Friday, July 1, 2011

Crazy Fun Road Trip!

Hey y'all!!  Ready for a road trip to Dallas?

Last weekend, my friend Sharisse got married in Dallas. I had been looking forward to this trip for about a year -- well, actually I've been looking forward to it since the moment Sharisse called to tell me she and Preston got engaged. So anyway, I brought my friend, Kristin, along for the ride.  Here we are at 7 o'clock Friday morning, ready to start our journey.


Kristin's dad planned some fun roadside attractions for us along the way.  First up, a gigantic paper cup in Springfield, Missouri!  Now I have to admit, I was a little disappointed by the cup.  First of all, it's not paper - so me being my literal self - I think the name was misleading. Secondly, there was no where to park, so I had to just pull to the side of the road.  Right when we got out of the car for pictures, it started to rain! If it hadn't been raining, I probably would have made my way up closer to the cup...it is apparently the entrance to the building.



Next up,(still in Springfield) the world's largest fork!




Notice how I'm following the rules, but still leaning against the fork and having fun? Yeah, that's talent right there.


A McDonalds over the highway.


Some Native American statue...apparently it was on the list, but I just snapped a shot as we drove by it.


Muskogee, Oklahoma!


Home of the first girl scout?  Personally, I thought the statue was a bit creepy looking - something about her eyes...


Train in the middle of nowhere.


Hey, let's get a pic of the two of us!


Yea, maybe we should've made sure the camera was zoomed out first.


That's better.

Ok, time for the world's largest peanut!  I think this was in Durant, Oklahoma.  So we were taking pictures by the peanut, which by the way didn't seem like much of an attraction, and some creepy guys in a car drove up and took a picture of us...so weird. Needless to say, we didn't stay long at the peanut.


This sign would've said, Welcome to Texas, if I had been able to get a good picture of it.  I was getting pretty frustrated with my point and shoot camera at this point. The delay time is just too long. If I had had my SLR, I would've gotten a great pic, I just know it.


This was on the other side of the road right after the Texas sign...


Finally made it to the hotel!


On Saturday, Kristin introduced me to this amazing store called Ikea. Now, I've heard of this store before, but I've never been in one.  New. Favorite. Store. I got a lazy susan, because seriously, who wouldn't want a lazy susan?  I also got a wooden salad bowl and this antique looking clock.  Oh and a light.  I really wanted to get this canvas painting, but Kristin talked me out of it.  I wish I would've gotten it.  My cousin told me there is an Ikea close to his house in Illinois...I might have to plan a trip to Chicago this summer!

This was taken before we entered the store.  Did you know you can eat breakfast there? Crazy...


After Ikea, we went to the galleria and the coach outlet store.  Then back to the hotel to rest before the wedding.

The Bella Donna Wedding Chapel that Sharisse chose was the cutest little chapel.  It sat about 150 people and was gorgeous. When/if I get married some day, I'd like to get married in a chapel like that. (My dad already told me I can't get married in a castle in Ireland).  This photo was taken after the ceremony.  (I didn't get any photos of the inside, you'll just have to take my word on it's beauty.)  I really liked this sign and how it's set in front of the chapel, but I wasn't thrilled with the water tower thingy, so I had Kristin stand in front of it.  I didn't feel like photoshopping it out...


I tried to wait for people to leave and get out of my shot, but realized that wasn't going to happen, so I just took the shot and we left.


I don't think this really requires a caption...it was very windy and very sunny...


The name of this tower is eluding me at the moment.


So I didn't get any photos at the reception (sorry Emily!). But it was great, like I knew it would be. Sharisse sat us at a table with some really cool people. They reminded me of a mix between my high school and college friends. Anyway, they actually got me to dance, and what's more incredible, they got me to have fun dancing. Anybody who knows me knows that I am extremely self-concious about my lack of rhythm and moves on the dance floor. They taught me some moves and ignored my timing issues.  We hung out for a little while after the wedding, and I had a good time (don't think Kristin did though).  

Sunday was rough. With only 3-4 hours of sleep and feeling slightly hung over (don't judge me, I only had 2 glasses of wine, I'm just that much of a light weight), a 10 hour car ride did not sound appealing. Kristin was really cool about it though and drove a good portion of the way. I felt bad because she didn't get a lot of sleep either. I'll have to make it up to her somehow...

I had to get a picture of the highway sign.  We had a lot of good times on highway 69...haha


Kristin had never heard of this gas station before! She was a little afraid of what the bathrooms would look like...



I love random signs.



Some people play the license plate game, Kristin and I identified roadkill.  It started out as a joke on the way to Texas.  You see, my sister has this odd habbit of noticing roadkill and telling us what it was.  So Kristin and I were texting her what we saw...and finally decided just to keep a running tally.  We also counted Baptist churches.