A Visit From Dave and Karen

Our long-time, very special friends, Dave and Karen from Alaska, showed up on Thursday of last week. They make an extended trip to the lower 48 every year, and usually include us on their itinerary. Last year was a shorter trip, and we didn't see them, so it had been way too long between visits!

We had such a good time together. On Friday we took them down to Salado, where Kay and Andy met us for lunch and took us on a tour of the wonderful art galleries, antique shops and other quaint, interesting village attractions.

Sunday was the first time Dave and Karen had been here since we started worshipping with the Salado church, and we were so happy to get to introduce them to our new church family.

On Monday we drove to Waco in separate cars, so that Dan and I could come home at the end of the day, and Dave and Karen could head on up to Steve and Sharon's (mutual friends) in Gilmer, TX, where they'll stay for a while.

Dave and Karen were excited to go to Waco to see Chip and JoAnna Gaines' Magnolia Market at the Silos. We hadn't gone there before, ourselves, so it was fun for all of us . . . well, to be honest, it was more fun for the girls than for the guys. We also walked a block or so down the street to a place called The Findery, with similar products at more attractive prices.

This was the line when we got to Magnolia Market, as they were just opening the doors. It moved quickly, and we didn't have to stand in line long.

After taking in the shops near the Silos, we drove on out to Homestead Heritage Farm. I've blogged about it a number of times (see here), but it's always fun to take friends there for their first visit. We ended our time there with a late lunch in their wonderful cafe. Most of the food they serve is homemade and the ingredients come from their own farms. 

There is a new Basket shop at Homestead Heritage, to go along with the Fiber Arts, the Forge, the Grist Mill, the Woodworking and Pottery shops. 

Our timing was perfect. Had we waited until today, we wouldn't have been able to do any of these fun field trips. We have been under severe weather watches/warnings/alerts: wind warnings, flash flood warnings and even a tornado warning overnight and continuing this morning. Between the sirens on our weather radio, the thunder and lightning, wind and rain, I didn't get much sleep last night, and we are pretty much house-bound today. So I'm glad Dave and Karen got to enjoy the nice weather we had, instead of this severe storm, and had decent weather to drive on up into East Texas yesterday.