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!

2016 Brothers Reunion - Sunday and Monday

On Sunday morning we drove over to Sonoma to attend church at the oldest Episcopal Church in California.  Since all the brothers grew up Episcopalian, we had some roots there.  It was a nice service with a friendly congregation in a beautiful setting.

 One thing in our genes, is the ability (and desire) to meet people and talk.  So it was not surprising that Marty offered that the right thing to do was to have coffee and meet some people in the church parish hall.  We had a very nice time doing just that.

 After church we walked around downtown Sonoma and found a good place for lunch.

 We discovered a Mexican Restaurant with seating on a balcony overlooking the stream.

 Next we drove back over to Murphys for an afternoon at the theater where we saw Shakespeare's 'Measure for Measure'.

 It was another quaint setting and the local players did a good job with the play.  I had never heard of the work before but we all enjoyed it.

I think one of the unwritten goals of our time together was to gain 20 lbs each!  We ended up on Marty's deck for dinner again and were glad to be joined by Margie and Terry who each lived a few houses up the street in Arnold.

 We topped it off we a big chunk of watermelon.  Doesn't everyone eat watermelon over the 4th of July?

On Monday we hit the links again and had some more fun at the Forest Meadow Golf Course in Arnold.  For some reason, none of us were on our game, but golf is like that some time...

 It was still fun playing together and we were glad to be out on the links.

The afternoon schedule included a stop over at Columbia State Park.  This was a fascinating place to say the least!  It was definitely a highlight.  It is one of the best 'Western towns' I've been too.

 It is a place frozen in time -- the Historic 1850's Gold Rush in the Mother Lode country.  All the shops and stores look authentic and it has a couple of well done museums.

 We basically wandered around for a couple of hours and had tickets for their BBQ.

 I thoroughly loved the old museum.  It had a number of displays including explanations of the many ways they mined gold during that historic period in the region.

And then the gem -- a brief explanation of how Cinco de Mayo started.  It began with celebrations right there in the area dating back to 1862.  Now look how it has grow and something that is commemorated all across the country.  Another fascinating tale from our travels.

 Many of the locals were dressed up in costumes of the time period.

While we ate and enjoyed the afternoon, we were entertained by some very good musicians.

 These folks played for quite a while and they were really good.  It was a wonderful afternoon.

We sat around and listened for a while and the events of the weekend came to a close.  The folks in Columbia are like so many in that area and have a keen interest in perpetuating the traditions and culture of those interesting Gold Rush days.

The main locals all gathered in the middle of the street for the annual picture.

Then we were keen to get back to Marty's cabin and hang out some more.  The late afternoon BBQ was our dinner for the evening which worked out great.

Reid led a couple of interesting discussions during our evenings.  One had to do with courage and he began by asking 'When in your life would you say you have been courageous'.  Very revealing and everyone had something to offer.  The last evening together we talked about Legacy and what we can do or are doing to pass on a legacy to our children and grandchildren.

That it for this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Thanks for joining us as we celebrate each other and time together over the 4th of July!