3rd State Down in a City of Trees


This past weekend I was able to tag along with Tim to visit Lied Lodge in Nebraska City as he prepares to renovate the property. He's been there a few times now and every time comes home with high praises for the simple beauty of the Arbor Day Foundation Lodge as it sits on rolling hills with orchards of many kinds, acres of trees and historic buildings. It's one thing to talk about and completely different to see it! STUNNING! 
The place is gorgeous! The roads leading into the lodge are lined with gorgeous, old homesteads and endless hills of corn stalks and soy bean fields. Once you're on site, you're met with a grand lodge facing handfuls of varying trees, beautiful walk ways over wooden bridges, white barns and mansions and nothing to do but soak it all in. 
I'm quite jealous of those working on this project as they get to see the colors change in season and experience the Nebraska hospitality. 
The bonus of this trip was that there was a race the same weekend assisting me in my goal of 50 by 50!  I was invited to run with the Arbor Day Team which added a little pressure to perform well. I convinced Jasmine to run the 10k instead of the 5k and glad I did! We pushed each other and ended up coming in 1st and 2nd in our age division…out of 37 runners total! Talk about a small town race! We ran on gravel roads, through cemeteries, past corn fields and what seemed like circles for 6.5 miles. Doug, the man in charge, Lance and Tim drove around cheering for us in 37 degree weather at the start line. Everything happened out of the back end of the mini van and thankfully we had the guys at certain locations directing us at turns as the hot pink arrows were at times hard to follow. 
I was happy with our run and can't wait for the next state!


{ No start guns here. Just a school yard, "ready, set, go!" call out got us running! }


{Thanks to the couple boy scouts who provided the water stations. }

{ Coming through strong at the end! Tim introduced Jo to S'moresma's on the last trip. }

The trip wasn't all just about the race.  
We were able to enjoy relaxing dinners, nighttime walks, the ability to sleep in, surprisingly pleasant sounds of crickets and hours of reading time. We were blessed to be in the company of the Ellis's on this trip and look forward to the next trip! 
On Saturday we visited The Tree Adventure where Jasmine found her inner squirrel. This place was like Stoney Ridge Farms on steroids with 50 foot tree houses, trails, hazelnut and apple orchards, hour long hayrides and much more. I wish the kids would have been able to enjoy this, but too bad. They were having fun with Auntie and my parents at the corn maze, parks and no, not just one, but TWO trips to McDonald's. The older two kids watched 'Dolphin Tale Two' as my poor father experienced the "hand-down-the-poopy-pants" toddler child which resulted in duct tape around her waist later. 

{ I like us in human form better. }

{ J. Sterling Morton Mansion built in the early 1800's. }

{ My Love. }

On our warm stroll back to the lodge, we crashed the wedding site which all four of us were in awe of from it's simple, romantic, rustic beauty. Everything from the chandeliers to the fall flowers and special touches; this was a dream wedding location. I will do free wedding hair for anyone willing to fly me on site to this location just so I can experience a wedding in this venue!


{ Morning board walk through the trees. }

What stood out most from our four day, three night get-away was the hospitality from Doug & Shawn and the people of Nebraska! Thank you for the tasty display of appetizers and delicious meal along with all the welcome room treats. It was a pleasure visiting the Husker's territory and seeing more of God's landscape. 
See you all in April!

{ Doug & Shawn…how I ended up in the middle is still in question! }


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