Warner Extended Family Reunion - Day 1

 This has been at least two years in the making, maybe longer.  We are going to spend a few days with my three brothers and wives, their children and then grandchildren.  All in all there will be 35 (22 adults and 13 kids).  We are scattered out over the midwest, southwest and the east coast and the decision was reached to converge on Bozeman Montana for a few days together.  Everyone has made their own accommodations (AirBnB, etc) and some families will be staying together at different places together. 

There is a lot to do in that area with Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park good day trips from Bozeman.  In our case, we are traveling with daughter Kelly, son-in-law Jonathan and grandsons Brooks and Harrison.  

We have had numerous reunions over with brothers and wives over the years.  We all like each other, respect each other and love our time together.  During our RV days (2009-2019) we got together a few times:https://warnerrvnews.blogspot.com/search?q=Reunion.  This link shows two times but I’m sure there were others.

I have often referred to this blog from our RV days when we talk about seeing something and we don’t quite remember when we were there.  The Roadrunner Chronicles is helpful because I can do a “search” and sure enough there it is.

For example, I think we have been to Glacier National Park a couple of times.  I know once was in our first year 2009,  and then again in 2011:  https://warnerrvnews.blogspot.com/search?q=Glacier

Some quick blog searches were useful though not perfect.  

Serious planning has been underway since the end of last year and Kelly has done a great job of pulling it all together and at the same time everyone has the leeway to travel to Bozeman and have a little vacation around our time in Bozeman.

Yesterday was day one for us and I asked the boys and Jon about highlights, some of which are included in the recap below:

This has been the easiest trip for Pam and me for some time.  We will be gone 11 days with 4-5 actual reunion days in Bozeman.  Jon and Kelly have done all the planning and scheduling and all we’ve had to do is pay our share and show up.

Jon found it expensive to fly into Bozeman so we went farther west -- to Spokane, Washington.  We had a Southwest Airlines flight with a stop over in Denver.  Then we rented a Ford Expedition and drove to Kellogg, ID.

Here some highlights from Day 1:

- Baggage check in and boarding pass at the Southwest kiosk was a breeze.  Then we went through the  TSA pre-check line, showed our military IDs and it was quick and smooth.   

- Southwest Flight to Denver was almost 4 hours but it seemed to go by quickly.  We were all able to sit near each other in two rows of three.  It was good we each brought sandwiches because the pretzel snacks were nice but not enough for the flight.We had 1 hour 45 min layover in Denver which was plenty to time to grab some chicken tenders, a beer and some fries. Then on to Spokane for a short lest-than two hour flight 

- In Spokane we were able to secure the vehicle that was reserved. Sometimes that doesn’t happen.  But its did this time and it was great.  The Ford Expedition was new, with lots of creature .  There was plenty of room for six and suitcases and very comfortable.  By then we were realizing we were on the Pacific Daylight Savings time zone and were beginning to feel it. We arrived at our AirBnB at about 8:30 Virginia time.

- Another highlight was the drive from Spokane to Kellogg. Beautiful -- just gorgeous.  It was a very pretty afternoon and evening and we say some beautiful sights along the way.

- One such sight was along I-90 where we were able to see some of Lake Coeur d’Alene. Nothing like a great scenic drive to enjoy.

- Our AirBnB:  has plenty of bedrooms and completely adequate but nothing fancy.  We wanted to get out of Spokane and head east an hour or so.  It worked out fine as was very reasonably priced.  We have never been to Kellogg Idaho.  It’s another gem in small town America.

It’s fun to blog again but a little short update has taken hours because I am so rusty.  It’s been a while.  More tomorrow to document our vacation and leading up to our extended family reunion.  Until then, thanks for checking in on another edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles.