Mammoth 2009 (The Unofficial Family Reunion)
Summer 2010 will be the official reunion, but those who want to come up in the off year's are welcome to and this is the first year we did! I've got a chance to update because Adam's passed out from today's activities of fishing, hiking, rowing, horseback riding,canoeing, and the grand finale pot luck dinner...but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Thursday morning we picked up the rental and headed to my parents. The goal was to be on the road by 9:30, and we left around 9:40, not too bad. We chose the route through Glendale, Lancaster, Palmdale, so it took us close to 2 hours to get outside of the "LA area." We had a few wrong turns, a lunch stop, and a 1-lane detour, but we made it up in about 6 hours, which is average. We were the last to arrive, so: Mary Ann, Bruce, Michael, Mary, Dwight, Christie, Cathy, Phil, Brandon, Hannah, Peggy, Johnny, Leigh, Connie, and David were already here. Thursday was unpacking, huffing and puffing due to the 8,000 foot altitude change, and pot luck dinner.
Friday was an early start. We did the 4-hour mountain bike pass and got in 2 runs this year. We had several spills, and all of us have bumps and bruises, but no serious injuries. I ate it at the beginning of the second run and have all these round red bumps on my left elbow from where all the gravel embedded into me. After the biking we had some lunch and wandered down to the resort shops and outlets, not too much good stuff, most of the shops have closed, but I got a super cute scarf at Coach for TEN BUCKS! We also had pot luck dinner again and all the 'kids' headed off to see Transformers 2. It's been so long since I was in such an old theater, but the sound quality was pretty good, and I enjoyed the movie.
Saturday we slept in a bit while Adam fished (no luck there, some nibbles, but not much more). We went for an easy hike up to Panorama Dome, regrouped for some sandwiches, and Melanie, Leigh and Adam and I went out on a row boat! We only rented it for an hour, but it was a ton of fun. Melanie and I rowed while the boys attempted to fish. Haha, we are such big city kids, but still, a fun experience. After that we headed out to go horseback riding. We did a two hour ride this time and it took us to Lake Mary, Lake Maime, Lake George, and Horseshoe Lake. My horse was named Flicka, Adam's horse was named Pepper and was HUGE! At the very end we cross a road and he was higher up than the roof of the Jeep Cheroke that got stuck waiting for us to pass! The names are fun, we also had: Vegas, Judge, and Handy. When we got back I felt covered in dust, so I cleaned up, and Adam and my dad went out on a canoe. They did the stuff I was too chicken to do on the row boat because I thought we wouldn't fit under these two bridges. They crossed into both twin lakes and went over by the waterfall. So, since Adam's been in the sun ALL day, he's exhausted and getting some sleep to be ready to drive us home tomorrow.
We finished off the Wheeler Gathering with a big pot luck and games before we all said our farewells and I think most people are getting an early start home tomorrow. I'm not sure when we're leaving though. We are waiting for my parents to get back from urgent care. My dad's been afflicted by sinus issues and a cold all weekend, and when he returned from canoeing, his eyes were bright red. Eyedrops haven't helped, and he wore sunglasses all night because they look so bad. Apparently they're all gunky too, so we think it's pink eye, but he can't get his contacts in, so someone else will have to drive home. It looks awful, so we convinced him to get it checked out tonight, he'll just be miserable if he waits to do it on Monday.
Tomorrow will be a long day, a six hour drive home followed by a 10:30 hockey game. We've got to return the rental on Monday and they don't open until 7:30, so the plus to that is sleeping in a little later than usual. It's also a short work week due to the holiday, so I'll have to keep that in mind when I'm down on energy back at work.
Thursday morning we picked up the rental and headed to my parents. The goal was to be on the road by 9:30, and we left around 9:40, not too bad. We chose the route through Glendale, Lancaster, Palmdale, so it took us close to 2 hours to get outside of the "LA area." We had a few wrong turns, a lunch stop, and a 1-lane detour, but we made it up in about 6 hours, which is average. We were the last to arrive, so: Mary Ann, Bruce, Michael, Mary, Dwight, Christie, Cathy, Phil, Brandon, Hannah, Peggy, Johnny, Leigh, Connie, and David were already here. Thursday was unpacking, huffing and puffing due to the 8,000 foot altitude change, and pot luck dinner.
Friday was an early start. We did the 4-hour mountain bike pass and got in 2 runs this year. We had several spills, and all of us have bumps and bruises, but no serious injuries. I ate it at the beginning of the second run and have all these round red bumps on my left elbow from where all the gravel embedded into me. After the biking we had some lunch and wandered down to the resort shops and outlets, not too much good stuff, most of the shops have closed, but I got a super cute scarf at Coach for TEN BUCKS! We also had pot luck dinner again and all the 'kids' headed off to see Transformers 2. It's been so long since I was in such an old theater, but the sound quality was pretty good, and I enjoyed the movie.
Saturday we slept in a bit while Adam fished (no luck there, some nibbles, but not much more). We went for an easy hike up to Panorama Dome, regrouped for some sandwiches, and Melanie, Leigh and Adam and I went out on a row boat! We only rented it for an hour, but it was a ton of fun. Melanie and I rowed while the boys attempted to fish. Haha, we are such big city kids, but still, a fun experience. After that we headed out to go horseback riding. We did a two hour ride this time and it took us to Lake Mary, Lake Maime, Lake George, and Horseshoe Lake. My horse was named Flicka, Adam's horse was named Pepper and was HUGE! At the very end we cross a road and he was higher up than the roof of the Jeep Cheroke that got stuck waiting for us to pass! The names are fun, we also had: Vegas, Judge, and Handy. When we got back I felt covered in dust, so I cleaned up, and Adam and my dad went out on a canoe. They did the stuff I was too chicken to do on the row boat because I thought we wouldn't fit under these two bridges. They crossed into both twin lakes and went over by the waterfall. So, since Adam's been in the sun ALL day, he's exhausted and getting some sleep to be ready to drive us home tomorrow.
We finished off the Wheeler Gathering with a big pot luck and games before we all said our farewells and I think most people are getting an early start home tomorrow. I'm not sure when we're leaving though. We are waiting for my parents to get back from urgent care. My dad's been afflicted by sinus issues and a cold all weekend, and when he returned from canoeing, his eyes were bright red. Eyedrops haven't helped, and he wore sunglasses all night because they look so bad. Apparently they're all gunky too, so we think it's pink eye, but he can't get his contacts in, so someone else will have to drive home. It looks awful, so we convinced him to get it checked out tonight, he'll just be miserable if he waits to do it on Monday.
Tomorrow will be a long day, a six hour drive home followed by a 10:30 hockey game. We've got to return the rental on Monday and they don't open until 7:30, so the plus to that is sleeping in a little later than usual. It's also a short work week due to the holiday, so I'll have to keep that in mind when I'm down on energy back at work.