Reunion Time

The laundry is done, the dishes are clean, the camping supplies are put away and now it is time to blog about our recent adventure up to Dayton, ID for the Dorothy & Steven Kent Family Reunion!

There are 8 children in Dave's immediate family and last summer they decided that it would be nice to get them all together again since it had been awhile. It was decided that the reunion would be scheduled for July '08. Last week we were able to participate in this event. It was good to see most of Dave's siblings again although 2 of them were unable to attend and they were truly missed!!

July 3rd

• Left Provo at noon with our pop-up trailer and two dogs in tow
• Arrived in Dayton, ID (Dave's hometown) around 3ish
• Dave played some silage racquetball with his brother, Zach, and Zach's friend, Mike
• Left Dayton at 4 to begin trek up to Dayton Basin where we would be camping for the next three days
• Realized our V6 truck wasn't going to be able to pull an 1800 lb trailer up the steep, rocky, dirt mountain roads to the basin
• Tried taking trailer to Maple Grove (an area closer to Dayton) instead
• Realized the road was too narrow with too many rocks and also no place to really put the trailer when we got there
• Unhooked trailer and manually turned it around in the road to then turn the truck around and re-hookup the trailer to tow it back down the mountain
• Borrowed Zach's friend's, Mike, V8 truck and hauled the trailer up to the basin
• Arrived at campsite as the sun was setting
• Stayed up really late watching the fire and chatting with Zach and his wife, Tammy

July 4th

• Ate a yummy breakfast prepared by Tammy and Dave
• Drove up to Look Out Point so we could call some of the other Kents to see what the plan was for the day (that is where there is cell phone service in that canyon)
• Learned that Dave's sister, Ann, and her family were on their way to the campsite to drop off their camping supplies before heading back in to Dayton for the city's 4th of July festivities
• Drove to Dayton to spend time with Dave's siblings at the Dayton City Celebration
  
• Hung out with our nieces and nephews while they participated in all of the fun activities for children
• Waited in a dust bowl at the base of the canyon for a few hours (the original plan was to have dinner with everyone there, but the plans changed and we were the last informed that dinner had been moved up to our campsite instead)
• Drove to the campsite for dinner
• Enjoyed spending time with Dave's parents, his siblings and their families
• Dave's sister, Ann, and her family, Dave's brother, Jake, and his family, Dave's mother, Dorothy, and Dave's step-brother, Zach, joined the four of us who were already there in camping overnight
  

July 5th

• Ate a yummy breakfast prepared by Dave, Ann and Tammy
• Our nieces and nephews did some exploring and playing in the nearby creek
• Drove to Dayton to help Dave's father, Steven, tear down an old barn on his property that was causing his insurance to rise
• Tore the barn down with no injuries
• Had a yummy BBQ
• Some of the adults sat around and visited and some of the adults played Rodeo Golf while the children entertained themselves and concocted a water balloon attack
• Drove back up to campsite
• Tried to take a shower in a 6' natural waterfall, but the water was entirely too cold
• Relaxed and had good conversation around the campfire

July 6th

• Packed up campsite and drove home
  

Having our anti-social dogs around new people, lots of children and other dogs created some stress for me, but overall we both had a good time. It was good to see Dave's brother from Alaska, Dan, and his family. We wish that Dave's sister, Shannon, and her family from So. Carolina could have made it, but we understand that it is very expensive to travel these days. We also missed having Dave's brother, Mark, around for the activities as well. You guys were missed!!

Below are pictures I took throughout the weekend. You have been warned that there are lots of them to look at!

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