 

Kicking it back comes in different forms. Last weekend we celebrated the three-day holiday weekend by taking "The Wanderlust" out to Missouri's new state park.

It's a beautiful park. There was a peacefulness to the park, even with every camp site occupied. The sites, whether RV or tent, are dreamy. The RV sites are yards of beautiful concrete pad and patio. The tent sites tucked into the woods have wooden tent decks jutting out into the canopy trees. 

For this trip D played the role of only child. Like M said during our summer roadtrip, she "missed the sisters." Despite the lack of sisterhood King Ralph and I showed D a good kick-it-back weekend. 

We walked and biked around the park

Trolled Sinking Creek and rocked on the porch deck of the lodge

We drove through the Mark Twain National Forest to get to Alley Spring Mill...hiked to the lookout point, gazed out over the Ozark Mountains--God's touch on our state. 

We watched the spring meet the creek before meeting up with the Jack Fork River. 

It's fun to find places on a trail to let the inner child come out. D did just that.

Next we headed over to Round Spring to awe at more cold pools of turquoise water. 

Took a cave tour through Round Spring Cave. Not a huge cave, but with the lack of commercial influence...the cave's natural beauty is magical. The drape formations are like none I've, we've ever seen. And all seen by lantern. It was so fun! 

After a leisurely day of exploration we returned to The Wanderlust for Happy Hour. Kentucky Derby Bourbon Slushies were the speciality drink for Saturday. Just another reason to love the RV's refrigerator--boozey frozen drinks! 

D and I had fun playing Jenga. 

On Sunday the three of us discovered our new favorite way to travel the river--kayak style.

It was our first time on the Current River...we fell in love fast! It's so different from the Meramec River. The Current is crystal clear and in spots that magnificent turquoise spring water shows. The canoes and kayaks out number the rafts. No one was ridiculously drunk (like on the Meramec). Everyone was just floating along, bidding summer farewell...kicking back. 

We woke early Monday morning to hit the trail in the park before bidding the weekend goodbye. The trail is nothing spectacular, but would be nice for taking in Fall colors. Oh, and the trail is set up for mountain biking...has ramps and such. 

So, like I said kicking back comes in all different forms!