Many years ago, best friend Bev and I laughed our way through “Thelma and Louise” and those became our nicknames for each other on our numerous chick trips. Even though my given middle name is Louise and I’m the younger of our duo, somehow I fit the Thelma mode so Bev became Louise. We’ve had some great adventures in our almost 24 years of friendship – we’ve laughed more than we’ve cried which is a good thing and over the last 2 days we certainly added more great memories.
Bev has been my role model for life for many years – she has a zest that is hard to beat and since she’s a few years older, she has had a jump start on me for several adventures – including Life 2.0! About 4 months ago we started trying to find a few days to get together and finally found consecutive days when we both weren’t busy with our activities.
I left early yesterday morning for Bev’s home in Branson and we lost no time in getting started on the fun. She wanted to show me some of her haunts including the new Branson north shopping center so we headed over there and did a bit of damage at TJ Maxx – then quickly returned to her home for lunch on her deck which has the most beautiful view of the lake I’ve ever seen. Absolutely breathtaking! Next we headed to the dock with her dog Holly in tow and were soon on the water. We found a quiet cove, tied up and in no time were reading, gabbing, laughing and sharing a beer.
We’d talked about going out to eat last night but since Bev’s passion is cooking and mine is eating, we were content to stay at home and enjoy more beer and some great food. This morning we enjoyed our coffee indoors since it was quite chilly and very foggy on the lake – but soon we headed to the Table Rock dam and did a brisk 5-mile hike to walk off breakfast (homemade bran muffins and fresh fruit!).
Once again the boat was calling for us so we quickly made jumbo salads, put some drinks in the cooler, grabbed Holly and took off for another afternoon enjoying the water. Sadly our visit ended too soon but not before Bev cut me a huge assortment of fresh herbs and gave me specific instructions on how to dry them and store them. While she is a Master Gardener, I appreciate that she accepts how much of a Black Thumb I have!
The guys were happy to have me home – Burl said he was lonely although I’m not sure how much time he spent here while I was gone – and Mulligan just wanted my attention like he always does.
Here’s to Louise – thanks for a great time from your buddy Thelma. And trust me, if we’re ever in a do-or-die situation, she will be the one to drive the car over the cliff while we hold hands!
