4th Annual Wine Weekend

This past weekend was our 4th annual wine trail weekend in southern Illinois. I can't believe we've been doing this for four years! Each year we get bigger and better, and this year was no different. With 13 people, we decided to switch up cabins this year to a cabin that would hold all of us together instead of splitting us up into two smaller cabins. I think I speak for everyone when I say I loved it! You can check out Cornerstone Cabins here if you're interested. 

Eric and I piled six people into our car Friday evening and headed towards Pomona, IL where we met up with the rest of our group. I had all the best intentions of getting a group photo, but sadly that didn't happen. Jaycen took videos of us all weekend on his GoPro camera, so I'm looking forward to see the finished product of that!

Saturday we hit up 7 wineries on the wine trails and ended our night with Quatro's Pizza- yummy! Here are a few pictures from our trip!

Our group at our first winery- Pomona! We couldn't get Justin and Julie's attention, so that's why they weren't looking. In the first picture, there is Garrett, Emilee, Cassie, Kylie and Branden. The second picture has myself, Eric, Jaycen, Katie, Julie, Justin, and Calvin. Ike had a training he had to be at during the first half of the day, but met up with us later. 

I rode in the car with these goofballs, with Kylie and Branden in the front seats. 

We stopped at Bald Knob Cross! Every wine weekend, we take a picture at the lookout near Alto Pass of our group with the cross in the background. This year, we decided a trip to the actual cross was in order. Here is Eric and I! The next picture is of the view from the cross, so beautiful!

A conversation I had with Garrett during our trip struck a cord with me. We talked about how in ten years, twenty years, we still want to be doing this. Our lives are getting busy- we are all getting married, getting ready to start families, building our own careers and lives. But if it wasn't for each other, none of us would be where we are today. Friendships like this don't come by every day. It would be a shame to see what we've built up go to waste. 

So, friends, promise me in twenty years we will be hauling our kids to our annual wine weekend with us (and making them drive us around!). Promise you won't forget where we started, and you'll look forward to where we are going. Because without all of you, my life would definitely not be the same.