Stow Aways: Chapman Family Reunion - Rio Grande River Trip

David only has one sibling here in NM. The rest all live in fairly nearby states after being scattered across the country for a couple of decades. Grandma, Grandpa, and Christine live next door to us in Rio Rancho, Jane and family live in Denver, John and family live in Phoenix, and Brian and Family live in San Diego. Even though we get to see them more lately, it is still pretty rare that all his siblings are together at the same time, especially the cousins who are growing up fast, starting to leave the nest and making little lives of their own. Sadly, we kind of think it might be the last time we were all together. I can't imagine we'll be able to round up all those young-adult cousins again, but who knows!

This was the 3rd family reunion since I married into the family. The last was in Salt Lake and before that in Pittsburgh. This time we gathered in good ol' Albuquerque. David kind of took on the planning of everything and did a really great job picking activities that seemed to please most of the crowd.

Everyone drove (or flew) in on June 14th and 15th. Friday night the 15th, we had Dion's catered dinner (btw - GREAT way to feed a bunch of people good food for seriously cheap) and then went on a guided kayak trip down the Rio Grande. I was pretty skeptical. The Rio Grande can be less than a foot deep in places and doesn't look all that scenic when you are driving over it on the freeway. But, little did we know that just a little further north, the river is totally gorgeous with green vegetation on the banks and is totally undeveloped and untouched for many many miles.

We rented a couple dozen single kayaks and started our float. A little paddling was required, but not enough to prevent too many of us from doing it. The smaller kids did ride with adults, and Evan decided he didn't want to try to go. But, 81-year-old Grandpa Earl paddled his whole way down and even Aunt Christine gave it a try and made it quite far by herself.

We went on a sunset tour in the evening which meant a lot of shade from the hot NM sun. I was extremely satisfied to discover that even on a river in the evening, there are VERY few bugs here in NM. It is one of the top 3 reasons I moved here - no bugs. So, good thing NM continues to come through for me.

Harriet went in my boat. Her favorite part was the tiny "rapid" area of the river. She had my camera and did a good job of not getting it wet. David was crazy and gave his really expensive Nikon and the same job to Grace. Luckily, that made it through dry too, although she didn't have it on the right settings and took no less than 500 blurry pictures.

At the end of about 7 miles, the river guides pulled our boats out and led us to a spot they had all ready for us to sit by a fire pit, roast marshmallows, and have evening snacks until after dark.

This river company was SO great. I would totally go back. They did all the hard work for everything - boats, shuttles to and from the river, food, etc. It made things so nice for us.

GEARING UP:

awww... Clare and Alec... I remember babysitting these 2 when they were teeny tiny.

for real

my little skipper

David's mini-me

Grandma getting a nice ride with the guide! She was too nervous to paddle.

David and Grace

(Harriet thought the water was beautiful. Guess I should take her to the Hawaii.)

Grandpa

The whole crew.

Aunt Christine!

Janie and Jane

Chelsea and Stephanie

Natalie

Chelsea, Wendy

The Hatsters and Me

Clare, Alec

Aunt Wendy

Aunt Sue

Jenifer's Husband, Luke

Uncle John

Jeremiah

Chelsea

Uncle Brian

Ben

The oldest Chapman cousin - Jenifer. What a trooper - paddling while newly pregnant. (She announced the news around the campfire a few minutes later!! Looks like she'll make a great-grandma and grandpa out of Barbara and Earl.)