El Rio

The river. If you look at any major magazine or tourist brochure in San Antonio, they will tell you that you HAVE to float the river. What they fail to mention is that it is just like any other river, except super low 85% of the time due to lack of rain. This summer is no exception. The first year we were down here it looked like this: River in 2010. This year you can actually "float" the river, you just have to get up and walk around low spots so you don't end up like beached whale stuck on rocks.

This past weekend we did venture out to the river with one small change. Instead of floating the river we, um, well....sat in the river. Now that it is in the 100s, it is very hand sitting and having your legs, feet and bum nice and cold while the rest of your body is being cooked under the sun (with sunscreen to protect, of course!) This is what it looked like this time:

Sitting in the water, chillin' and keepin' cool.

 Some of our friends we met through Kyle's work has acreage down by the river. You basically can drive your car right up to the rivers edge. From there you grab your $5 camping chair, find a good spot and plop down in the water until your heart's content. It really was a nice relaxing afternoon.

Kyle and I at the river!

 But, as you all know, nothing is too relaxing when you have a group of guys together. Low and behold there were 2 rope swings situated over the river not far from us. OF COURSE Kyle had to go check it out. Due to the fact that the river is so low and I don't trust the level, I decided to only document rather than partake in the swing. Maybe next year. If we get a flood. ;)

Kyle swinging

Can you spot him? Kyle? I called him Tarzan the rest of the day. Crazy man. I will spare you a heart attack and not show you the video I have of him DIVING into the river from that rope!

To top things off, there was a public campground right across the river from where our friend's land is. So, if we ever have the urge to go camping in 100 degree weather, this might have to be the spot to go!

Hope everyone is enjoyingd the summer up in MN! Happy Lake Season!

And They're Off!

You may remember this, but we live close to the Horse Races here in San Antonio. It's called Retama Park...we went there last year. I talked about it in this post. Everything has stayed pretty much the same, except this time we brought two more friends with us.

Horse Races on 50 cent night. Awesomeness.

Dan came along this time. He ended up taking advantage of Lady Luck. When we arrived, they were 5 minutes from the next race. Dan randomly places a bet and cashes in just over $100. I pretty gave up after that...I knew how the night was going to go; and it did. I lost $6 and Dan cashed in on all the rest.

Mr. Moneybags.

Even though I "lost" that night, it was still fun hanging out with friends and enjoying something different. It is so nice and close to our house as well!

My friend, Kasi. Her and Mat are good friends, and we also head to the gym together at 5:30am every morning!

Me and the hubs.

 Another great night in San Antonio!

Jackson Hole, WY

You must be thinking...another trip?! I know, I can't believe it either. Somehow we have managed an entire year's worth of traveling into 3 months. Go figure.

This past weekend Kyle's branch here in San Antonio/Austin had their PCI Branch Trip. What that means is, if his branch has a good year (fiscally speaking) then the PCI company rewards them and their significant others on a mini-vacation anywhere in the 48 states. Last year, Kyle's branch had an EXCELLENT year, so they chose the location of Jackson Hole, WY as their branch trip location.

In the Town Square in Jackson. All these antlers are "sheds" of Elk around the area that are collected. I saw at least 5 arches like this around the area.

It. Was. BEAUTIFUL. Now I know why it is considered one of the top 10 most beautiful places in the United States.

Jackson Hole from the top of one of the Teton Mountains.

 This is Jackson Hole. The term "Jackson Hole" refers to the valley that most of the towns reside in. The town of Jackson, Teton Village, and the airport all kind of nestle in this little valley nicknamed Jackson Hole. We actually stated at the foothills of the Grand Teton Mountain range, in Teton Village. It was a beautiful location, only 10 minutes from the town of Jackson.

We spent a day touring Yellowstone, something that has always been on my Bucket List. Right along with seeing Old Faithful. I'm all about seeing these places you read about in school. ;)

Sooooooo beautiful it almost looks fake!

Standing in front of Old Faithful

We spent a day going golfing and Whitewater rafting. We bummed around the town of Jackson and took a tram to the top of the mountain by our hotel. We ate elk and buffalo. We saw a ton of wildlife, and I actually think everyone really enjoyed themselves!

Whitewater rafting. I'm in the middle and Kyle is in front. That was one of my favorite parts of the trip! SO much fun, but the water was SO cold.

It was an amazing trip and I highly recommend taking a trip, it is even a great trip to make with the kiddos! Who doesn't want to see a Grizzly Bear, Moose, and Elk all in the same weekend?!

The Ranch

I am almost 100% positive that you will be hearing me refer to "the ranch" in future posts. To avoid confusion, I decided to explain to you what exactly "the ranch" is...and what my weekend mostly consisted of.

Kyle's work, PCI, recently purchased a lease down in south Texas.  This basically means that whomever owns this land in south Texas decided to "lease" it out to someone who is willing to pay X amount of dollars per year. If you do pay, the ranch is basically yours for the year. Hunting rights, house maintenance, land, etc. It may sound like a lot of work and kind of silly, but I have heard the amount of requests come through to go "hunting in Texas" and it will be well worth it. For future reference, that is "the ranch" that I will be referring to.

This is the house, and some of the yard at the ranch

So where does this play into my weekend? They recently purchased it, as in, a month or two ago. Since then, there has been one trip down to check out the property, make some "to-do" lists, etc. Guess what was on the "to-do" list? CLEAN. Fill feeders! Dirty work. This past weekend all the "young guys" from the office made the 2 hour trip south to do work on the ranch.

This is the scenery in South Texas. Wonderful, isn't it?!

This is what that scenery looks like up close. Again, how wonderful! HA. Snake books should NOT be apart of my wardrobe.

Kyle and I cleaned. I was sneezing every other minute from the inch of dust that coated the place. I scrubbed years of grease off of the kitchen doors and cabinets. I dusted shelves and furniture. I folded sheets and blankets. Kyle swept floors, all thousand dust bunnies included. He mopped all wood floors, having to change out water consistently due to how dirty it got. We cleaned.

When that was all done, the "other young guys" came back from filling the "back lot" feeders. The ranch is  divided into the back and front, so the front was left to do. Since 2 guys had to head back to San Antonio Kyle and I were put on the truck to help do the front. Filling feeders basically means that you drive around this land and find all the "feeding" spots. You put corn in there. You set a timer. When the timer goes off, animals come to eat. When you want to hunt, you sit 20-100 yards from this feeder and wait for it to go off, luring the animals to you. (This is Texas hunting in a nut shell). So that was hot and dirty and lots of manual labor, but it was ok. I need more of that as I sit behind my computer 40 hours a week.

The 1-ton pickup we used to drive around the ranch with. FULL of corn and protein pellets for the feeders.

Here we are filling feeders! Once it's full of corn, we hoist it back up in the air and set the timer. The corn then shoots all around that gated part. It is gated low enough for deer and other animals to jump, but high enough for the wild hogs to not get in.

Proof that I helped! I even have the sore arms to prove it ;)

After the feeders were done and the house was cleaned, we went to the shooting range on the ranch and shot some clay pigeons. I did, too! I even hit some. Its been YEARS since I shot a gun, so it felt good, actually.

The boys at the shooting range on the ranch. We eventually had to tie up the dogs because they were contastantly running out and searching for the "birds that we shot."

Again! Proof that I shot! Capped it off with a beautiful sunset.

Now that you are knowledgeable in Texas lingo/lifestyle, and know all about "the ranch" I'll leave you to wrap your head around all that I just wrote. Have fun ;)

Planes, Train, and Automobiles

This post is mostly focused on airplanes, but I just liked that for a title ;) These past few months Kyle and I have been flying every other weekend it seems. Kyle has been flying non-stop for work and throw in a few MN trips and we are becoming regulars at the airport. We are even getting to the point of recognizing security guards and TSA people. (Is that good or bad!?)

On this last trip home I decided to snap a few pictures from my point of view. The seat I see every time. The view I get (every time!) and stuff like that. All I have to say is I am very thankful for earphones, airport bars, and sky miles. Kyle and I have now accumulated enough miles for a free flight. The only problem now is deciding where and when to use it! ;)

Kyle and I sit over the wing every. single. time.

Delta airplane seats...Try not to be too jealous ;)

Our flight back to TX from MN. Can you tell we were a bit tired?!

 Safe travels everyone :)

Graduation

I think I still don't fully believe that I was in MN this past weekend. Time goes SO FAST when we are home, especially for a major event. Ashley, my little sister, graduated High School on Sunday. I had mixed emotions, but I think overall I was genuinly excited for her. I feel like she is ready for the next step in her life, and I just hope she keeps me in the loop so I can help in any way. Thankfully technology can help that, but it would be nice just to be only a few hours away instead of days.

Here is one lonely picture that I have for you. I have been exhausted since returning late Monday night, so I don't have many pictures ready to go. I don't even have my bag unpacked, which is very unheard of for us. So, until I can get some family pictures ready to go, I will leave you with this one.

Happy Graduation, Ashley! Can't wait to see what the next few years will bring  :)

xoxo