The morning started early as I woke up at 3am to shower and
get ready before waking the family to leave for our family reunion. The food
was packed and the car loaded a little after 4 am. We were all ready. First we
had to stop and fill up the car before heading out on our 9 hour drive to
California. We should have known something was amiss when we got to the first self-serve
gas station, only to find it closed. Really! Yep, in Utah the independent gas
stations shut down for the night.
Off we went to a bigger gas station. We were filled up and
ready to head out. I drove first, so we made great time the first 3 hours. In
Wendover we switched, allowing Mariah to get some needed driving experience. As
this was only her 2nd time on the freeway she did great. Almost to
Elko I found myself jolted awake as Mariah drove on the rumble strip. At least
I had a 20 minute nap.
We switched again in Elko allowing Aaron to drive. There
went the lead I got us during our drive J
Around Reno we switched again. Stopping for lunch at
McDonalds in Reno is much different than in Utah. I forget that our family of 7
is not normal for the rest of the world. I am not sure the young gal taking our
order new who to listen to first!
Back on the road Aaron was our navigator. As we had only
directions from my Uncle to his property in the middle of nowhere that said
stuff like – go past the gate with the broken down trailer – he led us as best
he could. Apparently we should have looked up the map better because the
directions also said take 89 then: If you are subject to car sickness and do not
like windy roads then take 395. Well since we do not get car sick and don’t
mind the winds we did not take 395. We went all the way to 89 to 49 and then to
70. It wasn’t until we passed Clayton and Lisa at the trading post that we
realized we went way out of the way. About 75 miles out of the way. The last we
had heard they were about 1.5 hours behind us. Oh, well, we will chalk up the
extra drive to sightseeing.
The directions get even better from here. We drive for about
20 miles on a gravel road with lots of dirt. Driving anything over 15 miles per
hour amounted to driving in a Sahara dust storm. At some point we see Amber and
Jeremy coming towards us, headed to the lake to escape the dry dust. They
assure us camp is close. Hooray! So we keep going. We get to this point in the directions:
The road will split Turn left and
follow the road to the pavilion. So that is what we do. We get to the split and
we turn left. Over a big mound. This is where the van stops. Right on the top
of the mound. It is done. It will not go anymore as my left front tire is no
longer touching the ground. Everyone unloads. Except me as my door will not
open since it is hitting the mound. And did I tell you it is almost 100* and my
window does not roll down. Yep, it was hot. The girls and Aaron try to push the
car. It is not moving. Clayton shows up long enough to laugh and heads to get a
rescue party.
My Uncle Don shows up on his dirt bike. What was he thinking
he was going to do with that? He sees our predicament, sends the kids up the
road to camp and goes back for his truck. He pulls us back off the mound fairly
easily and we are back off to camp. We start to unload, only to find out that
the cargo carrier we borrowed from our neighbors to put the coolers on is
directly in the path of our exhaust. The heat from our 11.5 hour trip has
melted through the tarp and the corner of our large cooler. Sweet! Our food is
fine, we are fine. Off to unload.
We set up our mini – village. Everyone else has 1 tent for
their entire family. We bring the Taj Mahal. We have 3 tents. One for the boys,
another for the girls, and Aaron and I have our own suite. This is real family
bonding time for us!
The houses are secure and off we go to visit. This family
reunion is small. It is my Uncle Don and Aunt Cathy. 2nd cousins’
mike and Alice and their families. Dad and Connie. My siblings Melissa her
husband and 6 kids, Amber her husband and their 5 kids, and Clayton his wife
and their 2 kids. This is a small group. 
We eat a dinner consisting of grilled dogs and way too many
sides. We visit and have a very enjoyable night. The kids run around with their
cousins and have a great time exploring.
Night settles in and we sit around the
fire while Cathy plays the guitar and leads the group on some singing. I didn’t
know she was so talented!
Time for bed. Everyone sleeps. It is a great night.
Morning comes early in the mountains. I think it is because
we are so much closer to the sun. Breakfast consists of 8 lbs of bacon, 4 dozen
eggs, hot chocolate, biscuits and gravy, muffins and fruit. With an extra few
hundred calories to work off we head on a walk. Getting everyone ready at the same
time is not only a challenge, it apparently doesn’t happen. I think we all left
at the same time, but due to a few tantrums (ok mostly Bradley exerting his 4
year old stubbornness) most of the adults and tiny ones leave a few minutes
behind Alice and Mike with the boys. They take off, meet up with Don and take
Cat Skinner trail. The rest of us proceed at a snail’s pace and take the 2 mile
loop. As we stop every few hundred feet on the trail to wait for the stragglers
we wonder if we will ever catch up with the other group. We don’t. They beat us
back and are on to the next adventure long before we return. The walk is nice.
We see rabbit rock, mule ears and deer tracks. This high up in the mountains we
find pinecones the size of Aarons head.
We return and crash in the camp chairs. Apparently walking 2
miles in over 1 hour is hard work. We sit and visit and enjoy the company.
Starved from our hard work we eat a lunch of anything that can be found. Ok,
our family had salami and cheese on crackers. I don’t know what anyone else
had, except for Bradley who had about 14 pieces of our salami!
Rested and well fed it was time to head to the lake to cool
down. Aaron stayed with the older generation to rest some more and the rest of
us took off. Cara-vanning 4 cars down a dusty gravel road is about as easy as
driving in dense fog in the middle of the night. Looking for the dust ahead
told you the car was somewhere in front of you.
We make it to the lake and have a fabulous time. Why didn’t
we get here sooner? The water was the perfect temperature; cold at first, but
easy to get used to. The rafts grandpa brought were a huge hit and the kids
paddled around and around.
We don’t stay too long, because we need to head back and
start dinner. Our resident camping chef Amber says we need to get the potatoes
and chicken going for the dutch oven dinner. Back at camp we clean and slice
about 15lbs of potatoes. Amber assures us this dish will take about 45 minutes
to cook. We slice the potatoes thin just to make sure. A few hours later, at
least 2 maybe more, we give in and eat super yummy bbq chicken and mostly raw
potatoes. Hey, were camping, at least we have food right!
Jayson and Ashley joined us for the evening. So glad we could spend a few hours catching up.
Before dinner is even ready Parker is ready for bed. The
kids have been snacking on watermelon, corn on the cob, and salads. He is not
hungry anymore. I try, unsuccessfully to get him to stay up a little longer.
Fine, let’s go to bed. He is very tired.
Later Andrew goes to bed only to come running back with the news
that every mother wants to hear while camping. “Parker threw up”. Yeah!!! Aaron
is a trooper and heads down to check out the situation. Shortly after, Andrew comes
back up. Dad needs reinforcements. I stop on the way to pick up the baby wipes
from the car.
Andrew and I return to the tent where Aaron and Parker are
sitting in the dark because we are so prepared we only have 1 flashlight and
Andrew used it to come find me. I dole out wet wipes and we get most of the gu
cleaned up. I donate my sleeping bag to Parker as his not fit to be used. Then
we send Andrew to the outhouse as we remember a can of Lysol is sitting inside.
This will be perfect to disinfect the tent before trapping our precious boys
for the evening.
Andrew returns after what seems like hours of waiting, but
was probably only a few moments. He can’t lift the can he says. I am thinking
what!? An 8 year old boy can’t carry a can of Lysol. Suddenly Aaron starts
laughing. He says are you trying to pick up the big metal can on the floor. Uh,
yeah, Andrew says. Aaron tells him this is the lime – used to keep the stink
down after going #2 in the outhouse. We clear this up and explain to him what a
can of Lysol looks like before sending him down again. After another day or so,
ok, a few more minutes he returns with the Lysol. Victory! We douse the tent
and arrange the boys. Parker is so tired I think he is asleep before his head
hits the pillow.
Aaron and I go back up to camp were we are very grateful for
the 2 extra-large sinks with running water as we rinse out the sleeping bag and
pjs. That task done we also head to our suite for bed.
We have been asleep for only a few hours when I hear the
pitter patter of rain sprinkling down. A little water will do the dust good. Oh
crap! Remember that rain fly that boys asked about, and we didn’t bring, oops.
It’s ok it is only a little rain… until it’s not. It is pouring. Before we can
get up Andrew is at our door telling us there is water in his tent. I bet there
is! Aaron runs out and scoops up the boys and their slightly damp sleeping bags
and brings them to our suite.
We all settle back down to enjoy a summer’s night sleep,
staying dry in our tent listening to a storm complete with high winds, thunder
and lightning. This is all so enjoyable. Made even more so by the fact that I
am not feeling well now. I sat up listening for the rain to lighten up so I
could run off to the porta-potty. Where was that thing, anyway? Nope, not this way,
that is our car. Oh, here is the outhouse. Great. Now it is pouring. Ok, now where
is the tent. Man it is dark in the mountains. Whew, I made it. This went on
most of the night.
Morning came. The sun came up. The rain stayed. The boy’s
tent without a rain flap has become a swimming pool. The girl’s tent was at the
wrong angle. Their stuff kept safe in the front ‘room’ in the tent that only
has mesh sides is soaked. Yeah, for summer storms.
The sun began to peak out around 8 or 9 so Aaron hung some
rope and laid out all of our damp clothes just in time for it to pour. Now our
damp clothes are soaking wet clothes. Parker has thrown up again.
Finally we have enough sun to get the tents down. Yep, you
guessed it. We got them down in time for more rain.
We give up, eat a little breakfast. Laugh at our good
fortune.
We start loading the rest of the car. Aaron needs to move
the car back to put the cargo carrier back on. What else? The car won’t start.
After Uncle Don making fun of me, he gets his truck and gives us a jump. The car
gets loaded. By now it is fairly sunny so we roll up the tents. The wet stuff
is shoved in the melted cooler and we are ready to go.
Our trip home begins fine. I am driving again so we make it
to Elko in excellent time. We switch off and suddenly Parker barfs everywhere.
Cheese stick chunks and blue juice spew all over the car. We pull off into a
trucker stop area and strip Parker. We have nothing left for him to wear as
everything we own is wet. Good thing we stopped on the way to buy a bag of pull
ups as this is his new wardrobe the rest of the trip. Parker sits in his seat
holding a beach bucket lined with a garbage bag sitting in his pull up. Good
thing, too, as he throws up several more times before we pull in at 11:00pm.
The trip is over. Our clothes are all washed and dried. Our
tents have been set up again, rinsed out, swept out and put back away. We are
still tired. No one else is sick.
We are grateful that all of the fun we could have in one
family reunion is over. Next time it is someone else’s turn!
We love our family and are thankful for those we can laugh
with and those who can pull us out or give us a jump when we need it.
All the kids and Dad, waiting for the baptism.
No fears. We prescribed 1 hour of trick or treating and 2 lbs of candy for our patient Parker. 
Best buds.
