Oh dear, what a family reunion...

Beth has been plotting for almost a year in an attempt to get me to the family reunion this summer. In the beginning I was simply humoring her. I honestly had no idea how that one was really going to happen. I was broke. Living on the entirely opposite side of the state. And had a small baby. But, the closer it came to reunion time, the more I could see I was sort of stuck with my original answer.
She had thought of everything and all my arguments were futile.
Thursday night Shasta came over and we left for Lake Curlew bright and early Friday morning. One thing I didn't count on was the complete lack of radio reception for most of the drive. Since I only had four decent CD's in my car, the two of us now have every Colbie Caillat, Dixie Chicks, Taylor Swift and Toby Keith song memorized. Natalie's first words may very well be, "It starts in my toes and I crinkle my nose." Let's hope that's not the case, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised. We heard it a LOT.
Luckily we made the first ferry ride over. The ferry was the equivalent of a small flatbed trailer and ours was loaded with two RV's and four cars. I distinctly remember hearing the man loading us on say to the driver behind me, "Keep coming, you still have about two inches." It was a FULL ride and as we approached the other side, I mentioned to Shasta how it was looking like we might hit the dock pretty hard. She seemed pretty certain we wouldn't and even explained to me how the captain (or whatever a ferry driver is called) would be pulling back and taking a number of precautions to avoid hitting anything. Moments later, we careened into the dock. So much for your theory, Shasta.
We finally found the resort and there are hardly words to express our surprise at what we found. So, I will skip most of it and only say this: our accommodations kept us dry, and warm, and allowed us the opportunity to reconnect with our Cherokee ancestors.
The seven of us managed just fine, and it really wasn't so bad once we were settled in a bit. Some of my favorite features in our "waterfront studio" included: the toilet seat that seriously only came to the middle of my shin, our beautiful bedside lamp, and the fact that we shared one water heater with the other three studios, AND the laundry room.
There was literally NO cell reception at the resort. This was annoying but not nearly as bad for me as it was for the teenage population. There were literally little swarms of kids roaming around with their phones held out, desperate to find ANY reception. Some found success by touching tall metal poles, or out on the dock, and one cousin swore that if you had Verizon and put your phone in a certain hole of a certain telephone pole you could make a short phone call. Seriously?
The reunion was really pretty fun. It was nice to see so many family members and to catch up on their lives. I went tubing with Stephanie and Shasta, took a beautiful, although freezing, walk with Natalie, Shasta and Beth, watched a deer swim across the lake, and ate some pretty good food.
Andrew came with us on the ride home and the time seemed to go so much faster with him there to tell his stories and entertain us. I still can't believe he's all grown up. I remember Dusty getting beat with a wooden spoon for letting Andrew eat his Crayola markers. And then I realize it's been twenty years...I'm still adjusting to the transition of becoming a grown up.
I have posted a very small smattering of photos from the trip and hopefully you can gleam a bit of the experiences from them. I really am glad we made it, it had been more than ten years since I've been to a reunion on that side so I was more than due for one. Natalie LOVED playing with the kids, practicing her walking skills in a new environment, and getting incredibly dirty every single day, and there's no way I would have believed Beth's stories had I not been there myself! :)