KC, Mo

We decided back in April that we would make a trip to visit our friend, Julie, in KC, Mo who lost her husband four years ago.  We've seen her several times since then, but it was her coming here, not us going there.  At dinner with our good friends one evening we were discussing the trip, and we decided to be there on the 4th just like we were when they first moved fifteen years ago.  By the time dinner was over, we had confirmed with Julie and made our hotel reservations.  I was just as excited about this trip as I was about our family vacation last month.

Our friend is a control freak and won't ever let anyone else drive.  So that was decided early on.  We left Thursday (7/3) morning, and the trip took FOREVER.  Part of it was our need to stop due to constantly hydrating, but part of it was the traffic was really heavy as well.  By the time we arrived, we had dinner with our friend and then tumbled into bed.

The next day, July 4th, was my favorite part of the entire trip.  We had breakfast at the hotel, then Julie came to pick us up for our day out.  First, we had to watch Nathan's hotdog eating contest because the guys are ridiculously obsessed.  Our first stop was to a distillery that we had visited together seven years ago.  We had the BEST strawberry cream concoction, and they even had the Reds game on for a bit while we were sitting there.  The next stop was into town where we had a lunch, visited a shop or two, and then found a little wine store where we could have a glass.  There was an 80's/90's trivia game, and our table took full advantage.  When we got back to the hotel, we just decided to order some appetizers for dinner and hang out in the bar, then we ventured to our room and watched fireworks on TV.  It was such a fun day.

Saturday took us to Julie's house where we spent the entire day.  She had moved since her husband passed away, so it was a new location.  We made a trip to the grocery to pick up supplies for an awesome dinner made by the guys, and again played lots of games and had some wine.  It really felt like old times hanging out.  We returned to the hotel and Julie joined us, where we stayed up well into the night playing card games.

Sunday was our last day of fun.  I had talked us all in to making sure we had three full days of fun and not returning home until Monday.  This was the day we went downtown to see some sights, and we also had an incredible meal.  Oh my goodness, I'm already looking forward to doing that again next year!  We drove around and saw some other sites before returning to the hotel and turning in for the night.  We met Julie for breakfast on Monday morning, then we were off on our way home.  I'm so grateful for the memories we made and for the friends with whom we made them!  We've already decided we are doing it again next year!