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Reunion Trip, Day 4 of 6
Aug. 11th, 2024 11:59 pmSUNDAY
Woke up just before seven to pee, then returned to bed for the half hour before our alarms went off. Since Gary had been up later, I took the first shift in the bathroom and was done by 8:15. We were dressed and ready for breakfast about nine. On the elevator down, a fellow with his wife read my Quake Rugby T-shirt and asked if I were a rugby player. I responded "No, just a fan," at which he opined that rugby is a violent game. At breakfast we spotted at least two hot bears with families.
We went upstairs briefly so I could don my pink square-cut swimsuit, then proceeded to the pool about 9:30. The pool was an indoor/outdoor pool with a partition to swim under. Gary settled into a deck chair outside to read his book as he's not a swimmer. The two bears we spotted at breakfast were there as well. One was tall and a bit leaner, although generally bigger, had a long, thick black beard and body fur to match, and reminded me of DJ Matt Stands writ large. He was accompanied by a wife and two little girls, one sporting inflated pink waterwings. The other had more of a fireplug build, a bald head and trimmer beard, and reminded me of Matthew overall and Gareth only in facial features. He had two small boys with him who were quite active; I saw him casually toss one of them into the water with little effort to everyone's delight. There was yet another little boy swimming after the other families had gone, but when I swam inside under the partition I noticed his mom (or, less likely, grandma) keeping a watchful eye. I got out of the water about 10:30, caught up on journaling while air-drying, and we returned to the room about eleven.
At noon we left for the reunion, stopping by Kroger on the way to the venue. We spent most of the event sitting at the bar chatting and snacking, with the main meal served buffet style just after two. At one point, one of the grandchildren told Len he looked like a pirate, to which he responded with a loud "Arrrr!" Just before five when the pool closed, I got up to return my unused swimming gear to the car, and when I returned, we moved from the bar to the main room. I overheard "Teenagers" ("scare the living shit out of me") by My Chemical Romance and observed it was a perfect anthem for the events of Friday night at Kroger on Kemper. Most of the families left between five and 5:30, with only our generation plus Andy's, Kate's, and Matt's families remaining at six. When all who remained were us three couples and Matt's family, we gathered around the remaining folding table and chatted until 7:30 or so, during which we arranged to meet for breakfast at ten AM at a restaurant on Hamilton Avenue. Tristan took pictures first of the three siblings by ourselves and then with spouses before we cleaned up and left around eight.
Gary decided he'd like White Castle for dinner, so he plotted a course and we went the "back way" down Cincinnati-Dayton Road. We split a meal of two chicken sliders and one of four regular sliders, each with fries and a drink. After dinner we arrived back at the hotel about half past nine and turned on the Mets at Mariners game from back in Seattle (the Mariners won, 12-1) and I caught up on journaling and chatted with Zach on Messenger. I prepared for bed around eleven and was ready to drop off to sleep by 11:30.
Woke up just before seven to pee, then returned to bed for the half hour before our alarms went off. Since Gary had been up later, I took the first shift in the bathroom and was done by 8:15. We were dressed and ready for breakfast about nine. On the elevator down, a fellow with his wife read my Quake Rugby T-shirt and asked if I were a rugby player. I responded "No, just a fan," at which he opined that rugby is a violent game. At breakfast we spotted at least two hot bears with families.
We went upstairs briefly so I could don my pink square-cut swimsuit, then proceeded to the pool about 9:30. The pool was an indoor/outdoor pool with a partition to swim under. Gary settled into a deck chair outside to read his book as he's not a swimmer. The two bears we spotted at breakfast were there as well. One was tall and a bit leaner, although generally bigger, had a long, thick black beard and body fur to match, and reminded me of DJ Matt Stands writ large. He was accompanied by a wife and two little girls, one sporting inflated pink waterwings. The other had more of a fireplug build, a bald head and trimmer beard, and reminded me of Matthew overall and Gareth only in facial features. He had two small boys with him who were quite active; I saw him casually toss one of them into the water with little effort to everyone's delight. There was yet another little boy swimming after the other families had gone, but when I swam inside under the partition I noticed his mom (or, less likely, grandma) keeping a watchful eye. I got out of the water about 10:30, caught up on journaling while air-drying, and we returned to the room about eleven.
At noon we left for the reunion, stopping by Kroger on the way to the venue. We spent most of the event sitting at the bar chatting and snacking, with the main meal served buffet style just after two. At one point, one of the grandchildren told Len he looked like a pirate, to which he responded with a loud "Arrrr!" Just before five when the pool closed, I got up to return my unused swimming gear to the car, and when I returned, we moved from the bar to the main room. I overheard "Teenagers" ("scare the living shit out of me") by My Chemical Romance and observed it was a perfect anthem for the events of Friday night at Kroger on Kemper. Most of the families left between five and 5:30, with only our generation plus Andy's, Kate's, and Matt's families remaining at six. When all who remained were us three couples and Matt's family, we gathered around the remaining folding table and chatted until 7:30 or so, during which we arranged to meet for breakfast at ten AM at a restaurant on Hamilton Avenue. Tristan took pictures first of the three siblings by ourselves and then with spouses before we cleaned up and left around eight.
Gary decided he'd like White Castle for dinner, so he plotted a course and we went the "back way" down Cincinnati-Dayton Road. We split a meal of two chicken sliders and one of four regular sliders, each with fries and a drink. After dinner we arrived back at the hotel about half past nine and turned on the Mets at Mariners game from back in Seattle (the Mariners won, 12-1) and I caught up on journaling and chatted with Zach on Messenger. I prepared for bed around eleven and was ready to drop off to sleep by 11:30.