Get Out Of Dodge

Brad and I have been chomping at the bit to get out of town for a little adventure, for weeks now. I literally have left city limits of Gillette, WY - once. Since we moved here, we have been super busy with work, church and family affairs. Most recently, Brad has been pulling a crazy amount of hours at work. He has been preparing for a company audit. Working late hours into the evening, and most every Saturday. Finally, this past week - we decided we couldn't take it anymore! We have been neglecting our cupboards recently, and agreed a trip to Billings, MT would be a great choice to "Get Out Of Dodge!". We made a last minute decision on our lunch break (at home) on Friday afternoon. Brad booked a hotel, we packed an over night bag after work, and headed north:)

It was such a beautiful drive. We saw lots of deer, cattle, and antelope.  The fields were green, the mountains were grand. It was the most wonderful change of scenery! We drove most of the way with no music, reminiscing of our travels together, and also planning for the future. I love road trips with Brad, they are always full of conversation and not one dull moment. Once we arrived to Billings, we cruised around attempting to find somewhere to eat. Being that it was 9:45pm, we decided on Applebee's half priced appetizers. Next stop, check in to the hotel.

We arrived at our hotel, and were greeted by the nicest clerk. He mentioned our room number, handed us our keys, and off we went. When leaving the lobby, we passed by the pool/hot tub and noticed it was full of kids (we would pass on the relaxing soak this trip) We walked all the way to the end of the hall before realizing there was no elevator? Determined to find one, we continued back down the hallway, all the way to the other end (lobby in middle) and still found no elevator? We trekked up the stairs - working off our dinner - and realized our second floor room was all the way and the first end of the hall we traveled too. Back and forth, back and forth. Once in our room, we realized it was so hot! Almost unbearable! Brad headed for the A/C unit and flipped it on while I unloaded my arms and flipped on lights. Brad noticed it didn't really kick on, in fact, it wasn't even blowing any air really. Seemed like the fan was running, but it wasn't blowing sufficiently. We knew this was not going to work, we like a cold room to sleep in, and it was already HOT to begin with. Not the least bit flustered, I picked up the phone to call down to the front desk to see if we could change rooms - the phone had no dial tone. I looked at the plugs, it was properly connected, but still no working phone. Confused, and nervous, we loaded up our arms once again and headed for the closest set of stairs, to head to the front desk. Once there, we told the receptionist of the fiasco, who felt horrible about it. He upgraded us to a King Suite at no extra charge for the trouble. While there, we asked, "Is there an elevator?" He apologized up and down for not informing us there was no elevator. Our room was again on the second floor, but this time in the middle of the floor. We packed our bags back up the stairs, and entered our second room. It was large! Had a living room area, and was much more spacious. Our A/C and phone worked in the room! Please with our upgrade, we proceeded to ready ourselves for a long nights sleep:)

Without the stress of being in a hurry (no plans at all) we slept in a little. After having breakfast, we headed out the door, en route to the shopping centers. Our mission for the day, Brad's work wardrobe. First we hit Ross, with no luck whatsoever. But I found 4 pairs of capris! Next up Old Navy, Brad found one shirt, I found flip flops and three tops! We finally arrived at Shopko (I love Shopko) that had quite the selection of dress pants. Brad scored there, and I found a few knick knacks and furniture pieces for our guest bedroom! After Shopko, we headed to HUHOT to grab some lunch. This would be Brad's first trip to HUHOT! I'm not exactly sure if he is a complete fan like me, but he did enjoy his meal:)

Last stop on our agenda was Costco, where we would literally close the store. We picked up everything from meat, to canned goods, pillows, and knives. We loaded up our cart! It's always fun to shop in SAM's and Costco with Brad. We find so many neat things, and great buys. 

 

Brad ended up having to push the cart for me, it was far too heavy towards the end! We did spend a horrendous amount of money, but being that we haven't kept up on our food lately, it was much needed. Luckily, we not won't be needing much from the store here locally for a few weeks/months!

 

Once through the checkout, our cashier was amazed at all we got for the price. He had guessed $200 over what our total actually was. There was too much to be placed back in a shopping cart, so we ended up loading a flat cart. In the empty parking lot, we stuffed the cooler full of cold goods, and the back seat full of our loot.

 

The drive home again was beautiful, and wonderful like usual. We arrived home, unloaded. Packaged meat. Then off to bed.

 

What a pleasant weekend for just the two of us. It's really been awhile since we've been able to do something with just the two of us. I love my husband, and all the quality time we get to spend together.