From Salinas, we headed to the Sierras for our Friend Reunion. When Jonathon was a child, he lived in Hollister, CA, a quaint little farming community an hour from the Silicon Valley. It was the place where families settled because they couldn't afford the outrageous costs of the bigger cities. That led to a large group of young LDS families who all moved there at the same time.
Jonathon grew up with a group of friends that stuck together from the time they were 4 years old through college and beyond. These friends supported each other through school, church, scouts, sports, and more.
When we were all at BYU, I met Mike Hawks, Jacob Starkweather, and Jared Olson through Jonathon. Jacob and Nichole had just gotten married and lived across the street from Bountiful Court where we lived. They decided to host a murder mystery and told all the guys to find dates. Jonathon and I had talked a few times, but I was still pretty surprised when he stopped by my apartment and asked me to accompany him to the murder mystery. I didn't know any of the others very well, so it was a bit intimidating to dress up as a Queen and act out the mystery. That night Mike brought his girlfriend (fiancee?) Kathryn, Jared brought a girl he had gone on a few dates with, Michelle, and Jonathon brought me. It must have been a magical evening because every couple there later got married, and I adore all of them! I don't have friends from my childhood, so I realize what a special thing they have.
This Friends Reunion was many years in the making. After BYU everyone moved to various parts of the country. We kept in touch, but rarely got to see each other, except the Olsons who live in Utah and we get to see a couple times a year. There was talk of trying to get all the families together, but it never got very far.... until the wives stepped in!
We started talking about this reunion back in January and worked out a week to finally do it. With camps, work, vacations, etc. crowding the summer, it was a miracle we found a time to do it at all. Jacob and Nichole volunteered the use of their family campground near Mi-Wuk, California, way up in the Sierra Nevadas. They said there was plenty of room for everyone, but I had no idea what an amazing campground it was!
After several hours of driving, we pulled of the main path and followed Nichole down a long dirt road. We were really nervous taking our brand new van off-roading, so we went about 5 mph the whole time. We drove several miles before arriving at the campground. It was absolutely incredible. The scenery was spectacular, and the set up was perfect for group camping. Jacob's parents had purchased the land a few years earlier, and various family members had built their own cabins. There was also a large pavilion, a shower area, and flushing toilets. One of the other really great things about the campground was that there was a freshwater spring nearby where they got all of their water. They went to fill up the jugs several times, and we were blessed with delicious, cold water to enjoy. We really couldn't have asked for anything more. They were so kind to let us borrow one of the cabins for our family to stay in.
Aside from the awesome cabins, there was also a playground that made my 80's childhood dreams complete. There was so much equipment for the kids to play on. They were over there for hours and hours. They happily teeter-tottered, went down the slide, and played on the merry-go-round the whole week. Hyrum was particularly in heaven. That child played and played and was coated in dirt from dawn to dusk. We made him shower, sometimes twice a day, but that didn't seem to help. At the end, I just laughed every time I saw him.
When we arrived, Nichole was cooking tri-tips on the grill for dinner. They seriously spoiled us with all the amazing food and preparations. I know it was a ton of work for them, but they pulled it off to perfection. Jonathon jumped in to help finish the meat, and the rest of us got everything unpacked and set up in the cabin. Soon everyone else arrived, and we spent the rest of the evening chatting, exploring the campground, and playing games. There were 16 kids between the four families, and I was unsure how they would all get along, but I shouldn't have worried. They were buddies from the start. They all played together, and no one was left out. Every single kid seemed to have a friend their age. In fact, there were 4 boys Andrew's age and 3 Hyrum's age. We couldn't have asked for anything better.
The next day was Sunday. We have all gotten pretty good at holding home church because of the pandemic, so it wasn't hard to put together a Sunday service. Jacob and Mike blessed the Sacrament, our 4 Deacons passed it, Elizabeth and Michelle gave talks, and we sang hymns together. It was a perfect Sunday morning.
Since it was Sunday, we hung around camp for the rest of the day. Hyrum and the kids filmed a parkour video for his YouTube channel (which was hysterical), we played cornhole, ate delicious food, took group pictures, went on Mule rides around the camp, and finished the night by watching Aladdin outside on a huge screen with a projector. One funny, almost tragic, thing that happened on Sunday was when Christian set down his phone in the cabin. There was a gap between the cabin wall and the window ledge. His phone slipped down into the gap and fell halfway down the wall. I was pretty sure the phone was gone forever, but John and his brother-in-law came in with a crowbar, took apart the wall, and got the phone out. I guess it really helps when you build your own cabin. They were so nice to help us out, and I think Christian realized that he totally dodged a bullet.
On Monday, we packed up early and headed out to Pineview Reservoir to spend the day at the lake. It was a bit of a drive, but we arrived in time to get a nice spot by the beach. The scenery was breathtaking, and the water felt so nice on such a hot day. The kids splashed around and played for several hours. When the adults were done with the water, we got out and chatted on shore to keep an eye on them. Nichole provided an awesome lunch for us, and when afternoon rolled around, we all went to get ice cream. Near the ice cream area were some logs that you could try to walk on. We went down there and let everyone have fun trying their luck with the logs. Christian bailed after the first log, but Andrew and several of the other kids and adults made it all the way to the end (after several tries). By that point, we were all exhausted, so we headed back to the campground for dinner. It was a great day!
On Tuesday, we all went to Yosemite for the day. We had to make reservations months ago to get a day pass. We were planning to head home right after the park, so we packed everything up and helped clean the camp. Jonathon threw a mini tantrum because he couldn't get everything to fit in the van, but he eventually did it. We learned our lesson, and next time we will bring a car top carrier.
Yosemite was a few hours away on a very windy road. It was quite the climb, but the car handled it well again. When we reached the entrance to the park, we pulled over so we could get a picture with the sign. These women understand my need for pictures, and I love it!
After driving some more, we finally dropped down into Yosemite valley. We were sad to see that there was a layer of smoke from forest fires that had settled in the valley, so everything was a bit hazy. It was also extremely dry because of the ongoing drought. Jonathon said he had never seen it that dry. Yosemite Falls was barely flowing. I was feeling a bit discouraged, and it didn't help that it was well over 100 degrees when we parked for lunch. The sun was pounding down on us, and I worried that we would all get burnt to a crisp. We decided to take a relatively short hike up to the waterfall. Even though it was short, the heat really sapped everyone. Nichole's little boy, Gabriel, threw up (likely from heat exhaustion), and Elizabeth wasn't looking much better. They decided to leave to go back to the cabin. My family didn't really want to do any more hiking, so we headed down to the river to wait for everyone else. The boys decided to go swimming. It was cold glacier water, but it was so refreshing! I waded in it for a while to cool off and then sat in the shade and watched them laugh and play. Soon everyone else joined, and they had a grand time. It was definitely my favorite part of the day!
We had to leave around 4 pm to head to our hotel for the night. We made a quick stop at the lodge for a souvenir and then left. It was sad to say good-bye to everyone, but we really couldn't have asked for a better trip. Even though we hadn't all been together for 15 years, it felt like the good old days in college. I was shocked at how everyone clicked after all that time, and how much fun we had together. I am so grateful for wonderful, life-long friends.
We stayed the night in a little town in Nevada where the kids begged to go to the pool once again. We couldn't deny them, so I hung out at the pool while Jonathon went to bed so he could be rested enough for the long drive home. We made it home at around 4:00 pm the next day. Jonathon quickly showered and headed out to the planning commission meeting where he had to present... no rest for the weary! We are so grateful for our adventures and for everything we were able to do on the epic summer road trip of 2021.
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