Road Trip Diaries Day 3: I had forgotten my family was this cool!

Hello! Due to inconsistent Internet access I am a bit behind on blogging, but now that I am safely tucked in at the Super 8 in Bozeman, Montana where the wireless network is neither hidden nor encrypted like my Uncle Jon's, I can catch up on all that happened yesterday. It was our first day to take a bit of a break from the road, and my Aunt drove me, Caitlin, and my cousin Lily to go spend the day with a whole bunch of other cousins and various relatives about an hour and a half away in Sandpoint, Idaho. It was perhaps the best day of the trip thus far.

In a Nutshell: Overview of Day Three.

Route: Round trip between Spokane, WA and Sandpoint, ID.
Miles Traveled: 156 today, 1106 total.
Hours in Car: 3 today, 20 total
Coffee Consumed: Caitlin: 1 cup today, 5 cups total. Cortney: 1 cup total. Combined: 6 cups.
Food Highlight of the Day: Aunt Esther's cooking. My cousin Toby married a woman named Jenny, whose mother Esther is an amazing cook. The unhealthy kind of amazing- the sight of little bean burritos deep-frying in a skillet and getting all crispy and flaky on the outside is just beautiful.

Quote of the day: "You're a ∆a/∆t!"(arrived at by the shared contributions of Uncle Jon, who gives jerk cards to employees when they act like jerks, Caitlin, who is nerdy enough to know that a jerk is a unit of measurement for the change in acceleration, and me, because I like creative insults).

Look how close we are to Canada!

Reconnecting and Rediscovering in Sandpoint, ID

     I never even knew my family had a connection to Idaho. Apparently they've been coming up here for years and I've had no idea. My cousin (through marriage) Jenny is from Idaho, and her parents live up at Sandpoint, a resort town on a huge, beautiful lake that is several times larger than Tahoe, and deeper. They have a lakefront house with a dock- a classic summer hangout where we spent a day just playing and enjoying life. 

     It has been years since I saw my young cousins- Jon & Tanya's daughter Lily, and Toby & Jenny's daughters Hannah and Sierra. Hannah is old enough to remember me vaguely, but Sierra didn't remember me at all when I first said hi to her. Now that Hannah and Lily are teenagers, I want to hang out with them more and be around to act as that older-but-not-old female cousin. You know, so I can be there as they go through high school and deal with boys and all of that crazy stuff. 

    So, Step 1: Remind my cousins that I exist. 

    Step 2: Meet the family members I didn't know about. (Apparently I have family members in Paris? Cool! Not to mention Toby & Jenny have a new puppy.) 

    Step 3: Have a fantastic day! 

    Step 4: Remember to do it again soon. 

Bonding with my newest family member, 8-week-old Tucker.

   The adventures started when I followed my Parisian cousin of sorts, 9-year-old Chloe, in jumping off the dock into the lake. Lake Ponderay doesn't warm up until late in the summer, but by August it is absolutely lovely for swimming. After taking the first plunge, it wasn't long until I had to inquire about the jet skis sitting tied to the dock-- so, my cousin Toby (Hannah and Sierra's dad) took me out on the jet ski. Hannah warned me he would probably almost kill me, which I was convinced of as he did donuts and dove the front end of that thing all the way under the water. But, at least he showed me how to work it so I could go out and be almost as crazy on my own :-) Somewhere there is a photo of me and Caitlin on the jet ski, but my Aunt has it and it may or may not surface. Anyway, we took turns driving and going full tilt across the huge lake and screaming when we hit big waves and got some serious air (and jolts upon returning to the water). Someday when I have a real job, I will buy a jet ski.

    After lunch, my cousins learned that I had NEVER gone tubing behind a boat- and that had to be remedied. 

Enough said.

   The beautiful part about family is that you never really have to grow up. With friends, you all are about the same age and you go through the same growing up processes at the same time. With family, there are always older kids and younger kids and big kids with their big motor powered toys and little kids with their fantastic sense of adventure and ability to bounce without being injured. I am old enough to play with the big kid toys now, which puts me in the perfect place to enjoy myself like a child but have the powers of an adult. I am the perfect age for having ridiculous amounts of fun, and doing these things with my family members of all ages makes it so much better. I can see why people actually hang out with their families. I certainly intend to do it more often! My family is pretty awesome. 

     Anyway, we drove back to my Aunt and Uncle's house in Spokane (Uncle Jon finally got back from his business trip), and all of us except for Lily got tipsy on wine and whiskey and shared hilarious stories like the one about when my dad and Jon spent a summer living in a chicken coop at a commune and working as horseback trail guides until my dad's shenanigans got them fired. And I now know where my whiskey-drinking ways come from- a whole lot of the women in my family are good strong whiskey drinkers, and I am proud to be among them! 

     I'm pretty sure my Aunt and Uncle are some of my new favorite drinking buddies. And my teenage cousins are a blast for girl talk. The little cousins help me loosen up and do some pretty crazy shit. And the cute bustling old women cook amazing meals to help us recover from grandpas' and uncles' attempts to flip the inner tubes over whenever we are daring enough to put ourselves at the mercy of them and their speedboats. 

    I guess what I'm trying to say is my family is frickin' awesome, and this road trip has reminded me of that in the funnest of ways. 

My reasons for including this photo of Tucker should be obvious.