Vacation: The sibs & spouses gather

Friday, August 6, 2010

SIB REUNION. My pillbox tells me it is Friday and my cell phone says it is 7:05 a.m. but my laptop really tells the truth, 9:05 a.m. By my internal clock I am still in Central Time as my laptop reports. But the Minton brothers, their sister and all the spouses are gathered for a Sibling Reunion in Alpine, AZ so we go by Arizona time, 7:05 a.m.

From oldest to youngest we are Bob & Rose from Mt. Pleasant, SC (near Charleston).







Frank & Barbara from Crockett, TX (and yes, two of the Minton brothers married a Barbara!)







Thomas & I from El Dorado Springs, MO.








Jeanie & Densell from Snyder, TX.

The east Texas Mintons drove to Snyder and the four of them rode together the rest of the way. Thomas and I arrived on Wednesday and the rest came in late Thursday afternoon.






Oh, yes, one more! I almost forgot Dolly, Bob & Rose’s golden retriever—a gentle, quiet, sociable creature.





Alpine sits up in the mountains of south east Arizona, just across the border from New Mexico at 8,046 feet elevation, visually very similar to some parts of Switzerland, thus, perhaps, the name Alpine. Frank tells us that the temperature was 43 degrees this morning when he got up! So a fire is blazing in the fireplace. This morning Frank saw 8 elk coming out of the woods and grazing in the meadow—a sighting we all envy. But he was up at 4:30 this morning so we didn’t envy him long.

THE CABIN. Thomas and I arrived on Wednesday, the second day of our week’s vacation. We left MO about 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday and spent our first night in Amarillo, TX. Bob & Rose were already in Alpine, having driven cross-country to Tucson a few days earlier to visit with friends before coming to the cabin. They lived in Tucson almost 40 years before moving to South Carolina. And the “cabin” we are using belongs to one of their church friends from Wilcox, AZ.

“Cabin” is not an appropriate description of this dwelling—made of logs, yes, but massive, huge, gigantic logs, with 5 good-sized bedrooms, 2 full baths, a full kitchen with island, two dining areas (one with a regular dining table, hutch, and chairs; the other with a long picnic-style table with benches. The food –and-fellowship areas are located in a great room with fireplace and vaulted ceiling on one end and the kitchen on the other. A V-shaped sectional couch facing the fireplace completes the space.

On our second day here I discovered a sitting room just off the great room! It would pass as a screened in porch except the screens have been replaced by windows looking out into the meadow and woods. None of us has ventured into this room simply because we had already discovered the back porch outfitted with outdoor table and chairs, plus a huge hammock. Sitting there we look out over this same meadow and woods (where the elk appeared this morning). On the other side of the house is an actual screened porch that serves as a wood shed and storage area.

The owners of the “cabin” live in Tucson and make the retreat house available to church groups, friends and family. Décor is a southwestern/hunter/lodge motif. Hunting trophies hang on the walls. Perhaps the most impressive is a massive buffalo head affectionately named Bubba. This head adorns a beam in the great room and jerky made from Bubba whets our pallet. Above the fireplace hangs an elk head. To the right and left of the fireplace hang a horned antelope and a mountain goat. All heads are hunting trophies of Joe Briggs, cabin owner.


Frank brought the latest addition to the cabin décor—an antler lamp, designed and created by Frank Minton, himself.

Tomorrow's blog: Table Talk & Food for Thought