Bro Reunion

Dad's place in Oakdale

The four boys. Back together at the "second annual Wilbanks brother's reunion"! We are here in Oakdale at Dad's place. It has been nice with Dad. He has really enjoyed having all of us here, and I think Don has appreciated the company.

I left Thursday afternoon after tying up some loose ends around the house. I got a late start because of it, but the drive went smoothly, even through Sacramento's rush hour. Traffic was very light for that time of day, and I never dropped below 60 on the speedometer.

Number three and number four.

I arrived at 8:15 in Oakdale just in time for grilled burgers. Donnie was slicing the tomatoes as I walked in the door. John had already made the patties, so we were grinding on the burgers by about 8:35! So after dinner we watched some TV. We bought a "Guy movie" on Pay Per View, "The Eagle". It was about some Roman soldier looking to recover a lost flag standard (a golden eagle statue) that belonged to his father's lost legion. It was a pretty fun movie to watch. We hit the sack around 12:30 am, except for Dad and Don who stayed up and watched Jay Leno.

Next morning I decided to do my daily walk/run before we picked up Mike at the Sacramento airport. Maggie is my personal trainer, and the pressure is on! As I was warming up, John asked if he could come along. Fantastic! So after my careful (and thorough) warm-up, we were off. John showed the way on a very nice urban trail system that his company had designed into the subdivision where Dad's house is. Winding trails through grassy parks, and along powerline and irrigation rights of way. It was a very enjoyable run.

Mickey explains the fine points of something!

We picked up Mike at around 10:45 in Sacto and after a quick stop at Tri Tool (Mike's employer) and lunch at Togo's sandwich shop we were reunited with Don and Dad.

A highlight of the day was when John picked up his guitar and and began singing. Don came in with his beautiful baritone, and you should have seen the grin spread across Dad's face! They sang several old favorites, but when they went into "Tom Doolie" Dad finally joined in on the chorus. I won't say he was on key, but it was fantastic to listen to! We all enjoyed it immensely.

This is the "Grill reunion", as it was John's turn on the bbq. Cedar plank salmon was on the menu, with rice cooked by Don, and a sauteed vegetable medley by yours truly. Man, we are eating good!

Chef Donaldo!

That night's movie was "Unknown" starring Liam Neeson. It was another action flick with a very quirky plot that you couldn't figure out until the very last. Enjoyed it! It was another late night, as John, Mike and I hit the rack around 12:30.

Yesterday was project day. I changed the oil in my new beetle, helped Don put safety bars on the shower to help Dad get in and out, Don did some yard work, and John rotated the tires on his car. I did my running again, and ended at Big 5 to buy some running shoes. OK, I'm committed now!

Jeff the Neff fashions chums for his Oakleys out
of a shoestring

The Saturday grill was Mike's coffee rubbed tri-tip. Wow! Another awesome meal. I grilled some sweet purple onions, John made some awesome mashed potatoes, and Don made the salad with home grown tomatoes (so sweet!). The meat was perfectly done (as usual) by Mike the Webermeister! Mike and I took the night off from the movies, while John and Don went to see Transformers!

Sunday we went on a raft trip down the Stanislaus! It was great. Perfect weather, just warm enough to be comfortable but a long way from hot! Jeff brought his buddy Greg along to make a sixsome. The river was running very high, four times higher than normal at over 2,000 cfs (cubic feet per second). So, a four to five hour float turned into a 2 and a half hour trip.

Captain Don, and Counter-Captain Mike

Some things never change!

It took a bit for us to get down the commands. Don and Mike sat in the back as captain and co-captain. We quickly realized that Don could not remember right from left, but lickily Mike countermanded most of the bogus commands. We started calling him "Counter Captain"! After a while we decided we needed to follow "Robert's Rules of Order" in deciding how to paddle the boat. I made a motion to turn left at one point, but the command died for lack of a second" At another juncture, by the time we got a motion seconded, had discussion, called for a vote and voted to turn right, we needed to turn left! Eventually, we just settled down and freelanced. It worked out better that way.

We took out at Orange Blossom bridge, and rode the bus back to the put in point. From there we trekked to Modesto to the closest In and Out burger joint. Mike had a carving for a Double Double and fries "animal style". We had good burgers, and fries, and soda there. Finally, we said goodbye to Greg and Jeff, and headed back to Dad's.

The four Brothers.

Tomorrow morning I will drive Mike back to Sac airport. We will leave at about 4:00 am. It has been a great weekend. Getting back all four of us is fantastic. So much fun, and great memories. I am already looking forward to next year's "3rd annual Wilbanks Brother's Reunion"!

That's All!!