Ryan and I went our first roadtrip with Gage to Fredericksburg/Luckenbach for the 4th of July. Car ride there took seven hours, but the ride home only took 4 1/2! I think it was mostly because he was exhausted from the weekend. We feel so blessed to have such an amazing group of people to run around with. We come from all over Texas several times a year to meet in the hill country.
We left the house about 9, stopped in Hillsboro to feed Gage, Waco to feed mom and dad, Georgetown to feed Gage, then booked it on to our home away from home, the Fredericksburg Inn and Suites. Gage cried from Georgetown until Johnson City when he became fascinated with my water bottle. Our friends were already by the pool and saw us coming in…Gary even brought Ryan a cold Negro Modelo to cool him off before we unloaded the car! Melinda Ann held Gage (while Cherron took pictures of him) while Ryan and I unloaded the car. I almost immediately hit the grocery store for picnic items, water and cash. That evening Gage went swimming for the first time. He didn’t seem to think much of it…didn’t smile, didn’t cry, didn’t splash, just kinda looked around like “what are they doing to me now?”
Sunday was nice. After breakfast at the Inn we made sandwiches and headed out to Luckenbach. It was a nice day, but hot so we only stayed a couple hours (plus we knew we would be back the next day for the 4th). After resting in the room for a bit, we went down to the conference room where our friend Cherron had bought food for like 100 people…20 steaks, pork chops, shrimp, vegetables, salad, a TON of fruit, cookies, cakes, smoked sausage and cheeses…not to mention ARRIBA salsas and chips (you can find then in the grocery stores and I HIGHLY recommend them)! We helped as much as we could, trying not to get in the way. JoAnne had decorated the room adorably in all sorts of festive 4th of July decor. Not to mention the variety of beverages available…from Sangria with fresh fruit, to ice chests upon ice chests full of any beer or soda you can name. Gage did extremely well, but as the room filled, he started to lose patience. I took him upstairs to feed him, then Ryan and I took shifts in the room to go visit with our friends downstairs.
On the 4th we woke up ready for breakfast at the Rather Sweet Bakery and Cafe. We dressed quickly after Gage woke up and hustled out the door. People had already begun to line the street for the parade which was about to begin…not us, we just kept truckin. After a peach scone, peach muffin, ham and cheese omelette and and a bacon and cheddar scone (don’t forget the coffee…ooooooo the coffee), we headed back out to the street to catch the end of the parade. There is a new pie place on Main Street on our way back to the hotel so I made Ryan and Gage stop with me while I got a slice of apple and peach pie to go (they ended up being okay, but nothing too special). We visited with friends by the pool for a while before making sandwiches and once again heading out to Luckenbach. We setup camp in the shade next to a group of friends. We laughed, listened and showed off Gage all day! He was wonderful. I kept him cool with a little handy dandy invention of my own which kept him quite happy.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
We left Luckenbach about 6:00 and headed back into Fredericksburg. For those of you familiar with the road between 290 and Luckenbach, you’ll be sad to know (thanks to Neal Brown and Clay Wilkins’ explanation for me) that two things are killing the oak trees along the road! Oak decline and oak wilt. Hundreds of dead oaks which broke my heart! Anywho, we stopped to get Ryan something to eat on our way back to the Inn. We got mommy and Gage bathed and cooled down, then all went back down to the conference room to see what everyone was up to. Cherron had once again outdone herself! She had bought hot dogs and burgers and was grilling once again. What an amazing lady. After Ryan and I visited for a while, we went to bed rather early that evening (prepping ourselves for another long drive the next morning).
Tuesday we woke up late…9:00 late! I don’t remember when Gage has EVER slept that late, but we were thankful he did. After loading up the Nissan, we hit Rather Sweet Bakery to load up on peach muffins and scones. The drive home went much smoother than the drive there. Gage slept most of the drive…only woke up once so we stopped and fed him in Georgetown…not long after that, back to sleep he went.
So his first road trip went very well…he made a ton of new friends (which all love him) and Ryan and I are learning how to travel with a baby.
Love and hugs to all!
