Life is all about the connections you make.

Take a minute to sit down and stay awhile. Catch up with a friend while sipping on fresh-brewed coffee. That’s the idea behind Giddy-Up Coffee House on Highland Drive.

The new business opened April 29, and held a grand opening May 13. Owners Loralyn and Trey Moore met in Oklahoma at a rodeo and went to Wyoming for their honeymoon. Western, “cowboy” culture has played a big part in the relationship.

The Moores love the feel of a small-town coffee shop, and upon returning to Trey’s hometown of Washington, the two decided to take a leap of faith.

“We sold our horse trailer, and we just kind of took one step at a time to see if any doors closed, and they didn’t,” Loralyn Moore said. “When I told him this old gas station, he kind of looked at me like I have 10 heads, and I said, ‘No, it’ll work. It’ll work.’”

The couple transformed the old station and garage into a Western-themed gathering place. There’s only Wi-Fi — no televisions. Each part of the new shop has a special touch, and it’s almost hard to believe Giddy-Up hasn’t always been there.

“The wood in there is from (Trey’s) old horse barn. All the palettes are just people dropping them off, so it’s kind of been a labor of love, and we’ve just spent late nights doing it all together,” Moore said. “That was our budget — was our horse trailer, so it’s really personal to us. We put everything we had in it.”

Giddy-Up Coffee House has taken off so far. The shop sells mainly coffee, frappes and smoothies, but there are some baked goods and homemade cream cheeses available.

“I’ve always liked coffee houses. I always like the connection. The world’s so disconnected nowadays that it’s nice to have a place like this where … moms are meeting up with their daughters in the middle of the day to sit and drink coffee and talk,” she said.

Moore said she and her husband plan to buy the building if the coffee house remains successful. The couple hopes Giddy-Up will fill a need in the Washington area, and perhaps in the future, can expand into a small chain, she said.

“I think it’s really important to have a place in town where people can connect again,” Moore said.