Redding Reunion

My uncle (Mom’s oldest brother) and his family have lived in Tennessee for as long as I can remember. It was always a special time when they came out to California for a visit – girl-cousin time! My cousin A is 3 years older than me and M is 3 years younger. When we got together it was as if we’d never been apart. When I was 17 I got to fly to TN by myself and visit them during the summer. M and I were BFFs during that time and A drove us around, mature college student that she was.

Uncle D and cousin M came on various visits since then, but I hadn’t seen Aunt N or cousin A in 14 years! This year they all came to CA, including A’s husband and 3 year old son. At first it seemed that I wouldn’t be able to see them, since they were coming the week before our Thanksgiving traveling. But the stars (my job, our travel plans, and Amtrak) aligned and I got to go down to Redding and catch them while they were visiting my other uncle, aunt, and cousins.

I took the train. The only drawback (besides 9 hours in a moving vehicle) was that it arrived in Redding at 2 am. My Saint, I mean Aunt, picked me up at the station and I crawled into cousin M’s bed, just like old times when we were teens.

It was a great visit.

On Friday the ladies went Junkin.’ My Aunt N is a professional antique store treasure-hunter and her daughters are right up there with her. We browsed vintage lingerie and antique glassware and had a great time. That night we filled an entire section of high school gym bleachers to cheer for my cousin DR (my uncle’s namesake) in his basketball game/fundraiser night.

On Saturday we drove to Burney Falls. It was beautiful day, and a lovely drive, minus a bit of carsickness for the 3 of us girls in the back of the big rental van. My Uncle P was also with us, visiting from San Francisco, and it was fun to see the 3 brothers together.

On Saturday night Aunt M’s sister hosted all of us for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner. Apparently gracious hospitality runs in their family! It was a lovely party and it included a magic show provided by PW, cousin A’s husband.

I had such a great time, re-connecting with my cousins and meeting the added members of their bunch. It made me wish we all lived in the same city and could be together all the time.

What a great-looking family, huh?

After the Tennessee folks had departed, I stayed 3 more days with J & M and their kids. That was such a nice, relaxing visit. They have a beautiful home outside of Redding, with spreading oaks and horse ranches nearby. It’s soooooo quiet there. BN arrived on Tuesday night, and we drove to Tahoe on Wednesday morning.