Reunions ·
The short version
A family reunion for 20 people depends on three plans: where people sleep, how they eat, and what they do between the planned things. This post works through each one for a reunion at Spoonbill Lodge, a large group rental in Happy Jack, Arizona.
The lodge sleeps 20 adults comfortably in its beds. It is set up for up to 30 guests when some of the group are children.
Sleeping math
Start with the beds, not the bedrooms. The lodge has 11 beds: two kings, four queens, and five queen sleeper sofas. Each bed sleeps two adults.
Madison’s Room, on the main floor, has a king bed and a queen sleeper sofa, and an ensuite bathroom.
The Study, on the main floor, has a queen sleeper sofa. It has curtains instead of doors, and it shares the common bathroom on the main floor.
The Window Room, upstairs, has two queen beds. It shares the common bathroom, one floor down.
Harper’s Room and Jane’s Room, upstairs, each have a queen bed, a queen sleeper sofa, and an ensuite bathroom.
Nora’s Room, over the garage, has a king bed, a queen sleeper sofa, a kitchenette, and an ensuite bathroom. You reach it by its own stairs from the back deck.
For 20 people, 10 beds are full and one bed is spare. Children change the math. Two pack-n-plays take the babies. Three air mattresses and five camping mats, 3 inches thick, take older children.
To decide who sleeps where without an argument, assign in this order. First, give a bedroom to anyone with a need: a grandparent who cannot climb stairs, or parents with a baby. Then give the other bedrooms by household. Draw lots if two households want the same one.
Send the bedroom list to everyone a month before the stay. Then nobody chooses at the door.
The grandparents problem
Madison’s Room is the main-floor bedroom with its own bathroom. It is the largest bedroom, with a king bed and a walk-in closet. Give it to the grandparents if stairs are hard for them.
The main floor also has the common bathroom and the family room, with no stairs between them. A grandparent in Madison’s Room does not need to go upstairs at all. The Study is a second main-floor choice, for someone who does not need a door.
Nora’s Room is the studio with its own entrance. It is private, and it has a kitchenette. But you reach it up outside stairs from the back deck, and it has no door into the lodge. Give it to grandparents only if they manage stairs well.
Nora’s Room suits a couple who wants distance, or a family member who must work. It has a standing desk with two monitors.
A level, hard-surfaced parking area close to the lodge is under construction now. It lets a guest who cannot manage gravel get out at the door. Ask us whether it is finished before your date.
Feeding twenty
The kitchen is open, with an island, a full-size range, and counter space for more than one cook. The coffee bar has its own sink, so the first person awake does not get in the way of the cook.
The long table in the dining room is beside the kitchen. It seats about 12, and more chairs fit around it.
The deck seats the whole group for dinner.
There are plates, bowls, glasses, and flatware for 16 people at one time, plus kid-size plates and cutlery. For 20, use the paper plates and plastic cutlery in the paper goods cabinet.
Use a rotating cook schedule. Give each household one dinner and one breakfast. That household plans the meal, buys the food, cooks it, and clears it. Everyone else has the night off.
Two grills on the deck let a second cook work outside: a 5-burner gas grill and a flat-top griddle. We keep a spare propane tank.
Groceries
Shop on the way up. The nearest full grocery store is 45 minutes away, in Flagstaff to the north or Payson to the south. Both towns have Safeway, Walmart, and Bashas’.
Plan one large shop, not four small ones. A drive to town and back takes about 90 minutes.
Clints Well, about 15 minutes away, has gas, ice, and a small general store. It covers what you forget. It is not a grocery run.
We can also have groceries in the kitchen when you arrive. Send us your list a few days before your stay. We buy it, put it away, and add the cost to your receipt, plus a $50 delivery fee.
We keep one kitchen cabinet empty for the food you bring. The kitchen already has salt, pepper, oil, and basic seasonings, plus coffee, tea, sugar, and honey.
Kids: what is here, and what to bring
We keep two pack-n-plays, a high chair, and a booster seat. There are kid-size plates, bowls, cups, and cutlery, and step stools for the bathroom sinks. The game room has a play area, board games, puzzles, and books. Outdoor toys, balls, and yard games are here too.
The lodge is not childproofed by default. We have outlet covers on request. Ask for them when you book.
Bring car seats, baby gates, and a baby monitor if you use them. Bring sleeping bags for older children if the group is above 20. In winter, bring sleds.
Bring bikes if the children ride. Mountain bikes can ride the 12 acres of untouched forest on the property.
Pack layers for everyone, in every season. The temperature changes 30 to 40 degrees in a day.
The property is not fenced, and it opens onto working forest with wildlife in it. Agree with the children where play stops.
The unplanned hours
Most of a reunion is the time between the planned things. Plan for those hours too, by giving people places to be.
The family room has a stone fireplace with sofas around it. The upstairs landing has a sofa, armchairs, and a large TV. It is a place for the adults after the children go to bed.
The game room has billiards, ping pong, skee-ball, foosball, darts, and three arcade cabinets. It also has a card table, and the lodge has a record player.
Outside, there is the sport court, the disc golf course, the field, and the firepit. We provide the firewood.
Put a puzzle on a table on the first day, and leave it there. Leave the board games where people see them. Do not schedule every afternoon. Leave at least one afternoon with nothing in it.
RV sites and tent ground, if you ask first
Some relatives want their own bed. There are RV sites on the property with electric and water hookups, and a dump station on the septic system. There is a lot of flat ground for tents, but no marked tent sites yet.
RVs and tents are not part of the 30 guests the lodge is set up for. Ask us before you bring them. Tell us how many RVs, and how long each one is.
Campers use the bathrooms in the lodge. There are six.
A three-day plan to start from
Use this plan as a start, not a rule. The minimum stay is two nights. This plan uses three.
Day one. Arrive from 3:00 pm. Settle the bedrooms from the list you sent ahead. Eat a simple dinner from the grill, and light the firepit if the fire restrictions permit it.
Day two. Eat breakfast together. In the morning, drive 15 minutes to Blue Ridge Reservoir, or walk in the forest. Leave the afternoon open. Eat a family dinner on the deck, and take the group photograph before dark.
Day three. Let each household choose. Some drive 45 minutes to Flagstaff, or 15 minutes to the Rim Road overlooks. The rest stay at the lodge. Watch a film in the theater after dinner.
The last morning. Eat breakfast, leave the beds as they are, and leave by 11:00 am.
The extra-guest fee is $25 per night for each guest above 16. Book direct with us, and only guests 13 or older count. For a reunion of 20 with four children under 13, there is no fee.
Through Airbnb or Vrbo, every guest age 2 or older counts. There, the same reunion pays $100 per night.