It's the age old question really. "What are the ingredients for a life-changing, memory-making, never-to-be-topped-again-road trip?" I have no clue. I just know this road trip was NOT one of those...
The Elkin Family Reunion exists for 3 people: My grandmother, Billie, and her sisters Jean and Betty. The rest of us are just supporting family members who show up because we know its important to the Elkin sisters. I can't tell you how long it has taken place in Forrest City, AR, but the only reason we meet there is because its about halfway between Houston, TX where 2 of the sisters live(d), and Muncy, IN where my Great Aunt Jean lives.
In past years I've had legitimate excuses for skipping the family reunion: I was in school, I lived in Boston (too far), but this year was different, I had no such excuse. So back in April I promised my grandmother I'd be there, no matter what. I made this promise without investigating how one gets to Forrest City. Not easy is the answer. You can either drive 9 hours from Austin, or you can fly into either Little Rock and drive 1.5hrs or fly into Memphis (yes, Tennessee) and drive 45 minutes. Flying was too expensive, since I waited until 3 weeks before the reunion to check out flights. Fortunately, at the last minute, my sister Sara decided that the sacrifice was worth it and she'd drive with me to AR.

We left at 3pm on Friday and drove straight through to Forrest City, arriving at about 1am. Unfortunately, there was no Rosa's along the way to stop at, so we had to choose Wendy's instead in Greenville, TX. We could have stopped at "TaMolly's" in Greenville. Yes. You read that correctly. There is an actual "Mexican" restaurant named "TaMolly's." Original? Yes. Classy? No.

As anyone would be, myself, my sister, and my 12yr old niece were exhausted when we arrived (my niece more than anyone because she talked most of the last hour of the trip. Apparently she "loves" every song on the "new music/hip hop" station and could we please turn it up...) so I texted my aunt when we got there to let her know we had arrived safely and we would be getting up at about 9am to get ready. I PURPOSEFULLY did this knowing, that if I didn't, my aunt or my grandmother would be calling as soon as they got up, i.e. 630am to see if we were alive. "How clever of me!" I thought. I was one step ahead! My aunt would get the text, she would tell my grandmother in the morning and I would sleep peacefully until at least 9am, thereby getting all 8 hours of sleep that my heart desires. The best laid plans of mice and men... My wonderful, loving, caring, thoughtful grandmother called at 745am. I, being the equally loving, caring, thoughtful granddaughter (in my eyes at least), got up, turned the phone off, and promptly fell back asleep. Who calls at 745am on a SATURDAY???

(This story is getting longgggg)

Ok, so our reunion consisted of all 20 of us sitting in an unairconditioned pavilion with 2 small oscillating fans at a state park. Did I mention its June, in Arkansas, with no airconditioning?? We arrived, I struggled to remember both third cousins names, and within 5 minutes of arriving my 4th cousin (yeah, that took me awhile to figure that out) Morgan, who's five, asked me if she could be my friend. That was pretty much the highlight of the 6 hours we spent in the UNAIRCONDITIONED pavilion. After about 2 hours of small talk and catching up, we ate grilled hamburgers and hotdogs. Then after lunch, half way through the 6 hours in the UNAIRCONDITIONED pavilion, my Aunt Betty asked, "Well, what do we want to do for next year's reunion?" hmmm, maybe find a place that is air conditioned?

After 6 HOURS in the UNAIRCONDITIONED pavilion, we decided we had all sweated enough for one reunion and decided to wrap it up. We drove back into the hopping metropolis of Forrest City, cleaned up, and met back up at the Ole Saw Mill Cafe. Doesn't get much better than that.

30 hours after arriving, my sister, my niece and I packed up for the 9hr drive back to Texas. My aunt, uncle and grandparents were planning on leaving at 8am, so when the girls and I meandered down to my grandparents room to say goodbye, we thought they'd be up, dressed, and waiting to leave.... Oh. Boy. Couldn't be more wrong. I can't remember ever seeing my grandparents in their skivvies. And yet, that's exactly what I was greeted with when we knocked on the door. An awesome ending to a classic family reunion...