Last Friday, my family and I received the dreaded text message from Verizon informing us we had 10% of our data remaining. I assured my parents that I would stay off my phone, because I would be spending the weekend in Hochatown, Oklahoma. I couldn’t think of too many reasons why I’d need my phone during our stay in a log cabin in the woods. But to my surprise, my parents insisted I stay in contact and “send lots of pictures, sweetie.”

When the McLaughlin family and I pulled up to our cabin called “The Birdhouse” I snapped a picture and sent it to my parents. But the message failed to send, and in the upper left-hand corner, it read “no service.” It looked to me like my parents would be thanking me for avoiding coverage charges. That is, after they heard from me two days later.

That night, Kylee and I started a bonfire, set up her hammock, roasted hot dogs on the fire, discussed our favorite song lyrics, and spent the rest of the evening in the hot tub. Hundreds of trees surrounded our camp while the crescent moon and stars I had missed for so long peeked through their leaves.

Saturday began with a hearty breakfast of eggs with cheese, strawberries, sausage patties, and biscuits filled with butter and grape jelly. Kylee and I left a trail of biscuit crumbs along the ledge of the deck so that we could marvel at the bluejays that came up so close to the window in search of a snack. Then, we headed over to Broken Bow River and rented paddle boats and double kayaks. Kylee and I had spent the majority of our Fridays at Baylor on a kayak or a paddle board, so we decided to exercise our legs on a paddle boat this time.

Kylee’s family had the advantage of traveling faster on their kayaks, so they explored the lake while we trailed behind them. We met up at a cliff jutting out and over part of the river where Kylee’s parents encouraged us to climb up and jump off. We held hands, jumped on “3,” and sank into water that felt like it was made entirely of icicles. We did it twice more, and I somehow managed to earn two bruises on my shin from accidentally swimming into the cliff below water.

Our hour of rent time quickly approached two, so we paddled back to shore. We drove to the famed “House of Burgers and Blues” and feasted on delicious burgers that were at least the size of my hand. Poor Kylee had to silently suffer and watch as we scarfed down our lunches, because the waiter had mistakenly forgotten to tell the chef what she ordered.

After sifting through bigfoot memorabilia at the gift shop across the street, we went back to the cabin and discovered the biscuit crumbs we had left for the birds had mysteriously disappeared! At this point, we were all too tired to care so we relaxed in the hot tub and napped in our hammocks.

Later that night, we celebrated Mrs. Sherry’s birthday with a very special chocolate sheet cake made by the best master chefs around, Kylee and me. Per her mom’s request, we both taught her sister and her friend, Ella, how to two-step and line dance to country songs on the deck of the cabin. You can bet I will be teaching my own family soon!

After roasting our second round of hot dogs and s’mores, we headed in, showered, and fell asleep peacefully. The next morning, we had an easy morning lounging around the campsite and after saying goodbye to Kylee’s polaroid camera, (it slipped out of her hands) we headed back to the friendly state of Texas.

And that is when I started receiving messages again. Turns out, my family had taken in a stray kitten, my friend Emily Jane will be hosting a French foreign exchange student, and my friend Abigail’s brother celebrated his first anniversary with his wife! Did I love learning this new information? Absolutely. Could it wait a few days? Absolutely.

Get out in nature folks, and please, leave your phone at home.