Family gathering in Manistee

We hadn't been home two weeks from our trip visiting family in New England before we were back on the road again, this time catching up with the extended Bergman clan. 

The Bergman family --  consisting of nieces Christina, Melissa, and Rachel and nephew Jonathan, their spouses and their various children (ages 5ish to 20ish) -- have been gathering together (along with their parents) for reunions for some years. This year they planned to gather at a VRBO rental just north of Manistee, MI thanks to dad Carl's intrepid searching for a place to accommodate all of them. 

photo courtesy of Joyce Caldwell

So we grabbed our backpacks, toiletries and sundry items and headed off to Manistee. It was a nice, short (2-hour) drive up US 31 and, notwithstanding the frequently terrible roads here, we zipped right along on a gorgeous afternoon. Once we arrived in Manistee we searched for our hotel and found it right on the beach overlooking Lake Michigan.

After checking in we made our way to where the clan had settled in for the better part of the week. 

It turns out that Tuesday night was taco night compliments of Jonathan and his wife Naomi. (The siblings had divvied up the cooking with each family group responsible for a night of cooking.)

We had the great privilege of joining them for dinner followed by a laugh-filled round of Bernice Game sitting outside next to the fire pit.

The next morning after a walk down the beach to the lake we checked out of our hotel and returned to the Bergman apartments for a serious round of Bingo with Prizes. 

Eventually we had to say adieu and, a little after noon, we headed east to McBain in Missaukee County to catch up with Harvey Lucas and his wife Ev. Cousins of Susan's mom, we had not seen Harv and Ev for perhaps a couple of years or more and needed to spend some time sharing news and stories.

After plenty of warm conversation we said our second round of adieus to family and headed back home.  

There's nothing like spending time with family: from cute kids to lovely seniors it was a truly wonderful 24 hours on the road!