Off the Grid

55 miles by car, then 32 miles by ferry

Since we thought that our food options might be limited later today, we wanted to make sure that we at least started off with full bellies this morning. The Holiday Inn Express served the typical hotel hot breakfast items - biscuits and gravy, oatmeal, eggs, and pancakes. Sufficient to accomplish the goal!

After checking out, the four of us drove to Chelan and stopped first at the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Ranger Station so that I could get the passport stamps for Lake Chelan National Recreation Area and North Cascades National Park. But sadly, the office was CLOSED - boo!

Empty Nesters

Son #1 has flown the coop, working a full-time job and living in his own apartment. Son #2 is back at school for his junior year at UCLA. What are two empty nesters to do?! Go on vacation, of course!

Back in May, I started researching a couple different options. One possibility was going to New England or Acadia National Park for some fall color. But finding a cheap airfare ($178 roundtrip) to Seattle sealed the deal for a road trip thru the Pacific Northwest!

Da Bulls

Starting with the 2nd family reunion in 1998, we have traditionally ended the weekend with Sunday brunch at the Garden Court Buffet at Main Street Station. Since there are limited venues where our big family can easily gather in one place, this is always a nice way to say our goodbyes until next time. 

Afterwards, we checked R's dad out of his room, then drove him and R's cousin B to the airport for their flight back to Chicago. From there, the four of us went straight over to UNLV for a whole day of NBA Summer League games. Because we nearly froze to death in the arena last year, we came prepared with jackets and hoodies this time.

Generations

Because Main Street Station had removed their tournament slot machines, our usual Saturday morning activity was changed to a family blackjack tournament at the Cal instead.

Since we only had three dealers, the participants were split between two rounds. Everyone received a stack of chips, and each table was dealt a set number of hands. The players with highest chip totals at the end of either round would split the pot of entry fees.

Even though my streak of bad luck continued, I liked the change. This was much more fun than mindlessly pushing a button for 20 minutes!

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.