Sometimes, it seems like the universe is trying to send you a message…like “Don’t plan a vacation in February”. You know. Little messages like that.
We had managed to plan and go on a vacation last February to Corpus Christi, Texas. We couldn’t have been more excited to leave Nebraska’s negative temperatures and find solace on the beaches of the island.
So when we arrived to Corpus last year to be met by torrential rains and a measly 45°, to say we were slightly disappointed was an understatement. Determined to make the most of our getaway, we ignored the cooler temps and did what activities we could. It warmed up over the following days of our trip, and the girls even got to swim in the gulf. We had a terrific time. Yes – despite the weather, it was fine.
Fine, but not forgotten. We planned to head to Texas again this February, and I was afraid we’d find unseasonably cooler weather again. Was it wrong to plan a February vacay and hope for warmer weather?? The universe sure showed me, didn’t it?
Warmer weather did NOT happen, as most of you know. The entire state of Texas seemed to be shutdown by snow and low temps. No power. No water. Definitely a vacation destination, wouldn’t you agree?
We had planned to fly into Houston, take the girls to NASA, and then drive down to Corpus. Our Airbnb was on the beach - a corner unit with two walls of windows overlooking the gulf. We had plans to visit the Lexington and go on a dolphin boat tour. But most importantly, we were going to see Jake’s parents.
Two nights before we were scheduled to leave, we made the tough decision to cancel everything. Jake had the Airbnb site pulled up on the laptop, and I could see the picture of the view from our booked condo…it was devastating (not the view – it was spectacular, but the fact that it was no longer going to be OUR view was a bit heart-breaking at the moment).
Devastated or not, I could not control the weather. And our vacation was one of the least important issues for the folks, animals, and sea life in Texas. (Did you hear about the sea turtles???) I was lucky to have never lost power the week that the ENTIRE United States seemed to be struggling to stay warm. I was able to continue on as I normally would…with the thermostat set a few degrees cooler than usual. What a sacrifice, huh?
But the trip was canceled, and that was that.
However, we had the time off from work and had already told the kids’ school that they would miss a day, so we decided to find another place to go. It wasn’t really an easy thing to do in 24 hours. Everyone must have the same idea in February, “Get the heck outta Dodge”…even when the universe is trying to get everyone to stay put. Anywhere we looked, the availability of hotel rooms was few or nil. And the few rooms available were pur-ricey and boring.
We ended up settling, and I use the word “settling” lightly….because we really weren’t settling. Our final decision was the Wisconsin Dells, and we had been there a year and a half before and while the town itself wasn’t much of an attraction, we LOVED the resort we stayed at. Naturally, we really wanted to stay in the same type of room we had stayed in the first time at Glacier Canyon Lodge on the Wilderness Resort because the girls would get their own room with bunkbeds, and we’d have a full kitchen. But on Tuesday night, when I looked for a room, they only had a boring standard one. Wah Wah.
So I waited until Wednesday morning to book the room. And much to my surprise, one of the condos we wanted had opened up, and we were able to book that instead! Hip Hip Hooray!
We packed our suitcases on Wednesday night, and took our time getting ready the next morning before loading up the pick-up and setting out for Wisconsin. The sun was shining, and it was like we had the universe’s blessing….FINALLY!
We drove, and the girls watched “Just Add Magic” on the iPad or played the Nintendo. I crocheted or just admired the scenery along the way, and Jake was the always awesome chauffer.
We arrived in the Dells around 4:30 that afternoon, checked into the hotel, parked, and saw 2 deer walking through the parking lot. A wilderness experience INDEED!
We settled into our room, and the girls got into their swimsuits, and to the pool we went. You might have been wondering why we would leave Nebraska in February only to go to Wisconsin. You see…this particular resort has 3 indoor waterparks on the main resort and 1 indoor waterpark on their lake property. We were staying on the main resort, and everything was connected via skywalks – the rooms, waterparks, arcades, and restaurants. We never had to leave!
There were also go-carts, miniature golf, laser tag, Escape Rooms, and apparently a spa on site, too. But we didn’t get to those things. The water and arcade had the girls’ attention.
So the girls swam for awhile before we went back to the room and waited for our dinner to arrive from Moosejaw Pizza and Brewing Co (not on the resort, but they deliver….and their delivery guys drive cars with a giant moose on it!). A wonderful first day.
The next two days were spent walking from one end of the resort to the other, stopping at the waterparks, arcades (the girls now have some super expensive Laffy Taffy’s, mermaid toys, and a squishy banana), and onsite restaurants. Jake and Kindrey did the Sky Ropes course above one of the arcades, while Kamryn racked up tickets to purchase the previously mentioned toys. We went to the Take Flight attraction on the resort as well…one of those interactive movies where your seats move…I thought I was going to be sick. I felt awful the rest of the night. I’ll have to remember to take Dramamine if I do anything like that again. Another thing I apparently need Dramamine for are waterslides!
Yep. I even got in the water some (which is HUGE…I’m not a fan of the water much these days, and I conveniently forget to pack a suit so I don’t have to participate, but after all of the grief my family has given me over the last couple of years, I gave in and packed one for our “Winter in the Dells” vacation…). They MADE me go on a ride called “The Hurricane”. It should be called “The Chiropractor’s Meal Ticket”. Aside from my neck and shoulder feeling wonky afterwards, my hip DID get popped back into place. So that was a perk! ;) I went down a few different slides with the girls, floated on the lazy river, and Jake and I even had the chance to sit along the edge of the wave pool and watch the waves come crashing in. It wasn’t quite the gulf, but it was WATER!
The fam convinced me to go down another slide by the Wave Pool Saturday night, and right after we vacated our raft at the bottom, we noticed all of the swimmers were standing along the outside of the pool….everyone was being asked to get out of the water. Jake inquired about the situation at the pool towel kiosk, and learned that it was either “vomit or poop in the pool”. Exciting. So we went to dinner while they straightened everything out there….by the time we returned, the water had been recirculated and the girls could go swimming. I wasn’t about to go into the poop water. ;) Jake and I enjoyed a couple of cocktails instead. Man. That was the life.
It was a great vacation. We didn’t have to put our winter coats on until we left to go home. But there was ONE activity I had wanted to do that was off-site. I really wanted to take the girls snow tubing down Cascade Mountain while we were out there. The girls had so sweetly gifted me the cold they had the week before, and we all agreed that hanging out in the cold weather probably wasn’t a good idea for my sore throat. I argued that forcing me to go into the water was equally bad if not worse than going tubing outside, but they said they’d take care of me if I became terribly ill. I did not become terribly ill until the Monday of our return home. And really, it was not so terrible… my nose was just running. They are lucky that’s all that happened to me.
Oh…and another funny thing about the tubing plan. We all had packed our outerwear the night before…except for Kindrey, who said that her “snow bag” was out in the garage since she had brought it to school at some point (Yes, we have "snow bags" in Nebraska...filled with snow boots, snow pants, gloves and hats to take to school for recess or to take to a friend's for sledding, etc). I had suggested she bring it in the house, so we didn’t forget to pack it in the truck in the morning, but she didn’t. And so we forgot it in the garage when we left. I remembered it on the wrong side of Sioux City. So I looked for sporting good stores between Sioux City and the Dells…hopeful that the colder region stores would still have snow gear. We stopped in Worthington at Runnings and miraculously, Jake found a pair of boots and snow pants on clearance in Kindrey’s size. But as you know, it was all for naught. We didn’t even end up going to the mountain. So now we have brand new / unused outwear that Kindrey will grow out of before next season. Any takers??
Speaking of snow gear, my mom had warned us that there was an impending snowstorm headed our way. I had checked the weather before we booked the Dells, hoping to not see any snow in the forecast. There was a small chance of snow while we were out there, but it was a SMALL chance, and I didn’t think it would amount to anything. But my mom kept sending me little updates. We had contemplated leaving Saturday night, but being the good daughter that I am, I didn’t heed my mother’s warning and instead, chose to chance it, and we left Sunday morning.
When we left on Sunday morning, there was no snow in sight. We stopped to pick-up some breakfast, ran Jake’s truck through the carwash (there were bird guts on his windshield from an incident on his drive home from work on Wednesday that had never been cleaned and apparently a bird egged our parked truck at the resort? Is that possible? Like for a bird to drop an egg while it’s flying?? It wasn’t a lot of egg goo, but clearly egg goo. It was weird.), we stopped at a grocery store/gas station for a quick pitstop somewhere (I can’t remember the name of the town), and then grabbed lunch at Austin. And I know that by the time we got to Austin, we were in the thick of it – the snowstorm that is. We were going about 50 on the interstate. But we kept chugging along.
Outside of Albert Lea, we came upon a car that had gone off the interstate and into the ditch. A young man was attempting to dig his way free. We stopped to make sure everything was okay, and Jake tried to help the kid “unstick” his car. I was even enlisted to help, and got a crash course in how to drive a manual vehicle. “I’m not sure this is a good idea. I have no idea what you are saying to me.” However, the kid entrusted me with his vehicle, but his car wasn’t going anywhere, regardless of my abilities. Then Jake remembered he had some straps under the backseat of the pick-up, and the two rigged up both vehicles, and Jake pulled the poor kid free. It was all really sketchy….we were right past a curve on the interstate during a snowstorm. Dangerous!
Okay. So that was fun. Back onto the road. It snowed for awhile longer, but it did eventually stop around 3:30. We decided to just stay on the interstate and avoid driving through Iowa where they might have gotten a little more snow. By the time we made it to Sioux Falls, it was like absolutely nothing had happened there! No snow there. :) Our second to last stop was the Coffee Cup Fuel Stop outside of Vermillion where we picked up some dinner, and also Cinnabon for breakfast the next morning. The FINAL stop was HOME.
We finally made it HOME about 7:30 that night. It was around a 10 hour trek home. 3 extra hours….but it was worth it! We always have so much fun together, and the kids definitely had a blast at the resort. However…I don’t know that I’ll be planning another vacation in February.
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