Surprise...............

...................kinda back fired.

Well, not the surprise part. Chad was definitely surprised.

As you know, Chad was horse back riding up near Nantahala all week last week. And, as you know I got the bright idea to try to be super wife and surprise him on Saturday. He was supposed to ride in the town's parade. Apparently the parade was cancelled. Lack of interest? I kid, I kid.

I had a whole plan worked out. I had invested time and money into the plan. Clayton and I(mainly I, because he can't write just yet) made signs to hang on Clayton's red wagon. One of them was a not to scale American Flag, after all it was Independence Day. The other said "Hi Daddy, Love Clayton, Jo, and Nik". I was pleased with how they turned out, but then we didn't get to use them. Feel sorry for me yet? Nope, I wouldn't either.

Anyway, we got to Robbinsville at about 1:02pm. It took almost 3 hours to make our incredibly journey. Mine and Clayton's version of the Oregon Trail. I found all of Chad's family immediately. They were pretty easy to spot. Chad was right there with them, but somehow he didn't see us at all. With the help of my 2 SIL's we got Clayton unloaded, changed into his patriotic wear(he had pretzel, granola bar, and apple juice all over him), suncreened(red heads, we burn easily), and loaded into his wagon. Here's when our surprise happened. My BIL, Chad's brother Andrew, kinda sorta forced Chad to ride his horse down the road to where we were. Of course Chad didn't know or understand why so I think he was getting a little frustrated. He thought Andrew was coming after his wife, and didn't understand why Andrew didn't just yell for her. That's how close we were to everybody. Chad finally spotted us, and was super excited.

That was totally out of my element. Driving that far alone with a 1 year old, and intentionally going to a horsey thing. It's just not me, but it is Chad, and sometimes we must compromise. After the initial shock of seeing Clayton and me 142 miles from home(seriously 142 miles per the GPS), we headed to their campsite where I got trapped in the glorified port a potty. Good times. The flies almost consumed me.

We were able to ride back to the house together. Then, Clayton and I helped the hubs unload the horses, feed and water the horses, donkeys, mules, and dogs. That actually was fun for Clayton. He loves the big funny looking dogs.

We made it home around 9pm, and then had our traditional Independence Day meal of Cheetos, Powdered Donuts, and chips and Salsa. We live wild.