We had some making up to do: during our 2016 East Coast circuit we missed visiting Rosemarie’s Aunt Clarivel and cousins Betsy, Marissa, and their family.  This year we made sure Atlanta was on the route to remedy this.   We made the three hour drive from Wanee Lake, a surprising portion of which was on back roads, up to Snellville, a bit outside of Atlanta proper.

The welcoming comittee

They had told us that Marissa’s driveway was easily long enough to accommodate Serenity, what went unstated was how very steep it was.  Undeterred, we noted that the unpaved area on the left had a bit less of an angle, and with extra blocks placed under the hydraulics, we were able to get our rig almost level, though that left us with about a three foot climb to get in and out!

Hard to show how hard it was to get leveled, but Serenity’s front wheels are off the ground, and in this pic you can just make out the rigged up platform I made to get in and out. 

Rose had not seen this part of her family in eight years, so it was great to catch up, and they welcomed us completely.  Clarivel is Rosemarie’s aunt on her mothers side, Betsy is her daughter (Rose’s 1st cousin), and Marissa, Gami, and Daniela, are Betsy’s children (Rose’s 1st cousins, once removed.)  Marissa and her husband Ray have two children, almost three year old Annalise and newborn Sarah.

L to R: Rose, Jack, Ray, Marissa, baby Sarah, Betsy, Annalise, Daniela, Clarivel, and Gami.

Betsy made us excellent lasagna for our arrival dinner, while we contributed with a big Cinco de Mayo steak and taco BBQ meal for the whole clan, cooked in stages on our little Weber grill.   Marissa found it quite humorous that we casually referred to Serenity as “our house” but we were the “home owners” on that lot able to provide a big boiling pot and a working gas grill!

It still surprises us how much PKM tolerates children, but Annalise was particularly gentle.

While there Rosemarie and Marissa exchanged Cricut stories and ideas; a Cricut is a machine that look like a big ink jet printer, but it is capable of cutting (and drawing) on a wide array if materials.  It is the absolute rage in the crafting circule of late, and Marissa is particularly adept at employing it.  She has a bit of a part time, self employed job making birthday decorations and the like.  Really nice stuff.

I was even able to introduce Gami to geocaching during a run to the store on afternoon.  All in all this was an excellent family visit, and we are forever thankful to Marissa and Ray for hosting us in their driveway, and hope the neighborhood watch did not get too excited about the situation.  And Rosemarie is particularly grateful for Titi Clarivel’s homemade flan that we were able to abscond with during our departute.