The Estes "Golden" Family Reunion
April 2002
Intro/Sunday
Okay, so, the Estes family -- all Mom and Dad's kids
and grandchildren -- getting together in one place hasn't happened
since we can remember. If that. I thought maybe it was when
we got together for Dad's retirement thing at Ivan Allen in '93, but
Mom said Larry came alone, which explains how we kids fit into Wayne's
SUV (we were following Mom and Dad in Dad's new truck from Ivan
Allen). I noted that Larry's family were in Atlanta a few weeks
after I moved to L.A. (before Wayne's family moved to Tennessee) when I
totalled my car in Burbank, so I wasn't in Atlanta for that. The
best guess was before Alex was born, which means Alex wasn't
there. So, if all these calculations are accurate and nothing's
been left out, this was truly the only time all the Estes' kids and
kids' kids were in the same room. Woo-hoo!
As usual, Wayne started it. I was all over the
big 70th birthday celebrations -- went to England with Dad, and started
to think about putting together a big family portrait for Mom's
birthday, but she didn't want to celebrate her birthday by taking
pictures of herself so Wayne broke her knee at their big dirt race
instead (okay, she was offered a ride in a golf cart and the driver
accidentally pulled away before she sat down and that's how her knee
got broken in three places) -- and Wayne pounced on the wedding
anniversary. He was wanting to put together a big party of all
their friends with lots of visiting time and pictures, and they didn't
really want a party. Wayne said tough, so they said, REALLY, they
don't want a party, they'd rather have some nice time for their kids
and grandkids for visiting. So Wayne and Larry corresponded a
gathering in the Highlands (I was too broke to participate too
closely), and Rita sent emails of a place she found where we could stay
if we agreed on it -- Mitchell's Lodge & Cottages. EVERYBODY
was going with the flow on this, so whoever did the work basically got
what they came back with.
So Larry's family of Larry, Debbie, Natalie and Alex
flew into Atlanta from Washington State on Friday evening, and spent
Saturday shopping at The Avenue and eating at The Varsity. I
finally got away from the apartment work on Saturday evening for a
tasty roast beef, steamed broccoli (of which there was a ton -- Larry
helped buy it), and mashed potato dinner (with amazing lemon meringue
pie for dessert) and spending the night at Mom and Dad's before we hit
the road Sunday morning. (Of course, the trickiest and most
important part of the packing is proper placement of the second lemon
meringue pie -- Larry finished that last piece of the first one at
Sunday breakfast -- and Mom's pound cake! Mmm-mmmm!)
Wayne's crew of Wayne, Rita, Steven, and the twins Jennifer and Allison
would meet us there -- woo-hoo!
Sunday morning, the weather is overcast and
partly-threatening, which seems to be the weather all the way up into
the Highlands. No matter. Dad and Larry go over the map
several times, with some discussion of who's driving and who's riding
in which car. I'm game to mix it up, since it's a 4-hour
opportunity to visit, but Larry says we have three days to visit (which
doesn't sell me, but Natalie isn't feeling well, and the passenger
placement in their car quickly falls in with the simplicity of a
Rubik's Cube -- she needs to ride up front, or is it in the back with
her dad, and Debbie doesn't want to drive, or...) Eventually it
shakes out to Larry's family in their rented Impala with Debbie
driving, and me and Mom and Dad in Mom's Oldsmobile with Dad
driving.
And we're off!
So we're tooling up some off-shoots of I-85 that I
never knew existed (985, or something like that), and suddenly, Dad's
signalling to Debbie... to pull to the side? Huh? I look
out the back window, and Debbie's signalling what appears to be
NOOOOOO!!!! waving her hands back and forth, which also means STOP!
STTTTTOPPPP!!! So Dad pulls over on the side of an exit, I run
back to see what the problem is, and she's laughing, "No! I was
asking about windshield cleaner!"
And we're off! (And I realize Natalie's
sitting in the front seat with her mom -- I STILL don't know what
happened there.)
Dad's curious about lunch, and we stop to tank up at
a BP and convenience store combo, where we're keen for bathroom breaks
and snacks. Larry's musing lunch at Dillard's (so long since he's
been there... mmmm, vegetables...), and Dad's like, Dillard's? At
lunch time? On a SUNDAY? We're thinking we're supposed to
meet Wayne's crew today, so we opt for a quicker stop. Natalie
and Alex are buying drinks and snacks ("I got peanuts!" Natalie
announced to her mom), and I, more than a little peckish and wanting
lunch soon, note with concern that Larry, too, is buying snacks and
he's taking the driving lead for the next leg of our travels which will
determine when we stop for lunch. Should I buy snacks?
Hmmm....
But it's not long before we stop at Arby's for a
quick sandwich -- Mom wondering what an "Arby's Melt" is and ordering
it and being happy. Natalie and Alex tell me about the terrible
things about fast food they read about, and we discover Alex's
preference for the more-baked part of lasagna, saying it has more
flavor. This reminds Mom of Barry Morris at Larry and Debbie's
wedding, where she made a point of bringing a batch of Congo Squares
for him because he loved them so much. She had trimmed off the
edges so it would be a neat presentation of middle pieces, and the
first thing he did was dig through the box and ask, "Where are the
edges? Those are my favorite!"
And we're off! (After I run back into the
restaurant to get my purse, which I left behind my chair.)
Back on the road, we cruise through the small towns
leading toward the Highlands. Mom remarks that Dillard has
changed so much since she remembers, and Dad replies, "This is
Clayton." "Well, no wonder it looks so different!" Mom
laughs. Dillard is next, and I note that it certainly does look
different from Clayton, I can understand her concern. Mom
comments that Larry is driving extra slowly past the entrance to the
Dillard's restaurant and certainly feeling tortured.
We arrive at Mitchell's Lodge, a quaint mountain
resort looking lodge -- two-story main building and a few cottages,
under a blanket of fir trees with a small lake next to the
pavilion. Very cosy and a couple of blocks from Main Street and
its shops and restaurants. Wayne's crew has yet to arrive, so
Larry checks us in and steps up with several keys. We have
reservations for three rooms and a cottage, which will serve as a
"common meeting place," as well as beds for some. Two of the
rooms have two queen beds, and the third room has one king bed. I
suggest we hurry and pick out the best rooms for ourselves before Wayne
arrives, but Wayne's Chevy Venture (a Warner Brothers van, fully loaded
with a DVD player and Wayne's beloved XM radio, and decorated with a
Chevy racing decal) rolls up the driveway. Too late!
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