Pettingill Reunion in Spokane

This year I got to host the Pettingill reunion and we had everybody there except Adam and Lynnette. It was a blast! I was a bit overwhelmed at times, mostly concerned with having enough food and accommodations for everyone but it turned out so fun!

I had planned to ride the Hiawatha bike trail on the ID/MT border followed by the gondola ride up the Silver Mountain. The next day we toured Buck Knife factory and played at the water all afternoon. Next, we spent all day at Silverwood and the last day was a free day for people to do what they wanted. 

The thing I was looking forward to the most was the Hiawatha trail and I had the perfect conditions - my whole family was with me!! That has been #1 on my bucket list since we moved to WA. Everything started out well with the 1.6 mile pitch black tunnel although it was muddy from water running down the mountain. No problem, we all had headlights on our bikes. I started out pretty strong but then Cora became scared and disoriented as she made her way into the tunnel. As much as I tried to bike and then walk the bike alongside with her, we weren't making any progress and falling behind our group. We turned around and I asked the bike folks to put a tandem bike onto mine so Cora and I could pedal together and she wouldn't be so scared. After failing to find necesarry parts they concluded that it wouldn't be possible to attach the tandem to my bike. I asked for a bigger bike so we could attach the tandem to it, but that didn't happen either. So the only option was to give Cora more headlights and we started back down the dark, long tunnel again. She did great, she tried her best, and we ended up just walking it. Mind you, the group is now 2.5 hours ahead of us and I was just crushed. I knew if Cora could just get to the end of the tunnel that she would be fine and she'd conquer her fear. But the darkness was so disorienting. I kept encouraging her and cheering her on, she had to stop walking a few times. I was so defeated in that dark tunnel, alone with her. I felt so helpless and hopeless and I wanted nothing more than to ride this trail with my family.

After what seemed like an eternity, Cora and I still walking our bikes through the tunnel, we see Lance biking back to meet us. He didn't stop, he only said "I'll take Cora back, you finish the trail although you'll never catch up with your family." I was so grateful he came to relieve me and once I got out of the tunnel, I started to bike the trail but realizing I was about 3 hours behind at this point, I knew it would be foolish of me to finish the trail by myself - what if I got a flat tire, what if I got injured, what if...? Biking by myself on a 15 mile trail isn't smart, and it would mean everybody would be waiting at least 3 hours for me to finish up at the end, and I wouldn't enjoy it at all because I'd be by myself. I made the decision to turn back and wait at the trail head. That dream was crushed and I was bitter about it. It was NOT Cora's fault and I've learned over the last decade that we have to adapt to certain situations and it was just a difficult moment with my special girl. In fact, Cora did amazingly well with the physical aspect of it and not giving up, she gave it her all and I was proud of her. Biking the Hiawatha is still on my bucket list.

Remember the story of Scott and Christine on the saucer swing when the cable broke? Well, I got some stronger cable this time and had Scott climb the tree to get the cable around the limb. We had to use some ingenuity to hoist him up there and get him down. These four brothers were laughing so hard, it ended up being our entertainment for that night.

I didn't take very many pictures at all because I was usually helping with food or organizing or driving or anything else. But I sure love my family to pieces and they mean the world to me!!!