Tag: Family Reunion

Family Reunion on Whidbey Island

On July 8 we all congregated at my brother’s place on Whidby Island for our biannual family reunion. Sixteen of us, my two brothers, and their families. Missing were one nephew and his wife that were in the midst of moving and job hunting. We came from Texas, California and Hawaii.

Johnson family reunion 2024

My brother has 25 acres of beachfront property, which I like to refer to as the Johnson resort. His place would not accommodate all of us, we rented a house in Langley, a short drive from Kurt’s place.

For food we feasted on oysters which Kurt grows on his beach, clams that inhabit the same beach, as well as crab and leg of lamb; Kurt raises a few lambs as well.

Making sandcastles, flying kites and making forts out of driftwood were all fun activities. Kurt roasted up a delicious leg of lamb for one of our meals. And one morning when donuts were on the mind we piled into our cars and drove to Whidbey Doughnuts, a short drive from our rental property in Langley.

On the beach it took no time to collect clams and oysters, and we spent quite a few hours telling family stories, looking at family photo albums, and looking at maps to plan the next leg of our road trip.

It was such a delight to spend time together and to watch the grand kids playing together so famously. I’m looking forward to our next get together, sometime in 2026.

On to Angel Fire

On the afternoon of July 13 we arrived in Mancos, where we spent the night camping in Kayla’s driveway. We stopped at a liquor store in Mancos to get a bottle of wine to share with dinner. I had to capture a photo of this mural on the side of the liquor store. Kaya is a professional cook and dinner was scrumptious. Here’s a photo of Kayla harvesting some greens for dinner. You can see our camper in the background. Then it was on to Angel Fire. Our drive took us through Durango, Pagosa Springs, Chama and on to Angel Fire. Check out the Stick Library for dog lovers in Pagosa Springs.

In Angel Fire we spent three nights at the Enchanted Circle Campground. The campsite was on a secluded knoll at a private ranch. Joann found this camp through Hipcamp. Given the wide-open space I decided to put the drone in the air to capture a view of our campsite. The site was perfect for our needs, quiet, secluded, and with open skies. One evening a few of the ranch horses decided to check out what was cooking.

Of course, our reason for being in Angel Fire was to attend the Sundt Family Reunion. Reunion activities included a picnic dinner on the C & S Cattle Company Ranch, a 130,000-acre spread, and browsing through family scrap books. The family is divided up into 12 “tribes” with each tribe having its own scrapbook. The tribes represent the children of MM Sundt. We had 110 people including 3 family members from Norway. As you can see, the scrapbooks are huge and chock full of photos and memorabilia. So much fun to browse through.

Many of the family members are ranchers and, being cowboys, they know how to spin a yarn. The family dinner was not shy for storytellers, with various brothers, uncles, and nephews correcting each other and embellishing the stories. There’s even a bear story where it took 40 years for the campers that were spooked by a bear to learn that it wasn’t a real bear. You can see more photos in an online gallery.

Reunion in Bishop

In April 2017, my two brothers and I gathered together with our families to memorialize my father. We made a commitment to gather as a family on a regular basis. In 2020 we set our sights on Bishop in the Eastern Sierra and booked accommodations at the Eastside Guest House and Bivy. Then COVID-19 struck, and we scrapped our plans. With the pandemic easing up this year we decided to make another go at gathering. Family started arriving on Saturday evening, April 24, with people coming from Washington, Texas, Hawaii, and Massachusetts. My wife and I and our lovely Aunt Sue, being the hosts, arrived the day before to give us time to stock the larder with groceries. Eastside Guest House is an ideal location in the Eastern Sierra to set up a base camp for outdoor adventures. The facility has private rooms, a duck pond, a view of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and a common room for cooking and meeting.

We had the barbeque going as guests arrived. Joann and Sue had prepared skewers of Shish kebab which we put on the grill as family joined us.

April 25. The Alabama Hills and Independence

The day started with Lemon Ricotta Waffles. I had arranged ahead of time to have a couple waffle irons available and, with plenty of family chipping in, we were serving waffles at 8 a.m. Waffles with whipped cream, butter, syrup, berries and lots of other goodies.

After breakfast we set up a sandwich station. Line up and make a lunch. Then we piled into cars for the drive to the Alabama Hills.

There is much to see on the drive south from Bishop. Some of our party made a visit to the Manzanar National Historic Site, one of the sites where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. A few of us stopped at the Mary DeDecker Native Plant Garden and the Eastern California Museum in Independence. The museum has an amazing collection of native American basketry and the garden was looking very nice with many plants in bloom. We also took advantage of the delicious ice cream at the Eastern Sierra Ice Cream Company.

April 26. Big Pine Lakes

Monday morning everybody was on their own for breakfast. Take your pick of oatmeal, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, raisin bran, other packaged cereals, apples, oranges, and bananas. And if that isn’t enough you can walk next door to Schat’s Bakery for espresso and pastries. Then we again set up the sandwich station.

Several in our group were anxious to get into the High Sierra. Despite the fact that the trails are usually snowed in this time of year, it looked like we might be able to hike to one or two lakes in the Big Pine Lake Basin. We piled into our cars and drove to the trailhead at the end of Glacier Lodge Road.

My wife and I made it as far as First Lake at 10,000 feet. My two brothers and clan made it to Fourth Lake at 11,000 feet. We did find a few patches of snow on the trail, but nothing that required technical gear. First Lake still had some ice. The higher lakes were still frozen over. We logged 9.5 miles on our hike to and from First Lake. You can see a map on my GaiaGPS account. Those that went higher logged 12 miles or so.

April 27. Pleasant Valley Reservoir

With family members ranging in age from 3 1/2 to 84, we opted to do an outing close to Bishop to accommodate those not inclined to tackle a strenuous High Sierra hike. We found a level paved trail along Pleasant Valley Reservoir. This proved to be a lovely hike with opportunities to look for wildflowers and birds.

The more adventuresome drove up to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest and reported a lovely outing. Tuesday evening marked our last day together, and we had a birthday to celebrate.

The next morning we said our goodbyes and began our drive back over the mountains.

There is so much to see in the Eastern Sierra. I was sad to leave, but since we have family there, we manage to visit several times a year. The Eastside Guest House and Bivy was a delightful place to host our reunion. The large community room, while being shared with other guests, proved to be a great place to gather, chat, and look at family photos. And talking about photos, you can view more online.