The Goodrums

This weekend we traveled west - out to Lubbock, Texas for a weekend of family, friends and fun. We went primarily to celebrate the college graduation of Jennifer Suzanne Goodrum (Michael's younger sister). However, we made time to fit in a couple of other fun activities.

We flew out to Lubbock on Wednesday evening. Michael's older sister, Stephanie, and her husband Matt moved to Lubbock in November. It was our first time out to Lubbock to visit them in their new house - and our first time to meet their puppy, Duchess. Duchess is a Great Dane - so even though she is only a couple months old, she is HUGE! Especially when she gets excited and tries to jump up on you. :)

Lubbock is also close to Portales, New Mexico - where we were headed on Saturday to watch Jen Goodrum (the sister variety - there are three Jennifer Goodrum's just in our immediate family - Michael's sister, aunt and wife) graduate from Eastern New Mexico University. So, we arrived in Lubbock late on Wednesday evening and stayed the night with Matt and Stephanie.

On Thursday, we ate lunch at Freebirds (a College Station staple - they just finished the one in Lubbock; Michael was beyond thrilled) and went to pick up our tiny little Chevy Aveo hatchback rental car from the airport. Seriously low rental rates are sometimes worth cramped quarters, right? Anyway, after the shuttle dropped us off at the car lot with our keys and sped away, we noticed that the little Aveo had a flat tire. After an hour and some serious hassle, we finally got a new and working vehicle - a nice upgrade to a sporty, black Mazda 6. Much more comfortable - and cruise control which would come in really handy as we raced to put 1,000 miles on the car in less than 48 hours.

So shortly thereafter, we sped away in our spiffy Mazda 6 toward Portales, NM to pick up Michael's dad. From Portales, we made our way down to Carlsbad, NM where we camped out for the night (so ok... it was a Motel 6 "hotel" - but other friends of mine might have called it camping...). In the morning, we got up bright and early to conquer our 15th state highpoint by hiking Guadalupe Peak. Whoop!

This highpoint was somewhat bittersweet for me. Years ago (probably 10 to 15 years ago now), my entire family attempted to summit Guadalupe Peak. Keep in mind this was 2 parents with a 13 year old, 11 year old and two 7 years olds. Brave souls! On that trip, we made it about 1/2 a mile from the summit before we had to turn back due to a thunderstorm. It was so frustrating. My dad, middle sister and I have been determined to go back and finish ever since. So I finally did it. But I'm still going to have to go back with them someday to finish the Brashares family conquest of Guadalupe Peak.

Thankfully on this trip, the weather cooperated. We had a beautiful day. We started the hike about 9 a.m. (central) and returned about 4 p.m. It's an 8.4 mile hike with over 3,000 feet in elevation gain (relatively strenuous). It took us a little over 3 hours to make the summit. We ate lunch up there, relaxed and enjoyed the view for about an hour - and then trekked 2 1/2 hours down.

Afterwards, we got back in the car and drove back to Lubbock, depositing Dad Goodrum in Portales, NM on the way back. We arrived in Lubbock at almost 11 p.m. Friday evening completely exhausted.

Saturday morning we drug ourselves out of bed and headed back to Portales, NM to watch Jennifer (sister) graduate from Eastern New Mexico University with her Bachelor's degree in Business. Go Jen! After graduation, we got in the car and the car's temperature gauge said it was 108 degrees outside! Holy cow! ...and it's only May.

Saturday afternoon, there was a little post-graduation party for friends and family at Jen's house in Portales. Michael's dad grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. The party was originally supposed to be outside - but given the heat, almost everyone stayed indoors. Later that afternoon we headed back to Lubbock to prepare for the Mother's Day brunch that Matt & Stephanie were hosting at their house on Sunday morning. On Saturday evening, Matt & Stephanie were gracious enough to indulge Michael by letting us eat dinner at Rudy's BBQ (another Texas favorite). Michael ate very well this weekend. :)

Sunday morning we visited Matt & Stephanie's church in Lubbock - Indiana Baptist Church - and then prepared lunch for the masses. The entire Goodrum family was there - Mom & Dad G, Matt & Stephanie, Michael & me, Jennifer, grandmother G and her sister Lynette (Michael's great aunt). Jennifer's friend Britney and her mom and another friend Jose came too. It was fun to actually be together with family on Mother's Day. With us living so far from everyone, it is rare that we are able to celebrate holidays with family.

Sunday afternoon, Michael and I went to visit one of my childhood best friends, who is now living in Lubbock with her husband and 11 month old daughter. We had so much fun visiting Chris, Melanie (formerly Ruchhoeft) and Casey. It was my first time to meet Casey (their daughter). She is so precious - was so much fun. Tons of personality! And so beautiful! It was such a joy to see them again (it's been years) and to catch up on all that's happened in the in between.

Amazingly enough, we also ran into another childhood friend of mine while at Freebird's earlier in the week. I saw my friend Phillip Ragain as we were leaving the restaurant - I didn't even know he lived in Lubbock! I grew up with Phillip and his wife Jennifer (formerly Cauthorn). Our parents were good friends and we attended the same church. Phillip and Jen have been living in Lubbock the past few years while Phillip finished graduate work in Philosophy at Texas Tech. What a small world! It sounds like Phillip and Jennifer are headed to Spain for a few months for language school. How great is that! We are excited for them.

We camped one more night at Stephanie and Matt's in Lubbock and then got up super early (3 a.m.) to go catch our 5:15 a.m. flight back to Jackson. They really shouldn't schedule flights that early... Of course, travel had to come complete with it's becoming-way-too-familiar blip. We almost missed our connection back to Jackson because the airport screens and the gate marquee both showed the departing gate for our flight as B72, when the real gate was B61. After hearing "final boarding call, flight ... to Jackson, MS at B61" over the loud speaker, we had to sprint across the airport to catch the flight (along with about 15 other people who were also at the wrong gate). Michael was a valiant hero who reverted to his former track days (anyone who's ever seen him sprint will know what I mean) as he ran at lightning speed across the terminal and had them hold the flight. Thanks to trouble with the coffee maker on board, I think everyone made it. Wild times - especially since was still before 8 a.m.!

Thanks to all who accommodated us this weekend - especially Matt & Stephanie. Dad G deserves thanks too for pushing us to do Guadalupe Peak while we were "in the area." :) Congrats again to Jen Goodrum!

Pictures from the weekend adventures to come...