Gal Pal Time

I owe the title of this post to my friend (and former DR missionary) Courtney's fiancée for asking when she was leaving for "gal pal time" on Good Friday. 

The idea came from our mutual friend (another former DR missionary) Lizz, the newest St. Louisan of the three of us: "Spend the day in Grafton. Enjoy lunch at the Loading Dock and then take the skylift to Aerie’s Resort and try out the Alpine Coaster."

We met up to carpool, stopping on the way to fuel up with coffee (or not coffee, in my case). An hour later...up we went!

You can see the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers behind us. 

Courtney & Lizz nominated me to be the first victim. 

Gravity propels the cars downhill, but you can accelerate and brake using hand levers on either side; the much slower ride back up is mechanized. 

The rules dictated we were to stay 80 ft. behind the riders in front of us, so I didn't see either of my gal pals until we were on our way back to the start. 

Wind nixed our plan to dine al fresco, so we enjoyed lunch with a view...inside through the floor-to-ceiling windows. 

We walked off lunch by scoping out the lighthouse we'd spotted on the chair lift ride down and wandering Grafton's main drag. Many businesses were closed because it was a) a holiday; and b) not peak season, but the thrift store, fudgery, antique store, candle shop, and woodworking co-op we popped into oozed small town charm.

We made it back to St. Louis in plenty of time for each of us to attend Good Friday services at our respective congregations. I'd say it was a great Friday, and I'm looking forward to more gal (and guy) pal time with these gals and those I've yet to see in my remaining 3 1/2 weeks. 

Until next time, blessings in Christ!