Mo Fun at Mo Ranch

I added about two Mo pages to this little masterpiece but the little Rangy one pressed the escape button. Perhaps he thought that I needed a re-write. Well here it is as best as I can recall anyway. I was going to leave out all the mundane exchanges but I thought that they added something real to the entire experience. So this may end up being quite lengthy. My shoulders are sunburned and you would think that this would irritate me but the sensation is an almost pleasant reminder of my superb weekend. We left later on Friday then we had originally planned. I basically waited until noon on Friday to start the preparations for the trip. Initially I had wanted to have it squared away well ahead of time. I consulted Kelly while he was offshore asking him what I should pack and he said that it was no big deal that he would figure it out when he got home. As anyone who is a regular blog reader knows I like Kelly to be responsible for those things that I would rather not do myself so I was very content to do nothing until the last minute when it became apparent things were not going to magically pack themselves. Kelly questioned why I would pack sleeping bags and canvas chairs and I thought this was strange. We eventually got rolling around 7pm and at 9:30 pm we stopped at a Dairy Queen. About five minutes after we got our food the the whole town experienced a power outage. Due to the no eating in Daddy's car rule (and apparently there are no exceptions) we ate our dinner in the pitch black darkness of Dairy Queen. I needed to visit the restroom. Chivalry is not dead as Blaze and Kel volunteered to go with me as my protectors. They did not seem to take their knighthood very seriously however. They kept turning off the flashlight,kicking the stall doors, going Woooo... Wooooo. and asking me if I was scared yet. Several times during the ride to the ranch Kelly expressed concern that I did not have written confirmation, an itinerary or a cabin number. He mentioned this so many times that I finally said. Quit torturing me! He still kept on it,lecturing me on how next time I needed to be more organized. I have not seen hills in so long that I nearly wept when we got to the hill country. We spotted lots of deer on the ride up to the ranch. Our cabin which we found only because I remembered a funky sticker on the back of Cristals vehicle was surrounded by cedar trees. Upon arrival Kelly was a bit shocked because apparently he did not realize that we were camping. This was actually sort of funny. I'm positive that I mentioned the word cabin several times but this would explain why he looked at me like I was an idiot when I suggested that we take a lantern. Perhaps he thought that cabin was a cute little name that I had for beautiful hotel as this is where he has stayed in the past when he has visited the ranch. I guess the Christmas lights sort of threw him off. Day 1 Kelly cooked breakfast on the camp stove, Bacon, sausage, eggs, and coffee. Then we drug our younguns through rough dirt trails for hours trying to make our way to the Guadalupe River which could be heard but not seen. Kelly got pissed and abandoned us literally by heading off in another direction and yelling come back to camp when you find it. He took the Ranger and Kel with him. We finally found the correct trail that took us back to the river and the ranch. I left Lindy and Blaze with Cristal and walked probably a couple of miles back to the cabin. I wouldn't have went back but I was imagining Rangy crying his little head off. Fetched the hubby and the younguns and we drove the truck to the River which was really only a stone throw away from the cabin. We just weren't very good navigators. Caught up with Cristal and the rest of the brood. I jumped off a rope into the frigid liquid ice of the Guadalupe River. Okay so there was no ice but it was pretty damn cold. Since I was already numb and most likely my brain was frozen and not working properly. I hauled a wooden sled up this very high coaster track and plummeted into the water once again. Up until the very moment I hit the water it was pure excitement. Once I hit the water my limbs were powered only by the adrenaline rush that was my bodies my great desire to get out of the water and I had to push the sled back while I swam! If the top of my (modest) bikini would have landed a foot past me I would not have tried to retrieve it. Admitting to ourselves that we were just not tough enough for the River we headed to a large beautifully tiled Olympic sized pool. I took Cristals four year old son Davin to the potty at the pool and there was a large yellow moth in the bathroom. It was about half the size of my hand and it was pretty cool if you ask me. I showed it to all the kids and they concurred but I think that some of the adults may now think I am a bit weird. The whole playing with bugs thing. Cristals husband Aaron made a great barbecue for our first nights dinner. His barbecue method did however involve a hair dryer and this amused me as I do not even own a hair dryer. If I did own a hairdryer I probably would not have thought to bring it camping. After dinner we went back to the Ranch to meet up with the rest of our church family for a campfire, songs, and smores. Their were a ton of fireflies and they really knocked me out. I was more impressed by those little glowing creatures than the children were. I guess that I'm easily impressed. We didn't make it to the smores as Lindy and Blaze were abusing one another so we had to call it a night. The other half of our montage stayed for the party and they said that it was muy bueno. We called it a night shortly after we got back to the cabin. I had a hard time sleeping though. I was comfortable enough, I was still awake when Cristal and her family returned to the cabin. I could hear her and Aaron lying in bed and trying very hard to whisper quietly as to not disturb us. Now I know that I am straying from the story here,but it is worth mentioning that Lydia believes that late night talks in bed are highly underrated. In any case it was a very sweet thing to have witnessed. Day 2 Aaron cooked breakfast and was either amazed or disgusted by the amount of bacon that was consumed by my children. I told Aaron that my children would probably naw on a live pig. We went back to the lake and Aaron swung off the rope and did the slide thing and dared me to do it again and I would have if Kelly would have watched the Rangy one for me. Cristal watched Ranger for me as he slumbered as Kelly, Kel 2, Lindy, Cristal's little girl and I canoed down the river where we saw many fish in the clear water and we also spotted a turtle sunning himself on a rock. We also spotted some children playing in some shallow rapids and it looked like great fun. On our way back I though that i heard the Rangy one crying and indeed upon my return I found him screaming his head off. He is such a Mamma's boy. We spent the next few hours chillin out in the shallow rapids. Sitting in the warm clear water and it was a delight. Cristal said that we were sitting in fossilized dinosaur footprints and I don't know if that is true but it was a neat thought. That evening we worshipped God outdoors atop a high hill. I missed most of the service yet I was moved. It was not the words that were spoken but the awesome view from the cross. A tear came to my eye and I felt so close to God as I gazed upon the expanse of green trees as far as the eye could see and the outline of the river. It was amazing! I have seen many beautiful sights but this one truly took my breath away. My God is the greatest Artist and Architect ever. God is a divine sculptor. My God is an awesome God. We stayed up late talking with Cristal and Aaron near the campfire. It was a little too warm to sit around the fire. Got the best sleep the final night. Day 3 I did not want to leave. I kept closing my eyes and imagining the view from the cross. Trying to make it indelible in my mind. Recapturing the awe and I am still doing it. We packed up and left in the rain. I was sad to leave. Kelly teased me about selling all the houses and moving to the hill country. I would do it in a minute. In a second. I would live in an unfurnished cabin to be so close to something so grand. That is a whole other story in itself. I'm home now but I know where I would like to be. The natural landscape of the area was beyond words. I was feeling a bit depressed to be back home and I went in the backyard and the lawn was filled with hundreds of white flowers that seemed to have sprung up in the short time we were gone. They are fragrant and delicate. I will have to find out what kind they are. It was definitely a very sweet welcome home. I am usually not one to pick flowers but I did pick about fifty of them and put them in a vase. The End.