We loaded up the car with as much Vera Bradley and snacks as we could fit in Miranda the Murano!
Miranda the Murano decided about an hour and a half into the trip that her air conditioner was going to quit. Erin said, "I think the air is getting a little warm." About 30 seconds later, we concluded that yes, there was definitely only hot air coming out. We rolled down the windows and could only laugh. It was 2:00 Texas heat in the middle of June. I called my mom to see what she thought, and I could barely talk we were laughing so hard. The cookie cake box was blowing open, so I couldn't see out the back, and everyone was starting to stick to the seats. April took one for the team and tried to hold the cookie cake. That didn't last long! :)
We decided to stop in Bonham, Texas and prayed that maybe it just needed a little freon. We stopped at Auto Zone, and the guy working there told us he could not help us. He couldn't even look at the car. He went to the computer and pulled up a name of a local mechanic. He said, "Gary is the owner. He has a mullet. You'll know his place when you see race cars out front." Well that just made this whole thing even better.
We started heading towards Gary's place and had to wind through some neighborhoods because, of course, the road we needed was closed.
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| Look closely. That was the road we needed to get down! |
We came up to this bridge over a creek with 2 orange cones setting on it. Lara likes to refer to it as "plywood over the creek" and not even a bridge. "Do you think we can cross over this?" we asked as we sat still in front of it. "We are about to find out!" I said as I gassed it and said a little prayer. We made it and had to stop because we were all laughing so hard.
We pulled up to Auto Tech and met Gary. He did in fact have a mullet. He also asked if I had a black eye. No, Gary. Those are my dark circles, but thank you for your concern. He took a look and said, "Yep. The AC is a goner." He told us there was nowhere to rent a car. So, we put our sweaty selves back in the car and decided to keep trekking.
We rode the next few hours with the windows down, screaming over the road noise and wind. We made it to a Dairy Queen after we got into Oklahoma, and we had to stop for blizzards, of course. We were a tad sweaty!!
Though the heat in the car was miserable, there is no one I would rather ride 4 hours without air conditioner with! It made for some really good memories!
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| This is what it looks like to pile 5 girls and their luggage in a car with no AC and the windows down! |
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| Twelve Oaks Cabin |
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| Our living room and kitchen area |
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| Lara and I were bed buddies again! |
She got a special rendition of Happy Birthday by this beautiful quartet!
We tried to hot tub it that night, but it was thundering and lightning, so we decided against that. We just hung out and played games, had a dance party, and laughed and talked.
We also showed Cinnamon her surprise video we have been working on. We put together like 100 pictures we all had from the past few years to make an imovie about "Reasons Why we Love Cinnamon". It was so fun reminiscing. We do love her and her love of naps, backward caps, traveling in style, and kids meals!
On Saturday, we went to the lake to rent jet skis. Cinnamon stayed back to write thank you notes and blog since she didn't want to get in the sun. The wedding is less than 2 weeks away, so we didn't blame her!
It was Lara's first time on a jet ski! She and April rode together, and I rode with Erin. The lake was beautiful!!! It was such a gorgeous day, and we went early so it wasn't crowded. We had fun taking turns driving!
We had rented them for an hour, but we didn't have watches or our phones, so we wanted to go back to the cove the marina was in so we could check the time. Erin and I had lost April and Lara, so we headed back to the cove and tried to ask someone what time it was. They said, "10:30 or 11:00??" which was no help!! We decided we probably still had 15 minutes, so Erin started to turn around and go back out into the middle of the lake. We were barely going, but I guess the turn was too sharp. The next thing I know, I feel our weight shift to one side. I see Erin diving head first into the water off the side of the jet ski, all in slow motion. I really thought I could possibly keep the jet ski upright, but in the last second decided I was going off with her!! Erin had the key tucked into her life jacket so that it would kill the engine if we fell off. Ours did not have a wrist band, though, so as soon as she fell in the water, she lost the key! We looked up and saw the jet ski floating away. "Erin! We have to get the jet ski!!!!" I started swimming furiously toward it. It is hard to swim in a life jacket with waves!!!!
I caught up to the jet ski and hopped back on it. I was hoping the key was somewhere on the jet ski. It was nowhere in sight. Erin checked her life jacket several times. We determined it was gone and now probably at the bottom of the lake. We laughed and panicked at the same time!
We tried to wave at a few boats that went by, but no one could tell that we needed help. We guessed that somone would have to go back to the marina to tell the owners and that they would have to bring us the extra key. We just kept praying that Lara and April had not already gone in. While we were floating, I thought we were headed toward a bouy. I told Erin she had to push us away from it so we wouldn't float towards it. At that point, I was already calculating the replacement key cost and didn't want anymore damage to the jet ski.
A few minutes later, we saw April and Lara pull up on their jet ski. I started waving at them, but they couldn't really see or hear us. They thought it wasn't us because I was the only one on, and they couldn't see Erin in the water. I started trying to make it obvious that we needed help, and as they got closer, I heard Lara say, "Oh...Stant's in the water!!!!" We were cracking up trying to let them know we lost the key and needed them. They floated around us for a few minutes and decided they were going to have to go get someone.
Right as they were leaving, Lara looked at their key and noticed it had a small flotation device on it. She wondered if ours had the same thing. She looked around the lake and spotted our key!!! "There it is!!!!!" I was laughing so hard. "Um....oops. I thought that was a bouy!!!!" Don't ask me how I thought that tiny thing was a bouy, but I did. I am just so glad we did not go in and get help! Lol!
Lara and April went and got the key and brought it over to us. Stant climbed back on the jet ski, and we were good to go. All was well. It made for another hilarious story. Too bad we didn't have a phone to capture any of it!
After we got back from jet skiing, Lara, April, and I went on a walk around the cabins. Lara went in after a little bit, and April and I kept going. We started talking and forgot to really pay attention to where we were. We had to text the girls we were lost...ironically right in front of the Lost Oaks sign.
Thank goodness for google maps! We kind of figured out where we were! Once we made it to the main gate, we got our bearings. It ended up being a great 4 mile walk...just a little longer than intended.
That night, we went to the other restaurant in town. We call it "The Chicken Place".
Lara was so excited that they had crawfish!
We came back and got in the hot tub for awhile. We have had many great talks in the hot tubs at Broken Bow!
We got up Sunday morning and tried to get the cabin cleaned and ready to go by 10:00. We wanted to beat the heat since we knew we had a long, hot car ride in front of us! I am so thankful that these girls didn't complain and made the most of it with me! Poor Miranda the Murano!
Overall, we had "the best weekend" as Lara would say! I love these girls, and I am so thankful for their friendships! We had fun celebrating April's 30th and our last hurrah with just us before Cinnamon's wedding!!!
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