wedding weekend day four

Last Monday we drove home. To save time we ate the continental breakfast at the motel, and did not stop except for gasoline and bathroom breaks. We had thought to stop at a Panera bread in Ohio along the turnpike for lunch, but decided to just bull through to home.

When we got to our home town, we stopped off at the Kroger for groceries and picked up a couple of pizzas for dinner. We then ate dinner and watched the Tigers game on TV with the kids.

Pennsylvania is still a beautiful state to drive through, and we were very lucky in that we still had great weather for the drive home. All four days of the weekend were hot and sunny.

Just a joy of a weekend. Seeing good people get married is always a cause for happiness. It was a true celebration of life and love and all sorts of the best things in life.

wedding weekend day three

This was the day of the wedding!

Dan and I got up early and walked down the hill to the diner to eat breakfast. I had something sinfully delicious - M&M pancakes. YUM.

Then I took yet another nap as Dan did some work on the laptop (he packed Bill's). After a while I woke up and got dressed in a blouse and skirt for the wedding. Dan dragged his feet a bit because he was in the middle of something, and we got out of the hotel room only a half hour before the ceremony, which was to be held at noon.

Now, half an hour should have been plenty of time to get from Newburgh to Montgomery, but we ended up waiting at one traffic light alone for twenty minutes. The hotel was around the corner from this convention center, and they were having some sort of huge motorcycle thing there, so great big groups of bikers were out and about, and plenty of car traffic, as well. Once we finally got by all of that, it was only five minutes until the wedding.

And then Dan got stopped by a police officer for speeding just outside of Montgomery.

Aye yi yi.

The cop let us go with a warning, once we explained the circumstances, and Eric called just as we were turning into the arboretum, as they were holding up the wedding for us. (blush).

The arboretum was gorgeous and glorious. The tulips - thousands of them in every color and color combination that tulips come in - were in full bloom - as were the trees, daffodils, and other spring flowers. Bees were buzzing around and butterflies were flitting around. it was sunny and hot - just a perfect spring day for Eric and Christy on their wedding day.

The ceremony was simple and meaningful, out in the garden under the sun, surrounded by those tulips and the blossom scented air.

The reception hall was a little class room building in the middle of the gardens. Eric and Christy again went with simple and classy, and they had enough food - good food! - to feed an army.

It was one of the most enjoyable weddings I have ever attended. but then again, Eric and Christy are both very laid back and good people, and their wedding reflected that.

After the reception, Dan and I went for a drive on country roads, just because it was such a lovely afternoon. We drove through a little town called Goshen, through those state parks that form a greenbelt north of New York City, and by West Point. It was all very beautiful.

Then another nap. Yes, I really am pathetic!

We did not want dinner after the huge spread of food at the reception, so we just went out for a dessert that night.

Then early bed, for the long drive home.

wedding weekend day two

Woke up that morning to gorgeous sunshine. There was a balcony/veranda on the second floor of the hotel, where our room was located, and we sat our there for a little while, looking at the sun gleaming on the lake across the road.

Then we walked down the hill to the diner called Johhny D's for breakfast. The food was good. Eric called while we were there, and it sounded like he wanted us to drop in for a visit that morning, so we agreed to head out to his house after we ate and ran a couple of errands (including getting a wedding gift, though we did not tell him that).

Eric and Christy live out in the country in a nice house on a lot of land, which is great for the kids and the dog! It is really windy, though, and that apparently causes problems on occasion, to the point where their giant trampoline once tried to blow away. They live near this great paved bike/walking trail that goes for miles through the rolling countryside.

We had a nice visit, but then I had to go back to the hotel for a nap.

While very glad I could go to the wedding for the weekend - something I could probably not have done over the past few months due to sickness and exhaustion up to the point where I could start taking the synthroid - last weekend also showed me how very far I still have to go before I feel well and normal again. I needed a lot of naps to get through everything...

In the evening we drove to Eric's pretty little home town called Montgomery for the rehearsal dinner. It was at a nice Italian restaurant called Pazzo. The food was good, as was the company. Eric and Christy were a delightful and laid back wedding couple - and the events of the weekend were also delightful and laid back. After dinner we all sat out on the porch of the restaurant and took pictures and relaxed.

wedding weekend day one

Dan and I had a wonderful time in New York over the weekend.

I think I might break it down by the day, in case I get interrupted and have to break off.

DAY ONE
It took us about eleven or twelve hours to get to Newburgh, New York. I was really tired since I had worked the previous five nights, and I think we ended up stopping at half of the rest stops in Pennsylvania so I could move my poor old middle aged body. That was no hardship, though, since Pennsylvania is such a beautiful state!

We left fairly early, and ate breakfast at the Coney Island in Milan before getting on the freeway. We did not stop for any other meals, though we obviously stopped for gasoline and to stretch our legs. We did get cookies at a Panera Bread at a stop on the Ohio Turnpike, and had those as a snack while driving.

We stopped for gas in Pennsylvania just before hitting the New York border, right at dusk. That was when we noticed that the spring in that area was at least a week further along than ours here in Michigan. There was a pond near the gas station, and they had frogs croaking and singing!

After crossing the Delaware River into New York, lots of little things started hitting the wind shield of the Jeep. At first we thought it was rain, and could not figure out where the rain was coming from, as the sky was perfectly clear. Then we realized that it was bugs. EWWWWWWWW.

We got to Newburgh and found the hotel. We quickly called Eric and Christy to let them know we had made it in safely, then went to eat at the Applebees, as it was very near to the hotel. We just wanted some hot food and sleep at that point. The restaurant was filled with avid Yankees fans, which was very amusing, given that they were playing the hated Red Sox that night. I might have finally found a fandom that might be worse and more extreme than Red Wings fans. LOL!!!!!

repacked!

I checked the weather forecast for New York last night, and it will be sunny and near ninety all weekend! So today I repacked my whole big duffle bag. But because I could take out the jeans and substitute shorts and take out the extra sweaters and such, it is now half the size it was. YAY! All we have to do is pack our medicines and cell phone chargers in the morning, and we will be all set to leave as soon as Dan can drag my tired afternoon shift worker butt out of bed!

Man, am I glad that the work week will be finished tonight. All of my coworkers have been behaving very badly this week - each one taking a turn to have a childish tantrum on a different night. I hope I can endure one more night of this crappy behavior - and knowing that I can leave a bit early and then have a four day weekend at the end of it will hugely help!

I probably will not around until next week, as I work tonight and then we will be leaving for the four day trip early in the morning.