The Gratts in Broken Bow

Ben and I have talked so much about Broken Bow this year that Fran and Harvey decided they wanted to see what all the fuss was about!  So we made a plan to go together for Ben's birthday in December while Fran was off for her Thanksgiving break.  This meant that we could all quarantine for 10 days so that none of us would have to worry about Covid during our trip.  Which sounded like heaven to me!

Fran and Harvey met us at our house and followed us to the famous Paris Eiffel Tower!

We also spent some time walking around the war memorial next door.

I finally got a picture of the sign coming into Hochatown, which is the town we stay in just outside of Broken Bow.

We drove straight to Broken Bow Lake so Fran and Harvey could see the lake and we could have our picnic lunch.  

It was a beautiful December day!

We rented two cabins so that we could all have our own space.  We went to Fran and Harvey's cabin first to help them get settled.  

Their cabin was Merlot Mountain. It was really nice and the bigger of the two cabins so we spent most of our time here.

I was jealous that their cabin was already decorated for Christmas!

We said goodbye to Fran and Harvey for the evening and went to our cabin which was about 10 minutes away, Hillside Haven. 

I was really excited for our back porch.  But as it turned out, the TV didn't have sound and the fireplace didn't warm the space very well so we really only used it when we got in the hot tub.

Once we unpacked, we were too tired to cook so we picked up a Grateful Head pizza for dinner.  Then it was time to hit the hot tub!

The next morning, I went out for a little porch time.

Ben and I always do a hike called the Friends Loop to the Mountain Fork River when we visit Broken Bow.  It's a beautiful area with a waterfall and we really wanted Fran and Harvey to get to see it.  So Ben figured out that if we just hiked to the river and back instead of doing the whole loop, it would be an easy hike that we could all do.

So we picked up Fran and Harvey and made our way to the trail.

We made it to the river and had it all to ourselves.

Ben and I were finally able to get a picture together in our favorite spot!

After our hike, we picked up pizza at Grateful Head and had lunch at Fran and Harvey's cabin.  Fran, Ben and I wanted to walk off some of our pizza so we went and did a short hike by the Lakeview Lodge.

When Ben and I did this hike in September, the lake was barely visible through the trees but in December, you could see it much better!

Back at the cabin, Ben made a fire in the fire pit and we sat outside around the fire.

We caught a peek of the sunset.

Back in the cabin, Fran set the table and she and Ben grilled hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner.

We said goodnight to Fran and Harvey around 8:00 pm and then went back to our cabin for a dip in the hot tub.

The next morning, I had my tea by our fireplace.

Ben and I took a walk around our cabin to check out the property.  It had a great view of the forest which was still nice even in early December.

It was another beautiful sunny day so we decided to spend some time at the lake.  Ben and I picked up Fran and Harvey and we went back to our favorite spot.  We were the only ones there and had it all to ourselves!

Ben and Harvey had some fun skipping rocks.

Before we left, we took a few more pictures by the lake. 

It was lunchtime now so we all went back to Fran and Harvey's cabin for hot dogs and spent some time visiting before Ben and I left to go back to our cabin for the evening.  We sat out at our firepit for awhile.

We grilled the last of the hamburgers for dinner and got in the hot tub one last time before bed.

The next morning was Ben's birthday so that meant he got to have cake for breakfast!  Then he opened the cards that Fran and I had brought for him.

Ben and I decided that we wanted to try and get one more short hike in before we left.  There was a 1-mile hike up to a bluff that we had never done before that we thought we had just enough time for.

We had to cross over a small creek.

The payoff was a beautiful overlook of the Mountain Fork River.

We had to scramble up the bluff to finish the hike.

Success!

Then it was time to pack up and make our way over to Fran and Harvey's cabin so we could all leave together.  We had a wonderful time and it was great to get to spend time together as a family.  We hated to say goodbye but hopefully it will be the first of many more trips together.

Until then!