When I woke up this morning, Joey told me that I could just go back to sleep because we were going to be there a while. The snow that was expected last night and today had definitely come! There was nothing but grass when we went to bed, but when I looked outside, I saw a bunch of snow- 6-8 inches and still falling!!! We couldn't believe it! So, we just laid there for a while longer since we knew the roads would be a mess. In fact, it was very quiet on the road- I guess everyone was staying put and not going out unless they absolutely had to. After a while, we each headed inside to use the restroom since the secretary was there by 9 this morning. She told us that we were more than welcome to come sleep inside if we wanted, but when Joey told me that, I had finally got all warm again in my sleeping bag and didn't want to move. Eventually, we decided to go sit in the church for a while. We brought our sleeping bags in so that they could dry a little since they had gotten wet on the outside from the condensation on the walls of the tent. We had asked the secretary if she would think it would be a problem if we camped one more night under the pavilion because with this snow today, we were most likely not going to be going anywhere. Since she said it would be fine, we just left our tent all set up. Not too long after getting inside, Lisa (the lady that we talked to last night) was there and asked if we wanted to go out for brunch with her and Natalie, another girl that went to her church. We were both excited about that, obviously and were more than happy to get the chance to know them a bit more. Joey and I left our sleeping bags in the church to dry out, and headed out with them. Just around the corner was the mall and a whole bunch of restaurants. We went to the Eat n' Park. Since it was already brunch time, I wasn't sure if I wanted breakfast or lunch. When we first woke up this morning, we each had a little donut from the ones that Joey had gotten last night, but that wasn't enough to fill us up at all. But I think, I was just feeling like lunch. I ordered pasta alfredo with chicken and broccoli, while Joey of course, got his favorite- barbeque bacon burger. Joey and I each got hot cocoa too- which was nothing but amazing. It was so much fun talking with Lisa and Natalie and sharing stories. Brunch was delicious. As we were sitting there, we found out that we had a full day for our "snow day." Natalie's mom had already offered for us to come over to their house to do laundry if we wanted to do so, but we also found out that another church member had seen Lisa's post and wanted to meet us and take us out to dinner tonight too! And the best part-is that, yet another church member, called Lisa and said that she wanted to get us a room at the Fairfield Inn tonight!! This was definitely the "BEST SNOWDAY EVER!" We couldn't believe it! After our awesome brunch, Lisa got each of us a "Smiley cookie," that the Eat n' Park restaurants are known for. From there, we headed back to the church, got what we needed to wash and got our bikes put in the church. We headed over to Natalie's house, met her mother Janette and their little Scottie dog Gus. Right away, we got our laundry going. We had some time to relax and talk with the ladies. Joey and I, and Natalie too, watched the video we had put together of the pictures that we have so far. There are a few pictures out of order and a couple things to edit, but for the most part, it's pretty good, especially for the amount of time that we did it in. Later on, Natalie made us some yummy hot coca. It was nice to be relaxing indoors, especially since it was still snowing like crazy. A little while later, Janette drove us down the street to the hotel we had reservations at. At first, Chrissy (the lady organizing the hotel) was worried that we would have to go to the Fairfield Inn in the next town because the one here in Butler was booked, but something must have opened up because we ended up with a room there! It worked out perfectly! Right away when I walked in, I knew it was going to be an awesome hotel because there were cookies in the lobby! Love that! The room was awesome too- a nice big bathroom, and even a little "living room area" fit with a full stereo- and two tv's! We both took our showers and got settled in. At 6, Lisa, Tricia, and Erika (one of her daughters, who is also friends with Natalie) met us at the hotel. We were very excited to go out to dinner with Tricia and Erika. But before that, the 5 of us made a quick stop at the mall where Chrissy was with her kids seeing the Easter bunny. She really wanted to meet us and we of course wanted to do the same. It was so awesome that we got to meet her and thank her in person for the hotel room. It still amazes me that complete strangers have reached out to us and been so kind. You would think that after all the nice people that we've met, that it wouldn't amaze me any more, but somehow, any time that something like this happens, it is still such a surprise and such a wonderful thing. The 5 of us made a quick stop at the church so that Joey and I could grab our bathing suits for the hotel and then Tricia, Erika, and the two of us were off to find someplace for dinner. They asked what we were in the mood for and of course we are one of the least picky people ever, it didn't matter to us at all. Erika asked if we liked Chinese- of course!! So, that's where we went! It was the neatest little "old fashioned" style Chinese place where they serve everything on a big plate with a little plate to eat from. The best part is that it was nice and quiet in there, so it was very relaxing. We had a great time talking- Erika really enjoys photography and is of course on the yearbook staff (she is a senior in high school, just like Natalie), so she and I had a lot to talk about just because of that. The food was amazing. Although the food on the buffets is usually really good, there is just something about it coming out of the kitchen fresh on a plate just like that- it was amazing. For the first time probably ever, I didn't order my usual (chicken and broccoli). Instead, I ordered sweet and sour chicken, my new favorite. After we were done eating, the 4 of us sat there talking for quite a while, we were just having too much fun. The ladies dropped us back off at the hotel and we ended up just relaxing and watching a couple movies for the night. Although we had planned on going swimming, we were too full and by that time just felt like being lazy. It was a very enjoyable evening though, especially since we watched 2 movies that we had never seen before. Both of us were still surprised that we had a "snow day" from riding, but even the schools were closed today, so we knew it was bad enough (although not like the kind of snow they close school for in Wartburg, TN!!). Tomorrow the roads should be better and we will be on our way again. An awesome day--Thanks everyone at Trinity Lutheran Church!!
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