Reunion Delayed 2022

After a delay of over 2 years and after more that 4 years from the last Jan and I are finally attending our biyearly Stippler family reunion. This is quite a production and lots of planning goes into one of events. Jan comes from a large family with many brothers and sisters. Many children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren.  The plan was for 60 to attend and 55 have showed up. We have 2 big houses with 12 bedrooms and even more bathrooms. 

The kitchens in these buildings are well equipped to handle this large crowd. Because eating at a Stippler reunion is a competitive sport. Dinner is served table for 55! This year we have divided the dinner meal between families. That way different groups get to be in-charge of planning and execution of these big meals. There is always enough to eat.

The other thing that is done is playing games. Lots of games. Card games, dominoes, Bingo, and dice for the adults and then plenty of box games for the kids. As well as various video and computer games. Most evenings after dinner everyone is gathered around a table playing games, talking and laughing. Often late into the night.

We even had a bingo game for the kids that involved Grandpa Art who is back home in Evansville. He Skyped in for a game with the kids. 

As well as playing games we also took some hikes to see the natural beauty of this area of Kentucky. On  Sunday several of us hiked in the Natural Bridge State Park to see the stone arch that is the park's namesake. This was  billed as an easy 1/2 mile hike. After we had finished the hike our phones and watches measured over 3 miles. I'm not sure how the discrepancy happened. 

Even with the addition of several miles to the hike we had a good time and seeing the big stone arch was interesting. We were able to hike up to and over the top of the arch. There was quite a view of the surrounding forest from on top of the arch.  

On Monday July 27th we hiked to a different stone arch called "Rock Bridge Arch" This is the only true stone bridge in the area because a river does flow beneath it. This hike we did with a bunch of the younger ones. The kids really enjoyed the "swimming hole" at the waterfall near the arch. The boys even found that near the waterfall was a smooth rock that they could slide down. 

On Wednesday we took a little drive over to Stearns, Kentucky for a train ride and to visit a coal mine. One of the things I learned during our visit to Kentucky is that there is a lot of land and this little drive was two hours of winding through the hills of Kentucky. But we got to the train station on time with minutes to spare.  

This was good because Jan had all our tickets for the "Big South Fork Scenic Railway" on her phone. We went right from our car to the ticket counter and then to the train. It  was an interesting ride and the "conductor" on the train gave us a running commentary of the area. She even pointed out a section near the track that in her opinion was the largest mud dauber nest ever. 

After the train ride we arrived at the Barthell Coal Mining Camp. This coal mine was first opened over 100 years ago. We took a tour and learned some of the history of coal mining in this area of Kentucky. This was hard and dangerous work but for the time paid much better than any other work available in the area. 

Our guide took us into one of the mines of the camp. This mine had modern improvements in that we could stand up in the mine. When the mine was dug most areas were only a foot or so taller than the seam of coal.  The seams of coal were only about 3 feet thick. So the miners spent 12 hours a day on their hands and knees in cold, wet, dirty conditions.

Some of the original mining equipment was still in the mine. 

On Tuesday we had a celebration of life for Bill Whitehouse. My sister-in-law Patty, Bill's wife put it all together. Patty invited all the Stippler relations as well as Bill's brother and sister and their family too. 

We had a very nice slide show of Bill's life. Many of his travels and adventures were touched upon. My brother-in-law Tom put together a slide show of all the cars Bill owned. There were many and Patty still has 4 of them.

Once the slide show was over we all got together on the front porch for a family picture.

I also got a picture of Patty with Bill's brother and sister. 

After the pictures we all went back inside for a great meal catered by the Cliffview Resort. Patty had picked out many of Bill's favorite foods with an emphasis on the desserts that he especially liked. 

On Thursday the 30th several of us went on an adventure back to the Natural Bridge State Park to ride the sky lift back up to the stone arch we had visited earlier in the week. We rode up the mountain and wandered around. We saw some sights we had missed the last visit and then had a relaxing ride back down the mountain. I must say that it was much easier than hiking up the mountain. 

We also had campfires and cooked s'mores. 

A bunch of the kids went out in the evening and caught lightning bugs. Some of the older kids hunted bugs too.

And we played more games. This is a hard hitting game of Polish Poker.

We also had time for naps. 

And a cooling dip in the pool.

After we were done and had checked out for the week all the sibs caravaned  over to Evansville to see Grandpa Art. He was quite excited to see us all.

 This was a successful family reunion and I  can't wait for the next one. A dice game is waiting.

 

P.S. On reviewing this post I realized the time line kinda jumps around. The way I write these is by reviewing the pictures I took and writing from their inspiration. The thoughts don't always come in the correct order.