On the weekend of June 29, 2018, I drove down to Santa Cruz California. I usually make about two trips a year to visit family, and the special occasion for this trip was my niece Sierra’s wedding.

I am fortunate to have so many great nieces and nephews. I don’t feel that there should have to be a third generation of children to be able to refer to them as Great Nieces and Great Nephews. All of my nieces and nephews on both sides of my family are considerate, thoughtful, caring, kind people who love their family (and their uncle), and because of that, I think they are all GREAT and love them all so so much!

In fact, in a later blog post, I will rank them in order of greatest to least greatest.

… actually, I probably won’t do that.

Sierra is my oldest niece and married a gentleman by the name of Luke Dillon, who placed seventh last year in my fantasy football league and missed the playoffs. I would not mention his performance, or lack thereof, but because of what they say about nice guys finishing last, it is possible that his unfavorable position in the standings might be a favorable reflection of his character, as he is definitely a nice guy.

The wedding took place in the hills outside Corralitos in a wooded area at the Koinonia Conference Grounds, approximately 148 miles west from my parents home in La Grange, where I had stayed the night before after traveling 598 miles from Springfield Oregon. Thankfully, I was able to stay with my brother Heath and Jennifer at a cabin overnight after the wedding on the Conference Grounds.

The following day, we delivered the kegs and food from the wedding back to Heath and Jennifer’s place in aromas. Once there, we reconvened with the family where some of us continued conversations about the president, U.S. trade relations with China, and the Carlos Book Club for Beginners. It was also on this day that LeBron announced his decision to sign with the Lakers, only to be upstaged the following day by the announcement of DeMarcus Cousins to sign with the Warriors.

DAY THREE

The last day before the 598 mile trek back to Springfield, I was able to spend the day with my sister Christy’s family in Aptos, where we had lunch and went on a bike ride at Seacliff Beach.

Overall, during the four day trip, I traveled approximately 1,260 miles. More than a quarter of the distance that it would take to reach the center of the earth, but only an eighth of the distance to reach the other side of the earth traveling through the core.

This is the distance I travel to see my family.