Leaving Loon Lake 2008

This is "Old Blue"... a nightmare for a car...Shane borrowed it from Tom while his car was being repaired. I had the privelege of experiencing Old Blue on my day into Spokane for the big family reunion! The car died three times on our way into town. With the weather at 100 degrees (and matching humidity) at least I had thought ahead to bring a beach towel to sit on, a water bottle with ice in it and my tie on cooler scarf! The "air conditioner" was all four windows down. Now mind you, I left feeling okay about being dressed for the day...makeup complete, hair sprayed into place. Within two miles of leaving Loon my hair was twisted like Hurricane Ike and the gift I was delivering to my mother in law from Joann, had the tissue paper blowing out of the sack. When we broke down on the 2 between two left lanes of fast moving traffic and an on ramp to the rightYou can imagine the little triangle)..I made the mistake of making the suggestion that we might push to the right side of the shoulder. That idea was shot down quickly in spite of my wisdom. We tried jostling the car from side to side thinking the fuel might get to wherever fuel goes to restart the engine. After 20 minutes of perspiration, sweltering heat and an empty water bottle, I panicked and decided to text Dan in case we needed a AAA tow. When old blue fired up Shane and Keegan were so happy! I was praying the whole way into Spokane fearing we would break down for good. I had Dan meet us in front of Shane's apartment, he said he likes to park Old Blue under the freeway overpass to keep it cool. Please note in the picture, when we stopped Old Blue was steamin' hot...then when we popped open the hood "SPEW", the steam poured out AND the water ran out from somewhere underneath. I hope I never see Old Blue again!

After arriving at Noreen's for our family reunion... all was great!

This is Baby Aiden (on the right) and Baby Brynn (left side) meeting for the first time. It will be fun to see how much they have grown next year when we return!

Keaton is to the right holding the flag high and visible for other boaters to see! Good job Keats.

After Kellen's first attempt at beach starting by himself wasn't successful he was so determined to get up on the kneeboard that he wouldn't give up.! Keegan is helping him with a beach start, he got a little ways and then was such a trooper when he got back on the board, paddling surfer style and finally got up successfully! Way to go Kellen!

Shane Patrick doing the knee board too! Surely it couldn't be that hard, especially with the help of his Coast Guard certified life preserver! Just a sampling of the "fun" and memories we share when we are at the lake!

Here is Dan doing some last minute work from the lake before we start to head home. The morning we woke up to pack and close things up and pull the boat out was cloudy and cold! It made a much better scenario for leaving!

Here is Dan asleep on the dock once all the windows are closed up, boats stored, blow up toys deflated and packed away. Chairs and tables stored.. The "generous" dock was towed back in and our kind neighbors offered to pull it out for the winter! Note the boat is gone and the sun has popped out...

Leaving Loon was bitter sweet!

It is always so hard for me to leave my Spokane family, but always nice to look forward to reconnecting with my Escondido "family" and getting into a routine.