South Lake Tahoe Family Reunion - General Comments #6

Without a master plan family members sometimes took the path of least resistance.  For many that meant  hanging around the cabin instead of joining in one of the expeditions.  That, of course, had its own troubles. But for the most part the kids got along well with each other.

After three days, families began developing their own agendas and it didn't matter if there were some duplication of visits.  When you see something a second or third time you see lots of things you did't the first time.

Thanks again to everyone who participated.  I'm sure you all made your best efforts of time and money to make this reunion a success.  Whenever someone wasn't with us, you were missed. Thank you, all!!

South Lake Tahoe Family Reunion - Day 8 The dispersal

I think we had no idea just how much time a whole week of family camp is, especially when you spend it in the relative luxury of a vacation mansion or a timeshare condominium.  Add to that the fact that South Lake Tahoe is not a large tourist center with major entertainment and you have a lot of time on your hands.

By this last day of the reunion we have already lost Ed, Tiffany and family, Richard, and Steven and Lisa.  And we've "lost" 3 of our vehicles so packing up the leftover food and all our other travel stuff was almost as hard as it was packing the stuff in the first place.

Carolyn & Arnold with grandson Tim

Jessica & Jon with Jillian, Ben             Lee and Staci with Perry, Libby

        and Michael                              Sage and BrookeNatalie 

    

Natalie with Joshua and                              Philip & Jenny with

     Nathan                                              Gavin & Colin

Both the time-share and the mansion had 12 o'clock checkout times so our first priority was to get breakfast over and then pack the cars.  Jon, Jessica and family headed south back home while Lee and his family stopped at Dog beach and Donner State Park on their way to Sacramento.  Natalie and Jennie caravaned on their way to Sacramento.  Carolyn & I just enjoyed a leisurely trip home and a few minutes peace and quiet before the grandkids started arriving for 3 more days of vacation.

South Lake Tahoe Family Reunion - Day 7 Stars and more

Lee suggested that since the Perseirs Meteor shower occurs this week, and especially since the dark SLT sky makes sky watching so much, that we all stay up late or get up early to watch This is a relatively rare meteor show.

So last night almost all the adults and most of the kids stayed up until 11:00 when we piled into our cars and headed out for the community college play fields.  We found them brightly lit without a soul in sight.  Fortunately, we had a backup spot in the nearby park parking lot.  We all sat or lay on the blacktop and looked straight up into the starry sky.  There was supposed to be a shooting star about once a minute but we were seeing them about once every five minutes.  Still, that was impressive.

That, of course, made almost everyone get off to a slow start today.  Those kids who didn't make it to the trout farm a couple of days ago did so today.  Our group then headed for the southern tip of Fallen Leaf Lake and the trailhead to Glen Alpine Falls.  We expected the falls to be dry this late in the year.  However, this has been a rainy year. As a result many in our group were able to hike the river bed, rather interesting terrain.

Steve and Lisa said good bye to the group and headed down to Lakewood where Lisa's parents have been taking care of their bunnies.  The group continues to get smaller.

Word from Ed and family is that Tiffany now has the same sickness that Camdan had which pretty much eliminates their coming up tomorrow..

South Lake Tahoe Family Reunion - Day 6 More beach time

When you're staying close to one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, it only makes sense to spend some time enjoying a beach on that lake and enjoying the lake itself, if possible.   The lake is really inviting for sailing but only one of our group (Lee) has sufficient training and experience to run a boat with 1 or more passengers.  So while he shuttled swimmers so that everyone could experience the thrill of the open sea, the rest of the group had a reprise experience on  the warm sandy beach.  This time the group was better prepared with sandwiches and drinks.

Unfortunately I have come down with a case of diarrhea so I stayed back at the cabin trying to catch up on the blog and also trying to teach myself how to use photoshop.  We're hoping to make a collage of photos for the reunion remembrance photo this year.

South Lake Tahoe Family Reunion - Day 5 Hiking, Fishing, Swimmiing

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Today was a good example of the difference it makes when a family ans what it wants to do and carries out those plans compared with a family which discusses and discusses before finally doing something.  The first family might end up  seeing and doing more things but at the expense of making some of the family feel frazzled and still in need of a vacation.  The other family misses out on some opportunities but everyone feels a little more relaxed.

For those who were ready and willing to get out of the house early, today's first activity was a 1 mile hike to Vikingsholm, a home built on an island in Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe.   The home is interesting to see and visit and admire the Scandinavian architecture.  The hike from the road down to the water level is rather pleasant but the hike back up is a bitch.

The second activity, or first for those who got up later was a "catch all you can pay for'  trout farm.  The first were literally jumping at everything going into the pool.   The only limit was what you could afford to pay for and how many times you can stand knocking a fish senseless.  It isn't quite the sport that many of us learned in childhood but then it takes a lot less time and energy.

And finally, to wrap up our day we invited all who wanted to, to come over to our time-share and enjoy a dip in the pool.  Some were too tired from prior activities while others were just not into fishing or eating fish.

South Lake Tahoe Family Reunion - General comments #5

Things we definitely did right;

Brought several games to be played in the evening.  Different levels accommodated the teens downstairs and the adults on the main floor.

Each family was given a day's menu assignment - breakfast and dinner.  Lunch was up to each family each day.  The menu was selected from the famous Loveridge Family Cookbook.

Jigsaw Puzzles (500 piece) were left for people to complete when they were bored of everything else.

Things questionable:

Hit and miss Planning.  Some people had spent a great deal of time researching the local offerings on the Internet while others had no clue about what they'd like to do.  On the other hand a little randomness in the agenda leads to some inventiveness.

South Lake Tahoe Family Reunion - Day 4 On the beach

Having seen 3 beautiful days in a row at SLT, we decided it would be a great time to actually visit the lake, spend some time on the beach and give those who wanted it a kayaking experience,  Unfortunately, we had not reckoned with the wind.  It started out as less than a gentle breeze, more like gentle puffs of wind that gradually grew stronger and more invasive.  It didn't seem to bother the children  playing in the sand or those sleeping in the lounge chairs.  But those who braved the lake found that rowing the kayak upwind was considerably harder than downwind.

South Lake Tahoe Family Reunion - General comments #4

Accidents, breakdowns, and illnesses happen.  When people get together for reunions like ours, one has to expect certain problems.  Ours started right off when Tiffany began to drive home because of previous obligations.  Carolyn and Edward followed and it was lucky they did.  About 10 miles out, Tiffany's van stopped and had to be towed back to South Lake Tahoe.

Monday morning Ed and Tiff tried again with their truck.  Edward returned to our reunion but again had to leave to take the boys to some appointments.  On the way back up he got a call from Camdan's daycare saying he was throwing up.  Tiffany had to handle that one as Edward needed to get here to pick up Richard and get him back to the airport.  All in all, Edward has probably spent more time on the road this reunion than with his siblings.  He made three times as many round trips.  He was gone so much of the time that somehow he escaped all our picture taking.

South Lake Tahoe Family Reunion - Day 3 Horsing around

It just so happened that Tiffany's van broke down around the Camp Richardson resort are which gave Carolyn some time to  check out services in that area which included, among other things, a horseback riding facility and a state park highlighting the marsh, meadowlands, and forests around Lake Tahoe.  Fortunately, the nature trail around Taylor Creek was wheelchair accessible and I was able to use my power chair around the whole area.

The Corral was not so disability friendly.  I knew ahead of our visit there that my weight was 15 pounds over the limit so I would not be able to ride a horse.  But I hoped that I would have better access for photographing the three horse riding teams that our family fielded. Judging from the after-event discussions the riding will long be remembered and appreciated.

Edward drove back up to take care of the van and head back to Sacramento with his boys for some scouting event.  He'll be back on Wednesday.