October has traditionally been a busy month in my family. In addition to harvest, and Halloween, it’s my mom’s birthday, my son’s birthday, now my grandson’s birthday, and this year, it’s a family wedding! Eric, my son for thirty-three years, just became a husband, and we welcomed a beautiful young lady into our family. Life is abundant!
We were on our way from the northern California coast to the central California Coast (location of the wedding) but had to detour to the SJ valley for a couple of reasons. We had to go by storage to pick up a couple of things (Tom’s suit, heavier coats, etc.) and I had to pop in to old-job to help the new bookkeeper with the quarterly reports.
Luckily and thankfully, old-boss (who is actually young!) let us park the rig at his lot. I actually got to walk to work next door! Tom spent the few days visiting with his former workmates and his daughter and working on our cell phone plans.
Then it was off to Pismo Beach for a very active and family filled weekend.
We haven’t seen the grandson for a couple of months, so it was a delight to see him when my daughter and her family arrived for rehearsal dinner. I knew from last time to take it slow, as he had to learn who we were all over again. But it wasn’t long before he cuddled up real nice and it was wonderful.
The day of the wedding started early as we got to have breakfast with our son-in-law and grandson Casen while mom was off getting her hair done with the other bridesmaids. Then we got to keep Casen up until wedding time when we delivered him outfitted in his baby tux!
The wedding was lovely. Our new daughter-in-law, Jordyn, saw to every detail and it all went off without a hitch. It was so nice to see my handsome son looking so happy. I can’t wait to see some formal pictures of the pretty couple and their good looking wedding party.
There didn’t seem to be enough time at the reception to visit with everyone.
My brother and his wife flew in from Arkansas, and one of their daughters flew in from England! They all came over with my mother.
So there was a lot of catching up to do. Luckily, they stayed a couple of days longer, so we had them over for dinner before they left.
There are so many members in Jordyn’s family, I don’t think I even got to say hi to them all.
And there were so many old friends that went back to my Tulare days, that not only did I not get to talk to them all, I didn’t even recognize a few (sorry Melissa!).
My BFF since eighth grade was there, so that was awesome! In fact, it was a mini eighth grade reunion as here are three of us from our graduating class of nine!
It was a little sad that my son’s dad wasn’t there, but his presence was felt. And his dear relatives were there so it was wonderful for me to be able to visit with that side of the family. We got to spend some time with my ex brother-in-law and his family which was very nice. He has a beautiful wife and three wonderful daughters that are young ladies now and delightful to visit with.
It was also disappointing that Tom’s daughters were unable to attend. It would have been great to have all the kids together. But it will be fun to share the pictures with them.
When Casen had had enough, we bowed out to take him home and we got to have him spend the night with us. Our first grand-kid overnight in the motorhome – I hope it’s the first of many more!
We got some great play time with him when he woke up before taking him to re-unite with his parents at the first of his One-Year-Old birthday parties. So most (unfortunately not all) of Casen’s maternal side of the family were together to celebrate. It was wonderful. The newlyweds even showed up!
Then everyone had to split to go their separate ways. (We only had to drive a few minutes away to our home at the coast.)
But we did have some extra time with my niece from England when they came to dinner, and we plan on drit wasn’t bad having Casen and his parents leave because we’ll be having a lengthy visit with them in just a couple of weeks.
Losing touch with friends and family is one big reason people don’t want to full-time travel. But for us, I feel it’s had the opposite effect.
Had this wedding happened when we were working and living in old-house, this might have been a stressful and short weekend. But now that the whirlwind of family activity is over, instead of going back to our jobs, we get to go back to our vacationing! And truly enjoy this exceptional weather we’re having here on the central coast.
Happy Travels,
Peace & Love, Joy
PS – the top picture is (from L to R) my daugher and her son, me, my stepmother, my new daughter-in-law, and my mother – taken at the bridal shower.
Precious family memories and all those beautiful smiling faces, especially the bride and groom. This is a sweet post, Joy–and there is nothing like family and time with them! We’ve found that this lifestyle allows us more quality time with family members we used to only see on vacations. I cherish our family time!
Yes, it’s really been an unexpected benefit!