Lo and behold, they were. We ended up with 15 (including kiddos), which is a few shy of the whole lot. Shockingly, since there were so many, our only housing option was to rent Steve Miller's old house! He had a 700 acre ranch that he owned from 1976-86, where he wrote and recorded many of his most iconic works. The house is 4000 sq feet, is on the historic building registry, and smack-dab in between Seattle fellows and Bay Area fellows. This also happens to be smack-dab in the middle of nowhere.
But that turned out to be a bonus. The house was the destination. And with the wettest weekend of the El Niño season coinciding with our visit, we were housebound except for a few muddy and splashy adventures outside.
We ate. We drank. We played Cards Against Humanity. It was epic.
Really, though, this was no more epic than the other get togethers we've had. And that's what makes these weekends so fun. Yeah, its a pain to coordinate, settle on a weekend, pick a destination, shell out the cash, ask for time off...the list goes on. But we've all learned that its ALWAYS worth it cuz it ALWAYS turns out to be a truly rejuvenating weekend. We've reunioned all over the place--Sea Ranch, Santa Barbara, Sebastopol, and now we add the Applegate Valley to the list.
These folks are the best of friends. We met 10 years ago and there have been many many changes in all of our lives. But when we get together, we pick up where we left off and proceed to have the highest and lowest brow of conversations you can imagine. The best part is we have many more decades of such gatherings - who knows where's next?
Until next time Maurice, the Sinner, the Midnight Toker, and all the rest.
- The Gangster of Love
Steve Miller's house on the pond
These were probably the bluest skies we saw - view from the house over the pond.
Charlotte and Letise hangin.
A pile of fellows!
Simon and mini-fellow Hala.
Charlotte and the miniest of Fellows, Lark.
AJ and mini fellow X.
Amber and Ken with mini fellow Elle.
Amber, Ken, and Elle's super-feast!
Fellows gather 'round the feedin table.
Dinner!
CoCo and AJ really love each other.
Faith and Hala playing legos.
A rousing game of Cards Against Humanity...
Kid pile on Simon.
Wet wet fields and the Siskiyous in the background...
Gorgeous
Gettin the kiddos out in the rain to burn off energy.
Adults like the rain too.
And CoCo loves the out of doors.
Simon and Hala dodging raindrops.
Fellows loungin.
Fellows drinkin.
Kiddos and their funny faces.
A last supper of fellows.
Hangin one last night by the fireplace.
Sad goodbyes :(
