This is the point of the trip where visiting family and friends was the adventure! 👨🏽👩🏻👧🏽👦🏽 It was a time to create unforgettable moments with the people I had held dearly in my heart and all those Adam never got to meet.🤍🥹
Our first stop after Hutchinson was Arcadia, OK, where we met up with my father's mother, Mrs. Shiela, and all of his nieces, nephews, and siblings! Oh, there were many of them! All with smiling faces, laughs, and good energy. ✨ They filled my grandmothers aparment with a great time that weekend.
In our spare time between festivities, we took her and her husband to see our van, visited my father, repotted some plants, and stopped at the Pops 66 Soda Ranch.🥤 A place with over 100 different sodas! 🤤
We spent a lot of time working on these days as well, but it was wonderful to spend all that time with everyone, and we can't wait to do it again! 🫶🏽
We made a special stop to see my little sister, who just moved out and into her own place! Words can not describe how proud we are of her! Putting herself through school 📚, raising her son, and working hard to keep themselves dry and fed.👩🏽👦🏽
She took us to a sushi restaurant that was quite unique. If you could put it in a sushi roll, it was on the menu and good! Then we took a stroll through the town's rose garden.🌹 Which was already teeming with life in such early spring.🐞 We planned to meet again next year, and we can not wait.
We worked here, took drives in the gorgeous countryside, and enjoyed all the amenities available at our campground.⛺️
I used to live here in the last of my teen years and into my early twenties, but it is not where I met my best friend, Brittany. We met in High School in our hometown, Bay City, and have been friends ever since. I couldn't go to Texas and NOT see her. 🤷🏽♀️
We stayed at a quaint farm in the middle of almost nowhere.🌾 30-40 mins to anywhere, except to my best friend's house! (YAY) She came and hung out with us in our van to play a round of Clue 🎲, let me hang out at her house with her and her cats, and rented a local place so we could paint together.🎨
We went shopping in town, ate at a finger-licking good spot, and consumed unsafe amounts of Starbucks Coffee and boba.☕️ Wouldn't do anything differently. 😊
Last, but not least, it was time to head toward Bay City, TX. I spent the vast majority of my childhood in this place, and many of my family members still reside there. We decided to park on the beach for a night down in Matagorda, where the mosquitoes were ready for us! 🦟🤣
The weather was amazing. Mid-70s with a steady sea breeze to help combat the intense Texas UVs. We got to open up the van doors and let the breeze come through. 🚐🌾☀️ It was the first time we were able to enjoy the warm weather in the van. It was a refreshing reprieve from the short but eventful winter we had. Agatha had a blast walking and sniffing through the sand. 🐾🏖️
After the beach, we headed to a campground close to my family. It was in a beautiful wood, where the trees were just beginning their early spring bloom. Finally, we were able to host my family and have a cookout. 🍔 Burgers, chicken sandwiches, bikes, badminton, and board games made for a memorable night. 🚲🏸🎲
We left Bay City about a week after we arrived, exhausted but ready to continue our journey further west!