Family Fun

The Friday of a reunion weekend means bowling. For our previous reunions, we've been to the lanes at Sam's Town, Sunset Station, Orleans, and Gold Coast. This year's event was back at the Orleans.

Since I was ready to join the ranks of the spectators, I didn't sign up to participate. But I ended up bowling anyway, having been drafted to replace an injured cousin. Oof.

We were a smaller group this year, but it was still fun to have another opportunity to be together and catch up with the family!

Happy Family

We were supposed to have a family reunion in July 2020, but that didn't happen for obvious reasons. It's been 4 years since the last big gathering, although our family has had several opportunities to see cousins in between. Needless to say, we definitely have been looking forward to a fun weekend in Vegas with our ʻohana!

Since we weren't really comfortable with the idea of R's dad flying alone, we were grateful that R's cousin B could accompany him from Chicago. We hit the road early this morning so that we could pick the two of them up directly from the airport. But we left ourselves enough time for a quick pit stop in Victorville for Steak 'n Shake, of course.

Do-Over

Monday, April 4

After taking R's dad back to his place, we started the trek downstate to see my parents. But first, a stop at Trader Joe's to pick up some groceries for my mom. In Pontiac, we made a second stop at Wally's because we saw Mike Chen feature their brisket sandwich on his YouTube channel. I think Wally's must be the Illinois version of a Buc-ee's travel center/convenience store, although this one was kind of underwhelming, IMO. One day we'll have to road trip somewhere where there are Buc-ee's to compare. 

The Nonagenarian

Saturday, April 2

It's April in Chicago, so that means spring weather, right?

If by "spring weather," you mean cold, wet, and possible snow, then you'd be right!

After we landed at O'Hare, we picked up the rental car and hit the drive-thru at the Steak 'n Shake nearby, since they still don't have dine-in seating. (Note to self: next time we are only going to the Oakton location, since this one has been repeatedly subpar.)

After dumping off our stuff in the hotel room, R and I went to Party City in Niles to pick up some decorations for R's dad's 90th birthday open house. Unfortunately the temperature changes between the store, outside in the car, and back in the hotel room were not kind to the balloons. The ideal gas law, PV = nRT, works in real life because one of them popped. Boo.

Exploring Cabrillo

From Mission Bay, it was just a short drive to Point Loma and historic Liberty Station. Formerly known as the Naval Training Center (NTC), after its closure in 1997, Liberty Station was transformed into a shopping, dining, arts and entertainment hub. 

When we were here in 2018 for a campus tour of UCSD for J, we had a late lunch at Liberty Public Market. R and I came back again today to see what else we could try.

My Heart Will Go On

CANOE DAY! 

We were up early this morning to grab breakfast. The hotel was actually serving hot items in the breakfast area, so that was a nice change from the previous COVID precautions in place.

After loading up our stuff in the car, we checked out and headed over to De Anza Cove for the morning festivities.