When the kids are on break from school, we try to get away with Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle Joel's family for a few days of rest, relaxation, and food!
Usually, these breaks take place around New Year's, but we have gone during Spring Break as well. Past get-aways have taken place in Dillon Beach and Discovery Bay where we rent a big house for a few days to spend
time doing jigsaw puzzles, drinking wine (not the kids), talking, listening to music, and eating clam dip. It's a nice break from our normal routines and we always look forward to having "family time".
On the afternoon of Sunday, April 12, 2015 we drove up to Dillon Beach for our annual family get-together. This was our 4th year at this beach
house in Dillon Beach. We love this annual trip because we can all visit with one another for a good amount of time with no distractions. Seriously,
up until last year there wasn't any internet connection or tv. Even cell phone service was bad. In the past there was a ping-pong table downstairs
but this year, to our dismay, it was gone. Still, we were all able to work together and complete two jigsaw puzzles. Usually, we can only finish one.
The other thing we love about this trip is the food! As in years past, there was plenty of clam dip. We also had our favorite meals like katsu curry, brats
with mashed pototoes, udon, and steak! When the weather is nice we always venture down to the beach as well. This year we found plenty of seashells
and sand dollars. We can't wait until we head back next year!
Dillon Beach, April 2015.
Curry.
Katsu.
Mom's mac salad.
Snack table!
Potato chip corner in the kitchen.
Gorgeous sunset to end the day.
4/13/15
Uncle Joel grilling veggies. Mom's supervising.
Dad grilling the brats.
Fire grilled steaks!
Mashed potatoes and mushrooms.
Look at all the colors!
Grandpa and Grandma.
Jordyn, Mom, and Uncle Joel.
Grandma, Dad, Connor, and Tyler.
Gotta clean the grill. We want our full cleaning fee refunded.
Our last two get-aways were spent in Discovery Bay at a wonderful house on the water. Unfortunately, we only come up for a few days and that house now requires a minimum 1-week stay. So, we looked
at Dillon Beach again, and while we weren't able to stay at the same house we used to rent, we were able to find a suitable replacement just up and across the road.
Dillon Beach 2019
Fun
One of the main reasons we do this annual get-away is to have fun. Going to the beach and walking on the sand is always a must-do. Challenging ourselves
with jigsaw puzzles is another annual ritual. Mostly, getting together and sharing laughs is what it's all about.
First puzzle, done!
Working on puzzle #2.
dishes
All pau!
Puzzle #3!
This is like Indiana Jones.
I'm on top of the world!
Connor and Tyler.
Grandpa's asleep.
Boo!
Food
Another reason for getting together is to share meals with each other. Some of the meals included Uncle Joel's egg, cheese, and bacon breakfast croissants;
hot dogs and corndogs for lunch; curry and shrimp linguine for two of the dinners; and clam dip in between every meal!
Uncle Joel's breakfast egg croissant sandwich.
Bacon.
Deb explaining lunch.
Main course.
French Fries.
Let's eat!
This was for dinner.
View
Check out some of the incredible views from Dillon Beach.
Deb's panoramic.
Joel and Mason on the beach.
Sunset on the first day.
Deer.
Family
First and foremost is seeing and spending time with everyone. I suppose we could do this anywhere so long as we're together.
After years of staying at either Dillon Beach or Discovery Bay, we decided to check out Bodega Bay. Just north of Dillon Beach, Bodega Bay has a
variety of hiking trails that lead to the beach. The house we rented also has a pool table and ping pong table for hours of fun for the kids. The room the boys slept in had a TV they could plug their Nintendo Switch
into so they could play video games. Upstairs had a great room that opened up to a very large kitchen where everyone could sit around and relax while being in close proximity of one another. We liked this house so
much that we've already reserved it for our reunion next year!
This was the first Sato family trip we took since the pandemic. It was so nice to have everyone together under one roof where we could hang out and relax. As one would assume, there was plenty of food.
The first night Deb made curry and we bought a big platter of katsu from L&L in Mountain View. She also made a big bowl of mac salad! Grandma, of course, brought the clam dip. The next morning Uncle Joel
made his famous egg/bacon croissants for breakfast. Grandma made udon for lunch, and for dinner Uncle Joel made spaghetti with meatballs. The last day, Uncle Joel made egg/bacon croissants again, and we
cleaned up to head home. Actually, Grandma and Grandpa didn't head home right away. Uncle Joel took them to the port in San Francisco so they could board a ship for a cruise to Hawaii.
Day 1 1/5/24 Dinner
On Friday, we arrived at Bodega Bay just before 4:00pm (check-in time). We immediately unloaded the Pilot and took a look around the house to see where everyone would sleep. The master bedroom with its own
bathroom was upstairs near the common areas. This was perfect for Grandpa and Grandma (no stairs). The bedroom next door would be where Uncle Joel, Auntie Christine, and Cousin Mason would stay. Downstairs
there were two more bedrooms with a total of 4 beds, so this is where the rest of us slept. There were only two full bathrooms (and one half bath) in the house so taking showers was a little tricky but we
figured it out. The curry for dinner was actually prepared the night before, so all we had to do was reheat it along with the katsu we purchased on the drive up. Uncle Joel and Grandpa both brought up wine to
share, so we enjoyed that at dinner too.
Stirring the curry.
Katsu!
A prerequisite of any Airbnb we rent is that there's a table that will seat 10.
The cork broke so Uncle Joel filtered the wine into a kettle.
Mason playing a game.
As always, an excellent meal!
Day 2 1/6/24 Full Day
Saturday was our only full day in Bodega Bay and it rained in the late morning through the afternoon. Luckily, Mom and Auntie Christine took a walk in the morning and got back just as it started to really
come down. Everyone else pretty much just hung out at the house and did a puzzle, played video games, ping pong, or watched T.V..
Connor and Jordyn doing a Darth Vader puzzle.
Auntie Christine, Grandpa, and Grandma checking the news.
Jordyn working on the puzzle.
Grandma checking it out.
Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Joel.
Day 3 1/7/24 Last Day
Sunday was the get away day when we had to clean up before departing at 11:00am. Uncle Joel made egg/bacon croissants again, so that gave us the energy to put everything back in its proper place. Everyone
chipping in made it easy work such that we had time to play Cards Against Humanity (family edition) before heading out.
