The Relaxing 2014 Vacation: Our Arrival and First Day

Our 2014 vacation exploits started with a 10 or 11 hour trip to Cokeville, Wyoming.  While Ben took the SAT test Saturday morning, the remaining three of us finished packing and then Jen and I drove to Avis to pick up this year's vacation vehicle: a Toyota Rav-4 (okay, but not as good as last year's Optima).  After I brought it back home, we loaded it up and drove over to the school where Ben was taking the test to wait for him.  We arrived about noon because we were hoping he'd be finished by then.  Unfortunately, we ended up waiting about 20 or more minutes before he finally emerged from the school.  Jennifer broke out lunch, we got ourselves situated in the car and our adventure began!

I told Ben if he needed to stop at any time along the way to get out and stretch or walk around or whatever, to let me know and I'd do so as soon as I was able.  We were all pleasantly surprised to find he could go for long stretches before needing a break (a little more frequent toward the end).  Dinner was picked up in St. George, Utah.  Actually, we were all excited to find a Cracker Barrel in St. George and even more excited to find the potato chips we had fallen in love with back in Illinois last year (all the chips were devoured with gusto a few hours after dinner).  A funny moment, for us anyway, came at Carl's Jr. when Jennifer asked for "house dressing" (ranch dressing, basically) for our fries and was met with blank stares from the Carl's employees.  "We could give you fry sauce," one girl said with a helpful smile.  Jennifer started to reiterate her request, but I whispered to her, "We're in Utah, they may only have fry sauce."  A bit reluctantly, she gave in.  Four containers of pink fry sauce were enthusiastically handed to us.  As we reconnected with the freeway, Jennifer noted that the sauce was "okay," but she preferred house dressing.

We pulled into Cokeville at about 1:40 Sunday morning.  Mom and Dad had waited up for us.  They showed us our rooms, told us they were happy we'd arrived safe, informed us church would start at 10 a.m.,  and we all crashed into bed.  Because of the late hour, I missed the clues signaling the fact that we were not alone in visiting.  I awoke at around 8 a.m.  As I lay stared at the ceiling, trying to decide whether I should get out of bed or not, I became aware of the sound of little voices and pattering feet.  As my sleep addled brain began to make possible connections, I heard Sandra's voice admonishing her kids to be quieter and not wake Chris and Jen.  This was the catalyst I needed.  I quickly got dressed and came out of our room to greet her.  When I had talked to her on the phone a week or so earlier, no specific weekend had been mentioned as to their potential visit.  I had no idea she and her family would be here when we arrived (although their van was parked on the other side of the street when we drove up to the house; Mom and Dad had made no mention of them when we arrived).  They had slept in the "bunk house."  I was happy to learn that her entire family had come (there had been a question as to whether Keith would be able to make it or not).

What a nice surprise to begin our vacation!  Actually, my first surprise had been Friday night at about 12:30 (well, technically Saturday morning) when the phone rang and I found myself talking to Dad!  "Where are you?" he had asked.  I was momentarily stunned by the question.  My mind raced as I considered my answer.  It's funny how my parents can make me feel like a young teenager with just the right question spoken in just the right tone of voice (he wasn't angry, it was just that authoritative tone I remember well). :)  My reply began, "I'm home," but then it dawned on me why he'd be asking such a question in the first place. "Wait, did you think that . . . oh, I'm sorry we are coming tomorrow night, not tonight."  It appears our arrival time was put on their calendar for late Friday, not Saturday.  After the mis-communication was cleared up, Dad said, "Well, if I don't have to wait up, I'm going to bed."  Apparently, Sandra had also come thinking we would arrive Friday night/Saturday morning and we had missed spending an extra day with them.  I was bummed by that news, but was happy to be able to spend one full day with her and her family.

The last time we had seen Sandra and her crew, her youngest, Tyler, had not been a part of the mix; he's quite the little ball of fire.  I had a great time watching Tyler and Mckenna and Eli interact with Sandra and Keith.  It's always interesting to me to watch how my brothers and sisters interact with their children.  I find it fascinating to see the differences and similarities in our parenting styles.  After a bit of hesitation, Eli and Mckenna warmed up to Ben and Isaac.  With our two boys being older, I think it was a bit difficult for them to figure out what to do at first, but soon the age gap was bridged and common ground was found.  Before the day was over, Ben and Isaac had Eli creating his own comic books (Mckenna tried to join in as best she could).  After church, it was great to eat and talk and play Scattergories and just enjoy being with family.  I have to admit a part of me wished we could have left on Friday, but we made of the most of the day we had together.  It was hard to see them leave this morning, but I was happy we could begin our vacation in such a good way!