2016 Warner Bros Reunion - Wednesday and Thursday

My brothers and wives and Pam and I have gotten together often during the years and we did so again this past week at Marty's cabin up in the Sierra's.  He built his mountain cabin in the 1980's and had the foresight make a paved RV space with electric hook ups.

We drove in early Wednesday morning and were all set up when Marty and Elena arrived from Tucson.

Pam and I were so excited that the Roadrunner fit well into the parking space right in front of Marty's cabin.  He had insight to plan it out long ago before we ever had an inkling that we would have a motorhome.  We planned on 30 amp service but over the years he upgraded to 50 amp so we were all set!
Brad and Sue drove in next from Sacramento Airport.  They live in Ft Worth.  Reid and Amy soon followed, also flying into Sacramento and taking a rental car.  They live in Albuquerque.

Marty had things planned for us during the week including days for all of us to cook dinner and do a couple of meals.  It all worked out great.   There was a good balance of 'hanging out' and activities.

We changed things a bit on the schedule and Pam cooked tortellini and we had a big salad for dinner.

The notion that 'We have too much food here" became a recurring theme everyday.

 We had a nice time catching up on the back porch and then moved it inside for some more chatting.  We did a lot of that which was great.

The next day, the only thing we had on the agenda for activities was a 90 minute hike around a grove in Big Trees State Park.  It was about 5 minutes up the highway from the cabin in Arnold.

 We had a good group and enjoyed the docent who explained a lot of things about the history of the park and some of the tid bits about how it was discovered.  In the spring of 1852, hunter Augustus Dowd was chasing a wounded grizzly bear and came upon some large sequoias.

 This was back in the '49er' gold rush days.  Dowd was from Murphys, the gold mining town 20 miles to the south.  He told a lot of stories about the place and finally more and more people took the trip and saw it for themselves.

We've been to that park 3 or 4 times over the years and always learn something new every time we visit.

Our shirts are Elena's idea.  She came across a picture of the four of us that she had imprinted on T-Shirts.  

So which one do you suppose is me in this photo?

After our hike, we gathered for a group shot

Then returned to the cabin and everyone helped with dinner.  Elena spiced things up a bit with her 'infused' water that we all enjoyed.

It was Sue and Brad's turn so we chowed down on some brisket they cooked on the grill.

And it was another nice evening to spend on the back porch after dinner.

That's a recap of the first couple of days together.  It was a lot of fun!

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

2016 Brothers Reunion - Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday morning we spent some time on the back deck over a cool cup of coffee.  It was getting nippy in the mornings.  We all took our time and got cleaned up before we left for some time in the interesting town of Murphys, about 20 minutes down the road.

We wandered through shops for a while and noticed how different it was on a Tuesday morning after the 4th of July.  The town was slowly coming to life and shops were opening up just after 10 AM.

 Along one of the stores in Murphys we saw an interesting historical display for the fraternal order: E Clampus Vitus.  It's a tongue in cheek society dedicated to storytelling and the preservation of the American West -- particularly the Mother Lode gold country in the Sierras.

There are some interesting personalities noted on the wall plaques.

After wandering around a bit, we walked across the street to our reservation for brunch at the Old Murphys Hotel.  We were able to get a table outside and it was a beautiful day.

Upstairs inside the old hotel, they are renovating a ballroom with new floors.

Down the halls, the rooms indicate where famous visitors stayed over the years.

After lunch we drove a couple of miles to the edge of town to get a tour of the Mercer Caverns.  Very interesting tour 16 stories below ground.

It was a bit crowded because they overbooked some folks for our 2:00 tour.  But we all managed to safely get down the cave and see the sights.

Its hard to imagine this was discovered using candle light.

It was truly amazing.

After our tour, we all went back to the cabin for some more eating and hanging out.

It was another great day together!

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

The Wedding (Part 1)

Melissa and Adam got engaged last year, and they tied the knot this past weekend, October 3, 2015.

It was a terrific few days and lots of fun---before, during and after the wedding.  They had loads of friends and family to help them celebrate. The wedding itself was an outdoor event so there was some concern about the weather; despite hurricane Joaquin lurking offshore for a few days, it all went off very well.

One of the things I like about these occasions that we get a lot of time to see the extended family and visit with friends and get to know each other better.  Melissa and her family are mostly from the Philadelphia area and Adam's relatives are predominately from 'out West'.  It was really fun.  I haven't hugged that many people so many times in a long time.

Many guests stayed at the Hyatt-House/Merrifield in the Mosaic District of Fairfax (VA); it was the perfect location. The rooms were efficient and high tech and the full breakfast downstairs each morning was well done. The hotel was in the same city block as a Target and a number of trendy restaurants (all within walking distance of a block or two).

On Wednesday evening, Pam and I joined Adam, Melissa, and her family at the True Food Restaurant, where we had a chance to meet Jeff and Marilyn again and spend some time together before things got busy.  Melissa's brother, Rich, works and lives in DC and he came out to join us too.  It was a great way to start off the wedding festivities.

Friday night before the wedding, Out-of-Town relatives all met at the Matchbox Restaurant in a private party area, which worked out well and the food was excellent.

This was the first real chance to meet and greet all of Melissa's and Adam's relatives and family and extended family.  It was really fun and we all had a great time.

 The prospective bride and groom --

Interestingly enough, Melissa's dad is a twin (on the right) and Adam's dad is a twin (second from the left).

One of many group shot of the twins with Melissa and Adam

Here's the only photo I got of Melissa's Aunts and Mom (with Uncle Mel and his daughter)

Aunts: Gail, Debra (Debbie), Mel, and Melissa's mom Marilyn on the right

Warner and Goldman women: Adam's Mom (Pam), Aunts (Amy, Elena, and Sue) and sister (Kelly).

It rained a little throughout Friday... more like a steady drizzle. Saturday morning, the skies were a bit overcast, with some misty rain from Joaquin which was off shore.

Thankfully, it moved from the Caribbean and started heading north and away from the East Coast.  It could have been a factor in the [outdoor] wedding, but was never a problem.

Saturday morning, our Grandson Brooks made an appearance.  Kelly and Jon were staying near friends Jeff and Tiffany who babysat him both Friday and Saturday nights. He wanted to see everybody, so Jon and Kelly brought him over to the Hyatt House on Saturday morning during breakfast.

After breakfast, we ran some errands and then met Marty & Elena, Brad & Sue, Reid & Amy, and Marg & Bill at the Red Apron for lunch.  

We didn't have to be over to the wedding site until 4 PM.

Pam and I stayed in Reston at the Lake Fairfax Park Campground and were joined there by Marg and Bill who drove down from Ontario with their RV and had the campsite next to us.

This has turned into a really long post, so I am going to end it here and pick it up with my next post at the venue.  More pictures and details to follow...

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Last Couple of Days in Fort Worth

After 11 days in Fort Worth seeing my brothers and their wives, it was time to move on and head east toward Red Bay and the Tiffin factory.  Its been over a year since we've been there and our list is growing.

But before we left town, we enjoyed our last few days together.  We spent a lot of time at Brad and Sue's, ate out alot, Sue cooked a couple of great meals and we went to church together on Sunday.  During the middle of the week, we were able to play some golf of our own.

On Wednesday, we all played at Glen Gardens which is an old golf course built in 1912.  Famous golfers Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson used to play a lot of golf here.  It was fun to see what kinds of courses they played back then.

Sue had school so she didn't make it.  Pam, Elena and Amy came out and Pam played with us.  We had fun although Pam thought the rest of us were pretty intense.  (I think they may be thinking the same thing I do:  I don't care who wins, as long as I do?...)

I think it was the sense of competition I feel when I play Marty and Brad.  They play golf pretty often and we try to do our best so it does get pretty serious out there.  I had an 80 and edge out Brad (82) and Marty (84).  Reid shot a respectable 94.  Not bad for playing once every three years.

The next day, the guys were on their own and we played at Hawks Creek golf course which used to belong to Carswell AFB.  It is now a public course and they are making some big changes.

Marty got with it and smoked us with a 76 while Brad had another 82.  I shot an 84 and Reid again had some nice shots and came in at 100.

But there was more than playing golf.  On Saturday, Pam and I went back over to the Colonial and saw some more golf.  And stopped by some of the booths.  Like other marketing events, plenty of vendors were there with some give-aways.  We could take our cell phones into the tournament grounds, but had to keep them on silent.  And no pictures of the golfers.

But I snapped one of Brian, who was a manager with Quest Healthcare.  He gave us a nice water bottle and we chatted for a few minutes.  Nice guy.

And we made it over to the Military area which was for active duty and retired folks.

It was set up over near the Country Club pool area with bleachers separate bleachers right near #1 tee.  Best of all, they had free food and drinks over there which was very nice!

We spent a few hours on the course, saw some of the leaders come through and then made our way back to the shuttle buses and returned home to watch the rest of the day's golf on TV.

One thing we during our time together was eat!  One evening we ate at Tucker Red's in Aledo.

Friday evening we went to the famous Joe T. Garcia's in the Stockyards

The outdoor dining was great.  It was my favorite venue of the places we ate.  The grounds are beautiful.

And then we went to a more upscale restaurant in downtown Fort Worth:  Reata's Southwestern Steakhouse.  We got our own private dining area and chowed down!

It was Brad and Sue's 40th wedding anniversary, we had to top it off with some dessert.

After dinner it was a beautiful evening and we wandered over to Sundance Square and watched what was going on in the water fountain.  It was a perfect summer evening.

But we weren't done.  The next day after church, we had brunch at Lucile's

and gathered for another group shot in front of the restaurant.

We went out to eat alot but we also had quite a few meals at Brad and Sue's place.  They have a beautiful home and a nice sized dining room.

Spent the afternoon and evening at their place and enjoyed our remaining time telling stories.  It is always fun to hear about what their impressions are growing up.  We always hear something new about our childhood when we get together.  And we share news about our kids and talk about how they are doing and how proud we are of all of them.

It was another wonderful Warner Brothers Reunion and we cherish our time with each other.  Not sure when we will get together again but I think Brad put it well when he said, "I think everyone had a good time and don't believe anyone suffered any psychological damage as far as I could tell..."

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Next time, a little bit about our trip back to Red Bay, AL.  Until next time...