I like the basic plan. Don’t know if the spouse/guests need a separate gathering initially or not, but I am not well versed at such things. The 11th is the Friday, when most would arrive.
Getting a nice view of the scenery in the area might be a part of the agenda during the weekend, but we needn’t pack the schedule too tight.
I meant Saturday, the 12th then. I figure some people can only take Friday and Monday off work and will be traveling those days.
My thinking on having two separate gatherings is thus:
1) I want some "alone time" with the Freepers on the Q board-- hence the happy hour time.
2) Our traveling companions should not be left entirely alone on Saturday, especially if they are helping with the long drive to S.D. They have also had to put up with us taking time away from them and life stuff all this past year while we spent our time posting to this board, so the least they should be afforded is the chance to meet the people we've been interacting with.
3) Our companions vary in the degree to which they understand or care about Q stuff. The law of probability states that a couple of them could probably explain it decently to the others and they might feel more comfortable just trying to discuss it and figure it out among themselves first before being joined by the hard core people like us. Plus, they can laugh about what they think are some of our more hare-brained ideas if that is what they feel they need to do.
4) If any of our companions just want to stay at the hotel and read by the pool or whatever or drop us off and go exploring, they can. But there might be others who are not that adventurous and do want to go out for a nice meal.
5) Some of us need our companions to be the designated driver.