Showing all posts tagged Day trip

Magnolia Market in Waco

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Day Trip!

Visiting Chip and Joanna Gaines Magnolia Market has been on my must go list for a while. We finally made it yesterday! The kid’s were like, “what exactly are we doing there?” And you kind of have to fudge it a little rather than say you’re going to a large home goods store. They had already been to The Pioneer Woman’s Merc and lodge. So they figured they were good on the home goods field trip front. Oh Contraire! teehee

We are staying at a campground about 40 minutes away so we had to get going a little earlier than our usual to go to Magnolia Table for breakfast. We were all so excited to have my brother Logan join us for the day. He drove up from North Austin and met us there.

  • My brother thought I wouldn’t post this

We went on a Wednesday and at about 9am, we didn’t have to wait at all. The benefits of being able to go on a weekday..

  • Yes, he ordered an adult meal.
    No, he couldn’t finish it.

The inside was true Joanna Gaines style, light, airy and farmhouse chic. Everyone that is employed there are super kind, polite and helpful. We had a breakfast appetizer of Lemon Lavender donut holes that were delightful. I love a lemon lavender combo, as well as a good lemon blueberry combo. I actually have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to blueberries. Growing up with both grandparents owning blueberry farms probably have something to do with that.

Breakfast was a hearty farmhouse breakfast of bacon, eggs, these yummy giant tater tot things, and french toast for me, pancakes for the others or biscuits. The strawberry butter is to die for!

After a nice leisurely breakfast, we loaded up and headed over to the Magnolia Market and silos. It’s a really quaint area consisting of a few acres I believe. It houses their bakery, the market and the back area has a large area of astroturf where kids can play, parents can lounge or you can sit at one of the many picnic tables as you eat a meal or snack from their food truck area.

After dragging everyone through the market and looking at EVERYTHING, I came out with a few goodies. Luckily, living in 350 sq ft keeps you with a good minimalist mindset. You can’t buy what you don’t have room for. Or you could…but who wants that kind of chaos in their life?

Then it was outside where we played giant Jenga and threw a kickball on the astro turf and let the kiddo’s run off some steam.

We made a quick stop at the old Magnolia warehouse shop where they had some discounted and sale items. I found a Christmas ornament for our RV tree, (we try to get an ornament from the places we visit on our travels) a Charcuterie board, (eeek I’ve been wanting one) and neat leather pouch I want to hang on the wall by the passenger seat for my phone and book while we are driving.

  • I can’t believe this was a thing

Downtown, we visited the Dr. Pepper museum. My brother is a huge fan of Dr. Pepper. Huge. It’s a pretty neat museum, at the end, we were able to watch a lab demonstration about the history of “Soda Pop” and watched the demo lady make a celery soda. Yep, that was apparently a popular thing back then. It actually didn’t taste bad.

  • They’re over picture taking at this point
  • Got our “free” Dr. Pepper at the end and tried a chocolate egg cream

Off to the river and the historic Waco walking bridge. This area was part of the original Chisolm Trail and was neat to see.

  • “Everybody turn around so I can take your picture.”

For our last stop, it was back to Magnolia Market to eat a late lunch from the food trucks and get a snack at the Bakery for the next day. Everyone had a burger and I opted for a gourmet grilled cheese. It was all yummy!

  • “I am one with the force..
  • the force is with me.”

All in all it was a pretty successful day in Waco. I wish we hadn’t waited so long to go!

  • My #1; “I have no idea what we’re doing.”
  • The Lemon Lavender were yummy

Have y’all been to Waco? Are there any must see stops for next time?

~Enjoy the journey!

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Day Trip! Flaming Gorge Nat’l Rec Area

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After a rainy drive across the bottom of Wyoming (I-80 was windy y’all) we landed at the Rock Springs KOA in Rock Springs, (go figure) Wyoming.

The sun was actually out and had cleared up for the last 30 mins or so of our drive, but as we were setting up our site, there was a storm brewing! Huge drops of rain started to fall and the wind picked up as soon as we were finishing up the hoses. As we ran inside the sky let loose. We now can use the term “gully-washer” legitimately. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard that term outside of an old western, but I’m bringing it back y’all…

Anyhoo, for the next 15 whole minutes it poured, wind was howling and lightning was flashing. One bolt in particular hit somewhere close and we learned afterward hit a camper at the other end of our row. No fire and everyone was okay thankfully! But goodness! Storms can sure come up quick in Wyoming! But as soon as it started, it was over and the sun was back out.

Since we were ahead of our schedule by a day arriving in the Grand Tetons, we decided to stay an extra day and take a day trip around Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. It was pretty from the pictures we had seen online while looking it up, but we were so not prepared for the massiveness (is that a word? I dunno..) of the “Gorge.”

You could see forever. So far it got hazy. Or it may have been residual smoke from the fires, but still quite amazing. The drive went through the bottom corner of Wyoming and down into Utah. The start of the trip we were at the top and while you couldn’t see the actual Flaming Gorge with water part until you got into Utah, the Wyoming side you could just see forever.

As we eventually made our way “down” we came into the small valley town of Manila, UT. Its picturesque and the people were friendly giving us tips on the rest of the drive. Our best views were yet to come as we rounded each corner and it was breathtaking view after view.

At the top, there was the Visitor Center where the kids and I got out to walk and take some pictures.

Not far from the Visitor Center they had a lodge that had a little gift shop and restaurant attached. I believe there were cabins to rent as well. It was so perfectly picturesque. Huge evergreen trees lining the landscape. Lush green grass with a pond and a smaller pond that people could sit around. A bird feeder that you could watch so many different types of birds come and snack. It was like watching a live postcard from the large window in the restaurant.

We went for a walk down to the dock after lunch to stretch our legs before the rest of the journey back.

It was quite the unexpected surprise with this day trip. Neither I nor Jeremy had heard of Flaming Gorge and I’m so glad we took the time to go. We can’t wait for more pleasant surprises along the way to see places that aren’t the usual stopping points.

~Enjoy the journey!