One of the many reasons I agreed to go with this family trip is that I missed how beautiful Valencia is and i miss the only Grandparents I knew.
And behold! An overlooking view of the rice fields and the adjacent mountains while on the way
Photos above were taken while we were moving up in the mountains. Ten years brought huge improvement in the place; the most obvious advancement was the concreted road and the eruption of population.
Valencia City is known as the Food Basket not only because they provide huge amounts of rice yearly but also many different kinds of food and crops. The reason for the successful rice harvest is the irrigation that the government gave the farmers and their constant support to them.
On the vehicle, Laling woke up from sleep and went to my mother. The two had a strong bond which made me envious because I did not grow up with a loving grandparent. The grand parent I knew about lived here and it almost 5 hours away from my house. My father's parents had a strong personality and we just cant come near them.
Princess asked me to give her water and food. She looks comfortable on the floor too.
Arriving a day too early
My mother was the one who had gone to the place most recently but she could not recognize it if we have arrived yet or not. She only said there was a basketball court and it the the main landmark.
We all helped each other see it and a few more minutes, we finally arrived, Yey!
But we got all shocked when there was almost no one around and we though we might be too late for the event yet we are too early instead!
My grandparents
Papa Perin is my mom's uncle; and next to her is his wife, Mama Inday. Age took tool on them and Grandpa had just gotten out of the hospital a few days before the reunion. I am glad to see him well and he looked very happy seeing us too.
Interesting things over a hot cup of coffee
We all paid respects to them and we were invited to my Kuya Jun's house for coffee. We took the driver with us and got entertained as he told us his experiences in life.
The coffee felt good in our stomachs and I went outside to take a snap of their plants. They had this money tree; and he doubts it because it did not give him a lot of money, he had many bills to pay instead.
Well at least he has something to pay those bills, right? But despite what I heard, it did not stop me from being amazed with its wonderful beauty.
They had a huge tree of calamasi and it got many fruit too! I regretted not getting the fruit on the spot thinking I can still go back on the following days and I was wrong because we all got too busy preparing for the other guests.
Night came and we prepared our tents. we refused to sleep in my grandparent's house because we want some adventure: I thought it would be very cold because we would be sleeping outside but what happened was otherwise.
Here is the only photo I took while helping my husband prepare the tent.
My sister did her tent soon after arriving because Princess wants to lie down already. Perhaps she feels pain after long hours of sitting due to her scoliosis.
Dinner
Dinner came and I forgot what the viand is. Just in case you don't know what viand, it is something we pair with rice for our meals.
We are so many! It already is a family reunion and I love how it feels like. I got my sister and her family, my own family, my mother and my grandparents and we are all in the same place which happens seldomly.
We made fire outside and stayed late that night trying to catch the latest events in our lives but the tiredness I had during the day in our travel took toll on me and led me to our tent and retire.
It was a lovely moment and experience!
Here are the previous blogs regarding our family travel
@yoieuqudniram/things-didn-t-go-the
@yoieuqudniram/road-trip-to-valencia-city
I hope to share more of our adventures soon