There's something about growing up in a small town. It sticks with you, no matter where you go. Part of you is "small town" no matter how many freeways or Starbucks surround you. You never let it go.
We paid a visit to my little town at the beginning of August, taking the trailer on its most exciting (and long) adventure yet. It was my friend Jenni Smith's wedding. Jenni and I became friends in 7th grade, and have remained close ever since. She was married in the mountains near Bishop at Cardinal Lodge. Her wedding was in a little meadow with a stream running behind her, and the mountains towering over her. It was just beautiful, and I'm so happy for her!
Jeff and I and the girls camped in our most "mountainy" place yet...Creekside RV Park in Bishop. There was a little fishing pond at our campground, and Grandpa Tom and Grandma Patty came on our last night there so that Grandpa Tom could take the girls fishing. I think Grandpa Tom has been the first person to take every kid in the family fishing! The girls didn't catch anything, but they had a lot of fun and took it very seriously!
We ate a Schats twice! I never went there when I actually LIVED in Bishop...too touristy. But now, Jeff and I stood in line with all of the other crazy people, waiting for a taste of their delicious bread. We even brought some back for friends down here (although Emma and Grace gave some bread to the ducks at the park.)
Going "home' was so nostalgic! Around every bend lurks a memory. Jeff heard running commentary....there is where we found Buff dog, abandoned and sleeping in a tire. There is the little yellow house I always loved. There is where I ate lunch at the park in high school. There is my favorite bookstore (the little used one behind Vons...) There is where I learned to drive. There is my old bus stop...I remember a bush of wild roses that bloomed nearby. I remember the idiotic boys on the bus who loved to torture us. There is where I took dance lessons. There is the drug store my sister and I would walk to in order to buy stickers, gummy worms, and anything else our quarters would supply.
Jeff and I met in Bishop, long ago, and we laugh at all the silly things our teenage selves were once up to, working at Firehouse Grill, staying out past curfew (when I should have been studying for the SAT's!), walking back to school after lunch. We showed the girls the church where we got married, and they kept asking, "Do ALL people get married at that church? Why did Jenni get married outside?"
I remember my mom and dad driving me around all of their old hangouts in San Diego, and I felt the memories hanging in the air like perfume, imagining my dad pulling up in his loud hot rod to pick my mom up for a date. I was fascinated to see their old houses, their high school. The girls felt just the same about Jeff and me. Very cool!
Enjoy the pictures.
Dawn
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