I lost my camera cord for a while, whew, blogging is hard to keep up. Can I talk about early in July? Yes, it's been in draft status for a while. It's a good story. We crammed into our trusty 96' Camry to drive through many states to get to a sweet little spot tucked just into Montana that all my Dad's side knows and love. All my siblings, all their spouses, all their children, my parents and grandfather were able to fit into the family cabin and enjoy a little time on the lakeside.
Much of the car ride looked like this:
When we stopped for our first break on the road, my back hurt, my knees were cramped and I heard Kynlee mutter "Finally we get a break." We had been on the road an hour and forty five minutes. We had twenty fourish to go. When the kids asked if we were close, Michael said "We're going to drive all day today,
and tomorrow....
we'll still be very far away."
Painful, yes. But good moments on the way. We happened to be here on the 4th of July. Go country!
The cabin was worth all the pain of the road. (Might I quickly insert, that if you would like a hotel/motel room in South Dakota, please note that you will drive from one end of the state to the other end of the state, stopping in every town only to find no available rooms. Not only are there no rooms, they will laugh at you when you say you have no reservations. No worries though, just pull into a rest stop after crossing the border and sleep for a few hours crunched over in your seat with one eye on a thug who might rob you and one arm around a little one who needs comforting).
Here are my parents, grandpa and siblings:
We did some of this:
and this:
and this:
and the kids did this:
and this:
It was great seeing the cousins all together.
Being in that environment made me think if you surround children with beauty they can't help but be beautiful.
It turned out this was our last time with my grandpa.
Beautiful timing though. Just before the trip, he turned 90 and we all wrote him a little note. Then we got to spend a week with him all together. He returned to his home in California shortly after that, golfed a couple times the week he passed, and was visiting some good friends in his front room when the moment came. Quick and easy, and he was ready to go.
I flew out for the funeral and took freebie Ander along. It was good to see the relatives there and see a beautiful closing to my grandpa's inspiring life. It was a quick and tiring trip, but I was glad I could go.
On a material sort of note: in the future we will be taking trips in this:
Our new car! Horray! We made it to the new century!
Don't worry little Camry, Michael will still commute to work with you.
Little Protege, it looks like this is goodbye :(
And in the future if I happen to ever fly first class again, Lisa and I will now know what to do when the flight attendant offers us a steamy hot washcloth with a pair of tongs. I may even put a few in the bathroom for guests in the future.
