1870 Reunion

No, I didn't graduate from high school in 1870. Neither did my mom. We went to a reunion of the families who raised their kids at 1870 Tanglewood Way in Pleasanton, California.

Yep, another trip back home. This one came about quickly. Susan May, current owner of the house, is still in touch with Mavon Garrity, owner after us. Susan and her husband decided to host a reunion on Saturday, June 25, so mom, Jen, and I decided to go. I really had no plans and Scott and Christian were to be at scout camp, so the timing was perfect. Mom wanted to visit her siblings on the central coast, so we were in for a lot of driving and a lot of visiting and a lot of fun. It was the trip of a lifetime and I think we'll do it again next year. Mel was gonna join us, but at the last minute she realized it was the weekend of her friend Scott's farewell, so she stayed home. That was a good choice. She needed to be there for Scotty.

Wednesday, June 22: Jen picked me up on her way down to mom and dad's. It was late and we were going straight to bed, so I wore my nightgown and teva sandals to meet her at the Taco Bell parking lot. At the last minute, I threw on my little spi belt, a fanny pack type thing I wear to hold my phone. I looked fantastic. We joked that we should have made Walmart our meeting place. We got to mom and dad's and went to bed.

Thursday, June 23: Got up early and got on the road around 6:00. We had to turn around to look at mom and dad's for Jen's glasses, only to find them under the front seat of the car. Crisis averted. Mom drove the first shift. We took turns driving, keeping the driver awake in the passenger seat, and resting in the back seat of Jen's car. It was a great set-up. We all agree that Subway is a great spot to stop for lunch on road trips, so that was simple.

I'm ready. I got the back seat first.

It took us about 12 hours to get to Carolyn and Val's house in Halcyon, California. Derek and Rachel were there, too. We ordered pizza and took to Mike's place. We all ate and chatted and enjoyed the LOVELY central coast. I tell ya, Carolyn, Val, and Mike live in a BEAUTIFUL place. Unless my memory serves me wrong, I think the last time I was there was when Kamiko was a baby. It was nice to be back. Mike lives on some privately owned property that is acres and acres of beauty in Pismo Beach. He lives in a one-room cabin that's fantastic. He has everything he needs: bed, bathroom, kitchen, washer/dryer, etc. He also is the caretaker to the property that used to be used quite a bit by scouts and youth groups, but not much anymore since the original owner passed away. Anyway, Derek and his family camped there. Mom, Jen and I stayed with Carolyn and Val. We had a great time.

Charlie Hunter loves pizza and dirt.

Charlie helps dad pump up pads

El Campo

Just enjoying each other's company. Mom, Rachel, Jen, and Charlie

Jen and Rose on the swing. I think she looks a lot like me, but I don't wear a watch or a belt, especially when I'm at a campground.

Friday, June 24: Had a fantastic breakfast at Carolyn's. Her house is so cute. Mike built it years ago, and Val added on. They are empty nesters. The kitchen is so cute. White cabinets. Lots of cabinets. Cute hand-made rag rugs. I would expect nothing less from Carolyn. She's so cute and has lots of talents. And Val can fix just about anything.

Carolyn's cute kitchen

I couldn't resist this Barbie fabric and made matching aprons for Rae and Rosie

After breakfast, Jen, Mike, Carolyn, Val, Derek, and I went on a hike around Madonna Mountain in SLO. It was about 5 miles and took us a couple of hours. Then on the way home Jenny bought us all sandwiches to eat at Carolyn's. Mom, Rachel, and the kids were chilling there. The hike was great. We talked politics, nature, family, etc. Just a fantastic time! After lunch and chilling, we went to Mike's for a BBQ. He did burgers for us all. It was delicious. Rachel taught me how to do the rope swing off the beautiful, huge oak tree. So fun. Oh, I forgot to mention that Mike's property also has an outdoor bathroom building with flush toilets for men and women and showers. It's quite the set-up. Charlie and Rose enjoyed camping and sleeping in a tent. Charlie especially enjoyed getting dirty. Rachel and Derek are so cute to just let him get messy and that's what he did.

The view of SLO from our hike

Derek and Rachel on a short hike we took after burgers

Rachel, Derek, Val, and Carolyn

Me, Derek, Rachel, and Carolyn

Everyone's favorite Native American statue looks on as Hunters and Sears enjoy an evening together.

Rae and Derek

The Hunter Family Campsite

Saturday, June 25: Go up and headed to Hearst Castle for a 9:20 tour of the upstairs, which included William Randolph Hearst's private quarters, library, and office and guest rooms. We had gone there in 1974. I don't remember much about it besides the opulent gold pool. The tour was excellent. Funny thing happened while boarding the bus. The bus driver was telling us the rules and looked at me and said "you can smile." When we got on the bus, I said "let me explain. We had just been discussing our Presidential choices in this year's election." He smiled and replied "you know the bad news about the elections? Somebody's gonna win." Yep, bad news, indeed. Anyway, it's about a 10 minute ride up to the castle. They owned a ton of land. Incredible. I didn't realize Hearst grew up in extreme wealth. His dad made money in mining and investing in mining. Then Hearst capitalized on that and grew his newspaper empire. Glad we took time to do the tour. Jen had suggested it. We headed up to the bay area from there. We were hoping to stop in Cupertino at Peter Brandt's house. He's Carolyn and Val's oldest and was having a summer party for his daughter. All of the Brandt kids were gonna be there, but the tour at Hearst Castle took longer than expected with the bus travel time and we hit major traffic south of Cupertino, so we headed straight to Kris'. The only regret I have from the whole trip is not being able to see the Brandt kids. Next time we'll have to plan a little better.

THE REUNION: We got to Kristen's house around 4:00. Hunter had come to see mom and she was surprised to see him. We all had a nice visit until it was time to go to the house at 6:00. So, it was Hunter, Allison, James, Audrey, Kris, Doug, mom, Jen, and me...just chillin. We ordered pizza and picked it up on our way to the house. We were greeted so warmly by Susan and Patrick May. Mavon and 2 of her kids were there and a son-in-law and 3 grandchildren. Mavon lives in Sacramento, but was in town. Her daughter was also in town from Houston for a high school reunion at Amador. She was there with her husband and 3 kids. After a bit of visiting, the daughter and son-in-law left. We just kept visiting and telling stories about the house. Susan took everyone on the tour and I sat in the backyard with Patrick and he just asked for stories about living in the house. He's a newspaper reporter, so he likes to know stuff.

I told him how we girls used to climb out Kristen's bedroom window to lay out on the playroom roof. We talked about our reclusive neighbor who still lives there. We talked about the fact that the office probably has the most stories to tell since dad was bishop for 10 years and did his interviews there. Patrick was fascinated by that and by the fact that we're Mormons. When we all got together to eat pizza and all talk, he asked a lot about what it was like to grow up in Pleasanton and be Mormon. We told him it was great because there were a lot of Mormon families. At one point, he asked "How do you feel about the Book of Mormon? Do you love it or hate it?" I replied "We love it!" He said something about not seeing it and we all realized he was asking about the Broadway show, not the book. Hahaha. We said we hadn't seen the musical either. We explained that the church is having fun with it and putting ads in the playbill that state that if you like the musical, you should read the book. We really, really, really had a great time. Hard to describe. I'm sure we'll get together again. The Mays welcomed us all back anytime we're in town. They really want to meet dad. We recreated an old picture from Halloween before we left. As we left, the reclusive neighbor, Felice, was coming home with her son, who's now in his 40's. We got to visit with them a bit. Word is she killed her husband. Earlier rumors were that her first husband tried to poison her. We think the giant dog, Thor, had something to do with both husbands being gone. Hahaha. We left with hugs and Patrick is glad he has new Mormon friends. We're glad we have new friends, too.

Mavon, Susan, and Annie

Special dessert Susan made. Me, mom, Jenny, and Kris

Halloween. Not the best re-do, but it was a blast. 

Sunday, June 26: Went to church with Kris and Doug, then came home to a BBQ. Sarah and her husband, Cam, came up from San Jose. We all had a fantastic time. Kim came over for the BBQ, too. It was nice to spend more time with her and I think she enjoyed time sitting by and visiting with mom. We just sat at the dining room table and reminisced and reassured Kim that the world will turn out ok. She's really sad about how awful the world is. After she left, Leigh Hicks, a friend from years ago came over. Leigh lived on School Street in Pleasanton when grandma and grandpa Sears moved there. Carolyn, Kathy, Mike, Richard, and Paul still lived at home. Leigh hung out at the house a lot. Her mom died of cancer when she was 13, so grandma was a dear influence in her life. Leigh has always remained in touch. She's Aunt Leigh, really. She helped raise Katie and Patrick when their parents divorced when they were young. She's been at weddings, missionary farewells, dinners, etc. She even wore one of her 3 Wasatch Trend t-shirts that she ordered from Allie. Oh, that was so fun.

We will love Aunt Leigh forever. Kris, mom, me, Jenny, and Leigh

Mom was so excited when she saw that Kim brought cookies

My cookie. How cute is this?

Monday, June 27: Got on the road around 8:00 and headed home. We had a nice drive. Just talked and talked, slept, slept, ate food, etc. A fantastic trip that's impossible to describe in words, but that I wanted to document so I don't forget that it happened. I think we'll do it again next year.

Enjoying my bed in the back seat. Also enjoyed not wearing makeup most of the trip.

Mom's trick to get cookies "right out of the oven" on a road trip. She's been doing this for years.