The Annual Girl Trip--2020 Style

Denisa, her Mother, and two sisters have gone on an annual girl trip every year for more than twenty years. We have been all over North America and have made great memories together. We've done cruises, flown to New York City, toured through all the little states in the northeast, we've done the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and the inside passage of Alaska. We've visited the Pioneer Woman mecca in Pawhuska, Oklahoma and the Fixer-Upper empire in Waco, Texas. We've gone on Girl Trips to Dallas, Nashville, St. Louis, San Antonio, Branson, Denver, etc. Last summer we went to Canada's Banff National Park and the Calgary Stampede. We include a picture at Lake Louise of Debra, Denisa, our Mother, and Connie from that epic trip last July. Who knew how much life would change within eight months after that picture was taken!?!

But this year we really struggled with an option that could work during this year of COVID. No place seemed safe enough for four women of (ahem) advanced years. So in September we opted for a weekend together in Oklahoma City as a girl trip replacement. Denisa was actually taking her Mother there for two doctor's appointments, but we also got to have some fun. Most of it seemed to revolve around food. Our grandmother taught us how to make German food. So this week we recreated some of her recipes. We made veranika, or "cheese pockets" as we used to call them. The dry curd cheese is encased in dough, boiled, and then fried. Not exactly diet food, but comfort food that brings back great memories for all of us.

We also made cherry mousse (pronounced "mose"), the traditional German dessert that Grandma served cold when we were children. We changed the recipe to use Stevia instead of sugar so our diabetic Mother could enjoy it too.

We made a beautiful batch of cream puffs, another family favorite when stuffed with your choice of pudding. We had a reputation of serving these to our church youth group when they met at our house when we were in high school. That brings back more good memories!

We also made a batch of thin German pancakes, rolled them, and topped them with honey syrup. If we were French, these would be called crepes. Most people would eat a pancake with maple syrup, but we were raised on a white syrup called honey syrup--that curiously does not have any honey in it.

Our grandmother would be very proud of us, because the week also included another of her legendary skills. She was always working on a quilt. Ten years ago, Denisa pieced and then hand-quilted this queen-sized quilt made from over 3,000 three-inch triangles. She gave a box-full of those left-over triangles to her sister, and we spent a couple days sewing little pieces of fabric into bigger pieces of fabric. (That's how Mark simply describes the art of quilt-making.)

Normally our girl trips include touring beautiful places and seeing sites we have never seen before. We also enjoy live productions, so we have watched performances on Broadway and beyond. But this year's trip to Oklahoma City included very ordinary sites and different types of performances. But the good news about having a local girl trip is that we got to share it with the locals. We got to watch Connie's twin grandsons play soccer,

and played blocks with one of Debra's grandsons,

and spent a morning with Denisa's son for a picnic in the park.

So just like everything in 2020, our girl trip was different this year. It was less glamorous, but also less expensive. It was less adventurous, but also more comfortable. We found that a local trip with the locals can still be a great girl trip. We also got Mother to two doctor's appointments and a stress test. This year we re-invented the girl trip--2020 style.