Friends in Dry Places

When it started to become a reality that maybe I wasn’t going to get to stay in that cute Bayou Cabin in Louisiana and it wasn’t just my slightly weather obsessed parents being overprotective with their “Have you been checking the weather in Louisiana?”, “Did you get a chance to look at it?”. “I’m pretty sure it’s bad.”, I had to make a plan.  I had full intentions of quickly scanning a weather report and telling them I would be fine. The storm and I would have a standoff at the most and all would be ok.  However, Barry and his dang hurricane had other plans for me.   

I went into planner mode late one night at the ranch in Texas.  I would open my laptop, map something out, google a few things then close it and set it on the bedside table and try to sleep.  But then another idea would pop into my head so I’d go back, open up the laptop and start the process all over again.  Right before I finally found myself no longer able to keep my eyes open, I had my plan.  Now I just needed, four other people/families to make that plan come to fruition.

I was going to have the best dang detour there was if it was the last thing I did.  I couldn’t think of a better way to make that happen, then stopping in to see friends in all the places I never get to visit.  First stop, Austin Texas! 

In Austin, my friends Colin and Stin and their adorable little boys welcomed me with open arms.  Their dog Pre welcomed me in his typical fashion of excited jumps.  He and I have been friends for some time now and we fell into our old habits where I’m totally ok with him jumping up on me, but realize this isn’t a good habit so I act like I’m not going to pay any attention to him if he jumps.  Here, I was treated to a pool party followed by some serious puzzle making while we barbequed.  I had realized that my journey had made me quite the ace at the Map of the States puzzle!  After dinner, we settled into one bumping dance party where we learned that an almost 3-year-old requesting pop music from Alexa can turn into listening to “Paw Patrol” on repeat.  That night as I crawled into their guest bed, one I’ve visited and slept in before, I realized this is the most familiar bed I’ve slept in since June 28th and would be savoring every second.  Morning came too soon and with a promise of a read-aloud for the oldest and some breakfast tacos, I was off to my next stop.  Instead of going east to Louisiana, I was now going to head north in hopes of missing the storm and then cutting over to the south when the storm had ended.  Next up Keller, Texas.

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Keller is where my dear friend Michelle from grad school lives with her family.  Throughout my trip, she was one of the friends who had reached out to find out my route in hopes of some sort of meet up.  I hadn’t intended to go through there, but it was a happy circumstance of the storm.  We didn’t have much time, between my wanting to see one more friend and her needing to bring her daughter to a birthday party, but man, did we fit in a lot into that hour and a half.  I don’t think either of us came up for air as we had sat in the backyard eating snacks that her husband brought out and drinking drinks that her sweet girl brought us. It was as if they knew we were going to need every minute to get to at least 1/5 th of the good stuff. Short, but oh so sweet.  Not too far to go for the next stop of Dallas, Texas.

Last year at Camp Shout Out, I shared a bunk with four utterly amazing SLPs.  One I had been friends with for a long time and three others I had just met.  Laura was one of those SLPs and she and I instantly connected. Her husband and my dad both went to the same Law School and he was a BC Eagle, but more importantly, we are both strong Team Pacey members and lovers of celebrity run-ins and or connections.  Although, I have to say hers with President Obama pretty much takes the cake.  All it took was a quick text of, “Hey do you think you might be around for a quick hug, high five or treat when I’m passing through” and I found myself welcomed into her lovely home, getting to meet her sweet children I had only heard stories and seen photos of and yet again working on the puzzle map of the United States.  Like with Michelle, Laura and I didn’t have much time, but we took the time we had to almost make it feel like we were back in those bunks again.  As our time was coming to a close, Laura would not let me leave without opening up her snack drawers and letting me have free reign.  As long as I didn’t take her son’s blue Gatorade, I was safe;) Or truth is, she said I could have taken it, we just couldn’t say the words “blue Gatorade” out loud or it might cause a stir.  Once again I was off…this time a little bit more of a drive.  Destination, Tahlequah Oklahoma and the War Eagle Resort.

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The War Eagle is owned by my dear dear friend Ashley’s family.  It will be where we will all converge late September to witness her and Michael’s wedding.  Upon also checking on me to make sure I was “watching the storm”, I let Ashley know that I would be heading north.  In true Ashley fashion, before I could even say yes she had me booked into her family’s resort and had her sister and friends in the area ready to assist me with anything I needed.  At this point in the drive, I didn’t need much and was excited to check out another Oklahoma Sunset.  The last one I saw I was in a rental car rushing to Ashley’s engagement party in February.  With my room key in hand, I was on my way into what would turn out to be THE MOST tricked out room in terms of snacks.  Courtney, Ashley’s sister had made sure that my fridge was fully stocked with all the drinks and there lying on my bed was what one can only describe as a cornucopia of snacks…and a super cute resort t-shirt too!  While it was a fantastic surprise, I was not all that surprised. Ashley is one of the best surprisers and has done a few things like this for me in the past. It must run in the family.  I had big plans of running that morning, but there is no service at the resort and I had no idea where I was even trying to get to, so instead, I opted for a shower and decided to hit the road early.  Not without checking in at the front office, where I knew her mom would be working.  Once again I was showered with their family’s generosity and I think the office got a little giggle at my expense.  I made the mistake of saying how hot it was.  The young girl behind the desk said, “This is actually cool, so cool, someone came in this morning asking if it was too cool to be on the river.”  Yikes, what was I in for?  Since my GPS wouldn’t work for a few miles out, Ashley’s mom asked me what route I was taking.  She started mentioning numbers and letters like she was calling out at Bingo…” are you going to take I-10 to the 44 to the…” She had lost me.  What I planned to do was go wherever my phone told me to go.  Thankfully, she was able to get me on my way.  Heading up just a little bit more north to Kansas City, Kansas…and apparently Missouri too.

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Before I would get to experience Kansas City itself from both sides, I found myself in Shawnee, Kansas, and guests of another dear grad school friend Erika and her darling family.  When I walked in the door, there was a chalkboard easel with the words “Welcome Caitlin” in bubble letters.  I found out later that Erika wasn’t crafting her bubble letter skills, but it was her oldest daughter, whom at this point I’d seen only in Christmas Cards.  The welcome sign did its job, I immediately felt welcome in their home.  Might have been the fact that Erika and her husband Tom are incredibly generous and entertaining hosts. Or could just be one of those feelings when you get when you are around your people.  I actually got to stay in Kansas for a full 23hrs before hitting the road again.  23hrs might not seem like a long time, but for me, at this point, it felt like days.  Similar to my time with Michelle, Erika and I picked up like no time had passed.  She had this amazing spread out for me and introduced me to the world of cotton candy grapes.  We have no idea how they are made, but I’m not sure I can go back to any other grape again.  On a quick snack break in the conversation, Erika laid out all the options for the night.  Anywhere from checking out the KC scene to staying in our PJs and hanging out.  Not knowing when I was going to get back to Kansas, I figured I should do it up properly.  And when I say properly this also included checking out their local Target…you never know what surprises you might find and I needed to restock a few things.  Before heading out for a few errands, I brought my bags up to their guest room.  Waiting for me here, was the cutest welcome basket of Kansas City favorites such as a Charlie Hustle t-shirt and a Starbucks mug from Kansas City.  My friends were literally running five-star resorts out of their homes.   When you are on the road there are some things you miss and for me, I figured out quickly, it was someone else driving.  As I slid into the passenger side of Erika’s car, well it was more of a hop-up but slid sounded better, anyway as I slid in, I realized my whole body just relaxed.  In our conversations, I had mentioned to Erika that I was thinking of finding a salon along the way to get my hair done…from all the sun it had started to show all those lovely red highlights and roots I am not a fan of.  While in Target and passing the at-home coloring, Erika just said, “Why don’t I just do it.” And so folks when we got back she and I were up in her bathroom catching up while she died my hair.  That night, she and Tom took me to some of the breweries in Kansas City.  Oh and I should mention, we were now on the Missouri side of Kansas City.  Apparently, Missouri claims all the cool parts of Kansas City with the exception of Janelle Monae…she’s Kansas City, Kansas.

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My tour of Kansas City wasn’t quite complete until the next morning when we visited Hurts Donuts.  Their blueberry cake donut rivals any one I’ve had before and as we all know, I’ve had a lot of donuts.  Being in their home and even in their cars made my body and mind unwind.  It turns out that being there while maybe not the plan, was exactly what I had needed.

There are a lot of quotes out there about friendship. I think it was Oprah that said, “Surround yourself with those that lift you up higher.”  While I totally agree with Oprah, what I would say is get yourself friends who no matter what can just pick up where you left off as if you hit the pause button.  The ones who you don’t have to worry about “not texting” or making plans with. Maybe together you conquered what you thought was the hardest time in your life and share memories of a grad room that will never compare. Maybe they’ve only been in your life for a short time, but you both experienced the magic of something amazing or maybe you’ve seen them through many of their major milestones.  Whatever the circumstances, when the friends that come into your life that don’t require the work and the stress that we often force on ourselves, they are gold and should be treasured as so.  Hope you enjoyed the Detour, I know I did.  I was fully ready to begin again.  Next up, on to Memphis by way of Arkansas! XOXO