All in the Family

This entry is all about family. Not travel stops and roadside adventure, but family. My family. Ya I know what you're thinking... so I'll save you the trouble. Just hit the Google search engine and find something more tantalizing like 'aardvark mating rituals' or '75 uses for navel lint'. I'll understand. But if you insist, and really do want to know more.... read on.

We settled in at our camp and as camps go, this was one of the best. Part of the Outdoor Resorts of America properties, Hilton Head Island Motorcoach Resort caters only to A and C class rigs. Pool, tennis, walking paths and even has a classical pianist entertaining at the Saturday morning breakfast. Snobberish you might say but not really. We met a number of great folks who purchased their lots years ago (at bargain rates) and now enjoy the fruits of their good investment. Many owners opt to rent out their sites when they are not using it thus defraying the cost of ownership; we took advantage of this as had a number of other snowbirds. Lots of space and privacy and very quite, the camp is located about mid-island. This Hilton Head resort was well situated near lots of shopping and great restaurants. It's also sort of Nirvana for golf addicts too. But remember to bring lots of golf balls and a credit card with a mega limit.

Peter, Austin, Laura, Bob, Petra, Leigh, Chris, Ben, Allison, Judy, Scott and Mark. Wheeeew...
What a crowd. All over to our camp for a little afternoon picnic. In case you don't know..nephew, grandson,niece, brother-in-law, great niece, daughter, nephew, great nephew, granddaughter, sister, son-in-law and another nephew. It's our second sort of family reunion here on the island and we again found many things to reminisce and laugh about. The youngsters in the crowd may have heard things about some of us oldsters that were a little more revealing than usual but what better a venue...among family.

My nephew Mark and his family flew over from Germany and stayed at the Waterside house and were joined by our daughter Leigh and her family who drove in from Michigan. My nephew Peter flew in from New York and my nephew Chris flew in from Vermont. Our family generates lots of frequent flyer miles.

The weather was superb and the pool at our place was heated so Sharon and I invited everyone over for a cookout. Hoping that the weather remained good, as a dozen people in the coach is a bit close even for relatives, I think we lured them over with a menu of steak and roasted corn-on-the-cob but surprised them with hot dogs and sloppy Joe's. When you're old and retired you'll stoop to any means to get people to visit. Anyway they stayed and we had a smashing time. Too bad you can't bottle laughter as we'd of made a case of it. Three generations mixing up a stew of old stories and times gone by.

We spent most of our time at Judy and Bob's spacious home on the river in Beaufort. Overlooking a long bend on the slow moving waterway, and within full view of the city marina and bridge to Lady's Island, the spacious house is a great gathering spot. As usual, Judy and Bob opened their home for all to use and enjoy with plenty of great food and drink.

It was good to see the cousins get together and share experiences from each others country. My daughter Leigh's daughter Allison and my nephew Mark's daughter Laura are about the same age and are typical young teenagers. Giddy and silly at times but learned beyond their years at others. Such precious young women. Ben, soon to be eighteen, is an engaging and quick to laugh young man. He's about to graduate and move on to study engineering in Germany. His cell phone is his constant companion while here in the states. It seems beside soccer and school, his main interest, Vanessa, have kept regular company via AT&T. ..Oh to be young again... My grandson Austin, whose vocabulary belies someone of more advanced years, found Emma (an energetic spaniel who likes everyone)and Millie (a long haired cat who likes the dog more than people) a pair that could entertain for hours on end. His natural affinity for animals is reciprocal and Emma found someone who could keep up with her boundless energy. I've always felt that anyone who could get along with animals would certainly be more successful when dealing with humans than those who couldn't. He'll do well.

Our daughter Leigh and husband Scott (with kids Austin and Allison) made the long weekend drive south. We were so happy to see them again as we've been away from home for over 22 weeks.
They're a couple that seems so natural together and fun to be around.

My nephew Mark, my sister's oldest, shares many of my interests (cars and gadgets) so we always have much to talk about. Petra, Mark's wife of some 22 years, is a real family treasure. Her gentle nature and quick smile adds to any gathering. In many ways they personify the old adage 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'. We don't get to see them as much as we'd like to.

Peter, my sister's youngest, remains the family spark plug. Ready to ignite any stuffiness in the room with his infectious laughter, he's held on to the 'kid' in him that most of us have lost.

My 'middle' nephew Chris continues to broaden his horizons. His travels to seek out people that need help through education has taken him to places most of use would quickly avoid. Be it remote India or New Orleans in aftermath of hurricane Katrina, he's been there to provide help. A rare counterpoint to a generation of 'me first' contemporaries.

New relationships begin to unfold as we all get better acquainted. As so many families get scattered around the country, getting together becomes more and more a logistical challenge. And before long, months become years before we see each other. Bob and Judy's wisdom of orchestrating these reunions has begun to bring our far-flung families closer together. A worthy legacy I'd say. Now if we could only get my son Steve and his lovely wife Jenny to get the time off to join us next time.

This last image is one of those line em' up against the tree and shoot em' kind of shot. Not too creative but getting this group to stand still in one place is quite an achievement. Judy, Bob, Peter, Chris, Mark, Petra, Laura, Ben and of course...Emma.

So there you have it. A slight deviation from my normal travelogue. We have since left Hilton Head and moved on to a little town north of Atlanta, Georgia. Careful planning on my part figuring that no one would be on the road when we were going through Atlanta on Sunday afternoon. Wouldn't most be in church or watching the b-ball game, I told myself. Au contra re. Wall-to-all cars, trucks, and motorhomes. I suspect snowbirds heading north clogged every inch of the eight northbound lanes. Talk about white knuckles. Keeping the rig between the white lines was more than a challenge... it was a necessity. Anyway we made it to Adairsville for a couple of days with the mission of seeing our 'other' daughter. More about that next time.