I’m a little overdue for an update about how my family vacation went. That’s partially because the husband came up Saturday evening and we did a lot of hanging out with each other and friends. I did manage to spiff up the site with a new theme and tweaked it to my pleasure, so if you’re reading this via RSS, I’d love for you to check it out and let me know what you think! Now, on to what went on during my vacation

July 2nd

We left the house a little later than what I’ve been used to. This was so we could stop by the Indian Wells Brewery around the time they open. Unfortunately, they weren’t open even though it was past their posted opening time when we got there. Calling them didn’t work. My dad was hoping to get some of their beer before we made the rest of our trip up to Silver Lake. We arrived to the resort after a total of 4 stops and checked into our usual cabin. Unpacking went fairly quickly and smoothly with five of us working on it. Since it was Friday, we enjoyed dinner at the Tiger Bar in June Lake. It’s a tradition for most of the folks who’ve been going to Silver Lake Resort (SLR from here on out) over the years during the summer. They have delicious Mexican food, and I usually get it, but this year I went for their meatloaf. It was pretty delicious.

July 3rd

The first Saturday of July is when SLR holds one of their horseshoe tournaments. This year there were more than twice the amount of participants compared to last year. While it usually last until the mid-afternoon, it was early evening by the time they finally announced the winners. The gentleman who the husband played with last year managed first! My dad and I were partners and managed the same amount of wins/losses at last year. I scored 3 ringers, though, and my dad got none :lol:

The family managed to score pretty good in the raffles, though. My mom got some wearable gear and a new fishing rod. I won enough fishing gear to have the start of a decent tackle box, including a nice reel, long needle-nose pliers, fish hooks and a floating fillet knife. The best, though, came when they finally did the “larger” raffles – the 50/50 and the “bear” raffle. We didn’t score in the 50/50, but both me and my uncle won wooden bears. Mine has a cute scarf and is holding a trout. My mom was jealous

July 4th

We drove 45 minutes further north to Bridgeport to have part in the pancake breakfast they were holding and then the 4th of July parade. The kids were out of control trying to go for the candy and frisbees being tossed out from a majority of the “floats”. There were a LOT of them and most of the parents didn’t do much to keep them from going far into the road or chasing the floats. It was pretty damn ridiculous. I managed to get a forgotten about Tootsie Roll midgie. On our way back, we stopped by the awesome Whoa Nellie Deli. Their lobster taquitos are absolutely delicious!

I went fishing once on the trip, and it was with my dad. We suited up in waders, sunscreen and bug repellent. I managed to catch one fish and hook (but lose) another. My dad did pretty well, catch half a dozen at least but he released them all. We ate ribs for dinner, which is one of my brother’s favorite foods. Unfortunately he didn’t keep it down for long since he smoked a cigar with my dad and it messed up his stomach.

July 5th

June mountain opened one of their ski lifts for the summer. It was m first time on a ski lift, though in the wrong season & weather We rode it to the top where they opened their café. We all got something to drink, my brother and his gf ordered burgers and my parents & I shared an appetizer of some pretty darn good ceviche. The view was unbelievable! We could even make out Mono Lake. I took a lot of pictures.

I actually sent out a couple of postcards this year! I’ll usually pick some up and put names on them, but I end up not writing anything and sending them out.

We finally had our first campfire of the trip. My brother doesn’t know how to get a fire started, so after his failed attempt, I got it going for him. I’ve been converted to using Nutella instead of a regular chocolate bar in my s’mores! The spread is already “melted” and creamy – the yummy hazelnut flavor with it just adds to it, too. I had maybe a total of two s’mores our trip up there, though.

July 6th

My brother and I took his gf to Bodie ghost town where I took tons of pictures, trying to pull off the artsy composition and angles. I don’t know how successful I was considering photography isn’t even one of my hobbies and I was using a temperamental point & shoot Sony camera. Apparently I managed a very similar shot of one of the shop interiors as my friend, N. She and her bf had gone to Bodie the year before (I think) and she took a ton of GORGEOUS photos. I had hoped to manage anything close to what she manages – but there’s no way I could since she’s active with her photography and she has a nice DSLR camera and is just that much more talented and artsy than I am. I think I manage a couple of pretty exterior shots. I also finally made the trek to the cemetery on the outskits of the town. I’ll have to do that first next time since it was actually a bit of a climb.

On our way back, we stopped at our favorite place to get ice cream at the Mono Cone. This time we actually got lunch and their deep fried pickles were AWESOME. The burger I got was pretty damn good too.

For dinner, we had a bunch of family & friends over for tri-tip. I ended up drink a LOT of wine, crying about grandpa and breaking my brother’s gf’s phone. Yeah, that was awesome… This was after everyone had left, of course. There may have been some drunk dialing of the husband.

July 7th

I slept in and recovered from the night before. I did nothing. Exciting, no? I went and stayed with my grandma in the trailer since my uncle was in Reno. I’d been sleeping on the (strangely comfortable) love seat in the living room of the cabin. This day also would’ve been grandpa’s 83rd birthday… RIP

July 8th

It was our last night and we had dinner at the Carson Peak Inn, which was grandpa’s favorite restaurant up there. I had a delicious filet mignon. It was like buttah.

The next day we headed home after saying goodbye to everyone and I drove the whole way. The end.

If you read that, good for you. I’m actually tired of typing :lol: