Whirlwind Wedding Trip

It is summer in Seattle so what is a small family to do?  Head to Denver where it is even hotter for a wedding.

I don't mind missing the 90 degree Seattle day, and technically we didn't miss is altogether.  We arrived home at 7:30 last night and the temperature was still 87 degrees.  Getting the luggage, the car seat, the stroller, the carry on bags and the baby to the car was enough to equate to a full day outside playing in the backyard.  The temperatures were in the lower 90's in Denver, but that humidity makes for a drippy difference.

Our yard and flowers looked very unhappy upon our arrival.  Except my $4 safeway dahlia.  She's sprung back to life and it seems that she liked the hot weather.   The outside has been watered and the hanging plant has been deadheaded in hopes that it can expend its energy on the blooms yet to come.

Our little journey started early Wednesday afternoon when I met Jason for lunch after a quick blood draw at the doctor.  (We're trying to manage a low iron issue with me.)  We went to the XXX drive in for a nooner.  I'd never been and I give it a solid, "I'll go back someday" but it won't be on the regular rotation of food joints I crave.  First of all it was rather expensive but they compensate for that by giving you more food than one human needs.  I did enjoy sitting outside and it was relatively quick.

We headed home where I finished up some last minute work.  I wonder what it is about hearing that someone is going to be out of the office for TWO DAYS that makes people freak out.  Oh well, I'll get another dose of that quickly as we're prepping for a camping trip in the near future.

We packed up the car and then stopped by "school" to get our girl and off to the airport we went.  The flight was mostly unremarkable.  Lucy did well in spite of not wanting to sit in her car seat.  It was our fault for freeing her midflight and then expecting her to get her back in.  For the trip home, we kept her in her seat the entire 2 hour and 15 minute flight (plus the 40 minutes of boarding time.

We left something very important in the car, so Jason left me in the security line and headed back to our car.  He had more than enough time to board the plane, but wasn't on hand for the get the baby, car seat, carry on  and baby onto the plane experience.  Thankfully, the kid is cute and a kind flight attendant picked her up so I could manhandle everything else.  Lucy wasn't too excited about a stranger picking her up, but she was a trooper.  We were settled in by the time that Jason arrived but were still rather "dewy" from the physical activity.

The car seat on the plane is a nice thing - it is critical to have it at your destination and there is a measure of safety about having your small person strapped in to a seat that keeps her contained.  As far as life safety goes on the plane, it likely only adds value if the plane drops altitude suddenly.  I don't think it would do much good in a crash situation.

The bummer about the car seat on the airplane is that it is damned big and puts Junior in perfect position to kick the shit out of the seat back in front of them.  I did my best to keep the kicking to a dull roar, but it is not reasonable to expect a 17 month old kid not to move around.  I apologized to the man in the seat as we were exiting and he said "thank you, I know you were trying and the fact that you were trying to be considerate was the best part of my day."  Goodness, how bad must your day be to have the fact that the effort we made to not kick his seat was the bright spot?

During the flight home I can't say that the people in front of us were as aware of the efforts we were making.  First of all, we were able to cinch the seat better so Lucy couldn't reach the seat back with her feet - until that "lady" reclined her seat.  So, I did make an effort to remind Lucy not to kick the seat, or play with the tray, I didn't have as much sympathy.   Secondly, 'The Recliner' dropped not one but three things on the floor that she asked me to retrieve for her.

At only one point in the flight home did Lucy have a baby melt down.  I was doing everything I could to figure out what she wanted (other than sleep and her own bed) and the lady in front turned around and asked me if I had water, or a binkie for the baby.   I was icy with my reply.  "I have every thing she needs."  Which, if she was paying attention translated to "OMG Lady, do you really think I'm not trying here?  For *&^%$ sake, she's 17 months old, is tired, strapped into a seat and really really wants to be free."   Jason, reading the situation correctly, put his hand on my knee and gave me the look that said "please don't kill her here on the plane."

I think the thing that bugged me the most was that during the 3 hours we were on the plane Lucy cried once and for about 2 minutes.  Sure, not fun for anyone around us, but we did a great job of keeping her happy, so to offer up suggestions at the 1 minute mark was a bad choice for 10B.  For the record, we considered bringing a pacifier, but since Lucy is 100% pacifier free we didn't think it was a smart choice.

So, with the travel stories out of the way, our time in Denver was nice.  Grammy and Papa (I think these are the chosen names they have finally landed on) arranged for Lucy care and took Jason and I out to dinner.  The place was sort of out in the middle of nowhere, but it was nice.  The food was outstanding and we had a lovely evening.

The wedding was Saturday, and the weather was a cool 85.  The venue was an old steak house with extensive yards and there were two events happening that evening.  The other event was a larger wedding with girls in pink and the military men were in uniform. I didn't get a glimpse of the bride.  Our wedding had black bridemaids dresses, but they were very pretty.  They had a 40's feel to them and were kind of sassy.  The bride wore a strapless mermaid dress that I liked, but could never ever wear. The bride and groom seemed to be happy, but as I'd never met either of them before it was hard to tell if they were having fun.  In a decision that would baffle me to the end of my days the bride asked her mother to take care of all the details.  By details I don't mean "should we have garlic croutons or butter croutons" but wedding location, dresses, decorations, invitations... DETAILS.  Granted, Beth is an engineer and everything was perfectly planned but she admitted she spent more time and energy on this wedding than her own.   The food was great, but the on site catering staff was making Beth crazy.  They seemed a bit disorganized and not really how to handle small things that came up, like the fact that they didn't have enough appetizer plates and folks started taking the dinner plates to transport appetizers back to their lesser mobile folks in the other room.  (That's an issue with a buffet in a location with stairs, those in wheelchairs and walkers can't easily navigate the room.)  Anywho, the staff seemed dazed as to how to deal with a shortage of plates at dinner time.  

The DJ did a good job and was just cheesy enough to keep things moving especially when the grooms father stood up for his dissertation.  It is supposed to be a toast, but apparently he talked for 37 minutes at the rehearsal dinner.  The groom's mother, who is NOT the groom's father's wife anymore was not amused.  I think perhaps at this wedding, the last of their four children she had heard enough from this "blowhard".  Those were not her words, but I did see the MOtG's best friend keeping her calm by offering an encouraging word during the speech.  Thankfully, there were only two toasts, and the dad did keep his to under ten minutes.

I love a wedding and especially the dancing.  Well, I can't say I danced at the country wedding from two summers ago, but I don't think someone who boogied to MC Hammer should ever be expected to shake a leg to "Red Solo Cup".     I didn't take off my fancy wedding shoes while we danced and I'm still regretting it today (Monday).  My thighs are so sore from dancing at an unexpected elevation that going up and down the stairs quickly is painful.  More so in my left leg which makes me wonder if I didn't mildly sprain or pull something.   It doesn't matter, we had a nice time and I really enjoyed the people at our table.

It was a quick, but fun trip.  I'm happy to be home and I know Lucy was delighted to sleep in her own bed last night. Poor little bug was so tired when we got home that I removed her shoes, made sure her diaper was fine and put her to bed - in her clothes.   This morning she had the very unusual am bath, but we'll be back on our regular program tonight.

1 year

They say that adjusting to married life can be difficult.  I think I've been blessed with perspective and an appreciation of how lucky I've been to find my person that the little bumps along the way have been just that "little." 

We certainly have moments when we need to think clearly before we speak, and others where I need to remember I'm not the master of the universe.  There are two people in this team, and remembering that has been helpful.

The past year has been crazy busy.  The wedding was a lot of work and a lot of fun.  Making sure our guests felt welcome and appreciated wasn't easy. The only thing I would do differently is hold our wedding on a weekend where my dad wasn't ill, but the bigger picture is that he was with us on a day I had always hoped would happen.

After the wedding we closed on the sale of Jason's condo, which legally I had to approve it was our first strange "we're really married moment".  We finished packing up the condo and moved into our wonderful new home.

Getting settled took a little time and a lot of effort but was worth it.  By the holiday season we were ready for guests and started hosting long awaited dinner parties. 

In the new year we started planning some vacations and started mulling this grand idea of possibly starting a family.  I really blame our parents for the idea.  Yes, they have always suggested that grandchildren would be nice, but it wasn't until we had that wonderful Christmas together that I started to wonder if maybe the "I"m too old" thing might be silly.


So here we are with a whole year of marriage under our belts, there's a baby on the way and we are happy as ever.  If we were Hollywood stars we would get a medal for longevity, but since we're just regular people we'll have to settle with simply being happy.

By the way I get a happy feeling when I hear Jason refer to me as "his wife".  I don't know why...I just do.  Thankfully, I've stopped giggling every time I say my new married name.  I think that was getting on his nerves.  

Fine...

I was reminded this morning that my blogging this week has been less than entertaining.  I know why. Yesterday I was in the bitchiest of all bitch moods.  I've been lucky with the hormones and haven't experienced many pregnancy side effects, like puking or crying.  However, yesterday all the little things that never really irritate me were seriously pissing me off.

I'm better today - funny how a good nights sleep will do that for a girl.  I have been struggling with sleep issues.  My doctor told me I have to "give up" sleeping on my back and so I'm transitioning to sleeping with a pillow to curl around on my side, or to prop under my hip.  Apparently, even at this small stage the baby can put too much pressure on my delicate insides and pinch things that need not to be pinched.

This is NOT my niece.

In other news, a wedding invitation arrived from my niece.  (WHAT!? You have a niece - I didn't know that!)  She's my brother's step-daughter.  (You have a brother!?  You never talk about him.)  She's a nice girl, from what I remember and it seems like she and her fella have a plan.  He's just out of the military and will be going to school.  She'll be working to support this effort and they will live together in happy newly married harmony.  Why they have to be married (she at 19) is perplexing to me.  She certainly wasn't raised in a household of strong religious convictions that might frown upon living in "sin" for a while until there is a certain amount of maturity.  However, she is not my child and I am not close enough to offer any advice.  I think showing up at the wedding and yelling, "just wait... live together for a year and see where you are." would be out of line.  Since both her mother and her step-dad experienced the agony of young failed marriages I thought they might have offered some advice  - maybe they did.  It's not like I'm there to hear it.

I'm pretty sure that since the invitation (which was adorable) showed up Monday and the wedding is in 3 weeks that they really didn't intend for anyone outside their town to come.  Related to Emily Post, my sister- in-law is not.  I'll be sending a gift in the manner in which I think a 19 year old bride will appreciate and need (cash) but I'm struggling to remind myself that the fact that my brother & SIL couldn't muster the funds to come to our wedding, or send a gift or a *^$*_%_ card was his issue and NOT my niece's  doing.   The petty, selfish part of me wants to respond in kind to how they celebrated our wedding.   It irritates me that they expect holiday gifts and things but can't reciprocate at any level. 

Jason wonders when he'll meet my brother.  I do too, and unless we pay to go visit in Utah (no, they aren't Mormons-everyone asks) it won't be until a family funeral if even then.   (Maybe my dark mood hasn't quite dissipated.)  For the record, I'm not expecting my brother to send lavish, generous gifts for the holidays or something monumental like a damned wedding, but it really gets under my skin that the annual holiday card comes addressed with simply our last name.  It really kills my mom too as if they can't remember my parents first names.

So, anyway, there will be a wedding and as much as I love weddings we won't be going.  I hope that Erika and her new hubby Sean will be happy and that the rumor that my SIL plans on moving in with them is not true.  That's a whole different, judgmental rant about things that I'm hearing second hand, so I can't report them as fact.  But, I guess if your only income is child support and your last kid has the balls to turn 18 you need to do something.  Giving up your apartment and moving in with your oldest seems like a DANDY plan to me.  Again... just gossip.

It was a simple, sweet wedding

The family wedding of Jason's second cousin Friday was a nice affair. The ceremony was simple, but presided over by both the groom's family priest and the minister from the bride's church. Our young bride (age 20) looked lovely and even pulled out a second wedding dress for the party that was simple and super cute. They chose a happy color of yellow for the bridesmaid dresses and it really worked.

The groom and the grooms dudes wore long tuxedo jackets which I don't personally like, but they seemed happy and 15 seconds into the reception they were in just the cute yellow vests anyway, so the silliness was removed from my vision.

The reception was at the grooms mother & dad's house under a festive cover lit with a bazillion white lights and our disco ball made an appearance to make folks sparkle.

Teresa, who is Jason's cousin as well as the groom's mother gets a medal for hosting a rather large wedding out of her kitchen. When you're the grooms mom aren't you supposed to get to sit back and simply be gorgeous?

I know, I know, today's weddings are far from the traditional by the (Emily Post) book affairs. Who pays for what is often determined by who can or wants to pay for what. Jas & I were happy to host our own wedding with lots of moral and other support from both of our parents. Their participation in every way was and is greatly appreciated.

As it should be, the details of who paid for what for the wedding of the "young uns" is a mystery, but from where I sit (in judgment?) it seems like the grooms mother did a yeoman's amount of work.

I was surprised to see the casual nature of dress of some of the attendants. In addition to the tuxedoed groomsmen and decked out bridesmaids there were people in jeans, a kid (aged 20) in a tuxedo t-shirt. Hey, it's a fancy t-shirt right? There were also some interesting fashion choices that look like an actual attempt to dress up, but that failed miserably.

One gal was in a black tank-top shirt - dress thing (Jen called it a "shress")with three tiers of fluffy ruffles. It was too short to be a dress and too long to be worn as your standard shirt. She wore this ruffled nightmare with tight grey leggings that were stretched to their limit in certain areas. She also wore a 'lovely' bow in her hair. This gal was attractive, but of the rounder variety and as a rounder girl I have learned that what looks good on Heidi Klum does not look good on me. My stick thin, tall, small boobed friend Misty could have pulled off the "shress" and leggings, but she's so fabulous that she can pull of a "shress" and rockin' high heel shoes. (on my quest for the perfect "shress" photo I ran across a blogger who was talking about this very topic and she said: "Why do people need to know that my vag is literally an inch away from the hem of my dress? " I almost spit up on my keyboard. I am happy to know I'm not the only one who finds the shirt-dress (shress) outfit disturbing.

Back to the wedding. It was a country music wedding, so there was no dancing - or at least by the time we hit the road the only people dancing were the flower girls. Thankfully our summer weather held, meaning that it was over 65 degrees and not raining - a Seattle June Miracle! We visited with all sorts of relatives and had a wonderful time.

A Friday wedding seems odd because there's not really a whole day devoted to the bride and groom and yet, how wonderful to have two whole days after the wedding to visit with out of town guests. We had people over Saturday for a rather fun dinner party.

So, other than snarky comments about the dress of some guests and a general feeling that 20 is too young to get married it was a perfect day. I hope the new Mr. & Mrs. enjoyed their special day and have fun on their honeymoon in Mexico.

I reviewed the gifts to find one the size of the gun rack, but nothing of that size stood out. I would be interested to see what they got considering how sparse their registry was, but alas it will (as it should) remain a mystery.

Poor Sandy, but Lucky Me

Jason's movie girlfriend is in a sad state today.  The media is reporting that her husband has been accused of infidelity.  He's issued an "it's mostly lies, but I'm so sorry" statement and rumors are that she has moved out of their house.

I know Hollywood people aren't immune from temptation and may actually have more offers thrown their way than us average Joes, but this makes me sad.   I think Ms. Bullock has done a remarkable job of retaining her spunk and credibility while her career has grown.  She's not infallible but she's very likable and I hope that this ends in a peaceful way for her and her family.

She is the one movie person Jason is allowed to make out with if the situation should occur and now that she might be single I'm going to be on the lookout to make sure she's not dropping by.  My "oh sure she can be on your list" is pure crap.  The list is imaginary, always was, ALWAYS will be.

I'm feeling pretty confident that she's not going seek out our little happy home as a place to escape the media that is likely hunting her right now, although no one would think to look in this corner of the world.

In addition, Jason and I are (sort of) celebrating our 6 month wedding anniversary today.  I say sort of because we talked about it this morning, noting the event but don't have any romantic plans for the evening.    My mom and dad are coming over to pick up a table and may be spending the night.  It would be rude to ask them to sit quietly upstairs while we share wine by the fireplace.  Rude and awkward.

In summary, I send out my cyber good wishes to a movie star I'll never meet and a cyber "woo hoo" to my sweet hubby.  I love you buddy!

Oh yes, I am THAT evil!

I read in one of the helpful wedding magazines that if you send your wedding invitation to the President of the US that you will get back a lovely signed card.

I, an Obama fan with an extra invitation in hand and a dollar laying around for postage, fired one off before the wedding.

The Obama's didn't send a gift (selfish jerks) but did send a pretty little card with the White House stationary insignia on it congratulating us and wishing us years of happiness.

It is a pre-printed card that was addressed to us by some (I'm guessing) intern with swirly handwriting who put a comma between the street and the NE portion of our address:

123 Squirrel St, NE
Bloggerville, CO 12345

Anywho... I think I shall frame it and put it on the bedside table in the room where my lovely, but Republican father-in-law sleeps when he visits. This should bring me years and years of joy.

Mulling

The wedding reception last night was nice. The bride was very pretty and the groom beaming. It's an amazing thing to be in a room filled with people who are delighted to brave a dark night (and no parking) to celebrate your happiness. Congratulations! I hope they will be as happy as I find myself.

On a completely different note, I've been thinking a lot about a person that I use to be very close to, and with whom conversation hasn't been easy of late. I realize that friendships change and the flow of our lives cause interests and priorities to shift but this one makes me sad. My attempts to reach out have been sort of fruitful but there has been a lack of genuine interaction. I guess that's ok and I wish my friend nothing but happiness and contentment.

During church this morning Pastor K spoke about wine and weddings (and that whole turning water into wine story) but opened it with his interaction with a young couple who aren't members of "our" church but had heard of K and his amazing spirit. He agreed to officiate at their wedding if they would come and do the pre-marital events. (We did it and thought it was great.) Well, time was running short and he couldn't make contact with the bride and after some failed attempts sent a terse email saying "let me know if the wedding is off or you don't need my services." He admits he was irritated and then horrified when the bride replied that the wedding was off because her groom was killed while serving overseas. WHOA.

I'm filled with sadness for this person whom I've never met and hope she's surrounded by people who can provide the right kind of comfort. I don't know what that might look like, but hope she has it.

Pastor K spoke about what a jerk he felt like and what he did to follow up with the gal. The message for us (or what I took away) is that you really don't know what is going on in someone else's world, and we can't always assume that our view of things is reality. I don't think its unfair to assume that you might think these kids were flaky and unconcerned for the busy schedule of this clergyman that they didn't know. The idea that one of the bridal party had died just wouldn't come to mind.

Obviously, we can't walk around all the time thinking, wow I should be nice to that cranky person because maybe their favorite cat died today... but I know I can be better about cutting people SOME slack. I can try to land on a compassionate note before I jump off assuming the worst.

As for my friend, I'm sure I own some of the distance between us. I mean I did change my life and am not 100% accessible like I was when I was single and alone. However, I don't believe I did anything "wrong" nor do I feel like I need to apologize for the happy direction my life went. Maybe Bitter TP was more fun for this person? (Nah... I've got it on good authority that Bitter TP was damned hard to love.) Maybe there's stuff going on in my friend's world that is easier not to share. I guess all I can do is keep reaching out from time to time and hope we reconnect on a real level again.

To end on a funny note, Joan, the wedding coordinator at the church pulled me aside this morning and said that she found our check that we had written for the pastoral services (4 months later) and wanted to see if it was ok to cash it. Eek.. of course, but my first question was "Are we really married?" Jas' was, "Has Pastor K been thinking all this time that we stiffed him?"

So, yes, we are actually married and Pastor K was only mildly thinking we hadn't paid... NICE.

Dress in a box

With the wedding photo books delivered to the parents and in-laws and the thank you notes complete the last wedding chore was to deal with the dress.

I loved my dress. I thought it was simple, pretty and not overly "girly". I also did not spend a small fortune on it, which appeals to my (somewhat) thrifty nature. I wanted a real wedding dress, but I also knew I'd only be wearing it once.

Even though there's no plan to give the dress to a child or a favorite young relative, I couldn't part with the dress (eBay? not for me.) Having it professionally cleaned and boxed was the right way to protect my investment - er vestment.

We dropped by the dry cleaner to pick it up today and I have to say it left me with a weird feeling. Maybe it's the simple fact that I'm no longer "the bride" or that the wedding is over, but since neither of these have been even the smallest of issues I doubt that's the case.

I think maybe it's just that seeing the dress in the child coffin sized box with the view window was disturbing. Seriously, it looks like dead thing, with out a head. The body of the dress is stuffed with (acid free) tissue and even the breast portion is nicely filled out. Maybe even better than my own assets.

Jason kindly stored it in our master closet. We, of course, lost track of which side of the box is "up" so I'm sure my dead dress is now upside down for all eternity.

bye bye dress.

(thank you Matt for this beautiful photo!)

What happens in the photo booth...

The photobooth pictures from the wedding have been delivered and it has been so much fun going through them.

I am happy to see our "people" being so creative with their four fun shots. In addition to the "strips" we also got the individual pictures and in color! I AM SO VERY HAPPY ABOUT THIS. Our home made wedding album is going to be fun.

I don't think the wait staff knew we were getting a disk of all the pictures, but it looks like they took turns in the machine while we were off doing other things.

I'm home for the weekend - it was rough going to San Jose this last week. I missed my fella a lot and am happy to be home. Our weekend plans aren't overly exciting - we're packing boxes for the big move. Woo Woo.

I did get ALL the thank you notes completed and mailed today. If you haven't gotten one, or don't get one in the next few days you probably didn't send a gift. (ooh, that sounds greedy. sorry.) Better way to say it is, if you sent us something, but we didn't send a thank you, call, there may have been a problem. We didn't have any gifts without cards, so don't call to claim the 10 piece All Clad pots and pans came from you. In reality, they came from about 10 different people who gave us pieces and gift certificates. They are now safely in storage awaiting delivery to our new house.

I'm pretty jazzed about moving and can't wait for things like our appointment with the Costco Window Covering sales persons. It will be nice to schedule the installation for the day we take possession so we can have privacy right away without having to hang towels in the windows.

So, I am back to San Jose next week, but it'll be quick. I've got my trips scheduled for the rest of the year which is nice to be able to have that on the books.

Home Sweet Home

I can't resist posting a fabulous photo shot by Matt! I loved our wedding photographer, but Matt captured some moments that move me. This one is included in that category. Gretchen, our amazing wedding singer (and Associate Pastor at our wonderful church) was singing The Luckiest for us. It was beautiful and memorable. I love how we're all turned to listen.












But....more wedding photos when Bob, the paid photographern coughs up the unwatermarked shots. Until then, we're going on a honeymoon!

Our little hotel in Banff had a deer that hung out between our cottage and car. We named her Daisy.













The newest Mr. & Mrs TP gal at the base of the Lake Louise hotel. The hotel is nestled against the mountains and is breathtaking.

































This shot cracks me up, most of the more formal places we pulled off the road to take photos were also being enjoyed by tour buses of Asian couples with very nice camera equipment. Here's a gaggle of them surrounding a car getting a shot.

















We had a dress-up night at the Chateau Lake Louise, and these are our fabulous shoes and pre-dinner beverages.






















A shot of the Ice Fields Parkway from the sunroof of our car.















More of the Ice Fields Parkway - every 5 miles the view would change completely. It was the most beautiful place I've ever been.
































Most of these lakes and streams feed into the Columbia river, or because we were at the continental divide head east to the Atlantic Ocean. At one point we were at a triple continental divide where water was flowing East, West and North to the Arctic.


















Midway up the Icefields Parkway, we stopped at the Columbia Glacier and did the tourist activity of taking lots of pictures and paying to be driven out on to the glacier for 20 minutes of pictures. I had to get a hat because it was cold.



































Jas thinks we should sent this picture to Toyota to show how cute their product is in a beautiful setting:

















I think the inside of the car is a more realistic view of life in a Toyota for 9 days. We're only half way through the trip here, and the bags of laundry do not outnumber us just yet.








More of the amazing scenery!























We did take a hike the day we were in Lake Louise and hiked to this little lake, and then up another million miles to the Tea House. It was only 1200 feet up in 1.5 km, but we started at over 5800 feet (a mile and then some) so it felt like climbing the Alps.














The views were worth the sweat, and for the first time a while we had cell service. This is me updating FaceBook. Because that's an important activity on your honeymoon.





























We had such a wonderful time, but golly is it good to be home.

I've started to work on the wedding albums, the honeymoon photo journal, finishing the thank you notes and oh yeah, packing to move into the new house.

I don't really think we will sleep fully until after Christmas, which by my calculation is only 15 minutes away.

honeymoon day 8

Ok, clearly our computer time was a bit limited during the last 4 days. We have been having a wonderful vacation.

Since we last spoke we snuck extra wine into Canada, took a tall tall gondola to the top of Banff, hiked the extra kilometer up to a windy, but breathtaking spot atop the charming city.

We dined on a yummy lunch at the Banff Springs Hotel before taking yet another bubble bath in our hotel (with the challenging fireplace.) Those of you on facebook already know that our first night in Banff I tried to set the stage for some romance by opening a bottle of wine and lighting a fire. To say it was a failure would be a joke. The room filled with so much smoke that Jas' allergies kicked in and he was miserable. We ended up watching tv (oh, and I think I recall blogging that day... maybe I'm not as far behind as I think I am.)

Anywho...

After our second day in Banff we were headed to Lake Louise, but with only a 50 minute travel time between locations we decided to spend our day by driving up the Canadian Ice Fields Parkway. I don't have the vocabulary to describe the views - but these pictures should help.












Upon arrival at the Chateau Lake Louise we were greeted by a snappy valet in kicky shorts and green tights. Nothing says $800 a night like a grown man proud to wear green tights. Our suite was a delight, with ANOTHER fun bathtub. No jets like in Walla Walla, or smokey fireplace like Banff, but pretty darned wonderful anyway.

We rested for a bit, took a gander at the lake and dressed for dinner. We had reservations for a dress up dinner at the restaurant recommended by the hotel (back in June when we made reservations.) I think perhaps Bavarian faire isn't my favorite, but I give the hotel kudos for having the balls (yes, I said balls) to charge $47 for 6 ounces of thinly sliced beef that we cooked ourselves (fondu). The following night we dined at the "Saloon" on the lower floor and were pleased with our casual but more substantial dinner. It is an topsy turvy world when I don't get enough to eat at dinner.

We spent our day at LL by taking the 7km hike to the little lake "up the way". It was advertised as a 3 hour hike, but we enjoyed tea at the rustic tea house at the top (where supplies are helicoptered in, and they have no power) and to be honest it was an athletic event and it took us longer than it might have for those of you who do things like "jog" or "work out". In the end, it was a delightful way to spend the day.

This morning, we had a light hotel breakfast (meaning it was under $40) and then made our way to Kelowna. The travel book said that Rogers Pass is the most scenic pass in Canada, but I'm sorry, after the Ice fields Parkway, Rogers Pass was only mildly amazing. Rico arranged for a friends and family rate at the Holiday Inn Express and we were sad to learn our room wasn't ready. But, keeping in line with our bathtub themed room, we were upgraded to the suite. A rather roomy room with a bathtub for two. Woo Woo.



We are sampling a glass of Isenhower wine (in shitty plastic cups)and deciding where to dine for dinner. This room has a 50 inch big screen tv and I think we'll be watching a movie after dinner (and ANOTHER bubble bath - thank you Claire for the fun bubble bath.)

I'm going to post this, download photos and come back later to show you the pictures, so please check back.

honeymoon day 4

We left Sandpoint this morning after enjoying a nutritious continental breakfast of toast and peanut butter. Jas dined on Apple Jacks - which if you count the milk is an excellent source of calcium...and sugar. If you eat the box there's some fiber in it for you too.

Mostly, we drove today, but wow... the drive was fantastic. The scenery was breath taking and we did the silly touristy thing of taking pictures from the car windows.

Even though we spent most of the day in the car we spotted lots of wild life, a wolf hustling from one side of the highway to the other. As we entered the Banff National Park, three VERY large rams were dining by the roadside. We've successfully avoided elk and hope to keep our streak alive.

Once in Banff we explored the cute downtown area and met up with friends from Seattle for a nice dinner. Jason is on his third night of the Steak Across the America's program and found his dinner tonight to be the best. My goal for tomorrow will be a non-beef experience for dinner.

We headed back to the hotel where I knew we had wine, a fireplace and a new honeymoon nightgown waiting. The nightie is cute, the wine good, but the fireplace was a colossal failure. We (no, I) smoked up the room so much that Jason can't breathe.

We scrapped the romantic evening and am now tucked into bed (because we have to have the windows open to air our the room) and are watching a movie we brought.

oh well...

on a creepy note, we stopped at a rest area early in the day and the place was a spider nightmare. There were literally hundreds of tiny black bodied bugs with long legs all over the outside of the outhouses and they covered the ceiling of the inside. We both really needed the rest stop and risked the ick factor. None of the spiders moved an inch during the visit, but both Jason and I had that "something is crawling on me" feeling for hours. In fact, I itch just thinking about it.

Honeymoon Day 3

We left Walla Walla after breakfast at a greasy spoon (excellent bacon!)

We worked our way to Spokane by way of Colfax. I talked Jas into a side trip to the top of Steptoe Butte. It was a twisty and curvy road to the top, but the view was spectacular. We did have a bee that tried to stow away with us, but we quickly 86'd him.

In Spokane we had lunch on a deck overlooking the falls. We then
explored the park, and foolishly dropped $14 to ride the gondola. It was about 400 degrees inside the car and it was a slow ride to nowhere.

Back on the road after a few hours we made our way to the Lodge at Sandpoint, a wonderful place with cozy rooms, nice amenities and a well adorned lakefront. We drank one of our newly aquired wines and watched the sunset. (oh romance!!)

We dined on the patio and (bad idea) ordered a second bottle of wine.
Jason put his new and drunk wife to bed at 10 and then watched a bad episode of Greys Anatomy.

We're on the road early today because the sandpoint locals said our 300 mile journey could take up to 8 hours and we have a dinner date with a Seattle couple in Banff.

lessons: bee's aren't friendly
Two bottles of wine will end an evening early.

Terri

Honeymoon Day 2

Oh to be on vacation. It is a wonderful thing. We had a great breakfast downtown, and something about those eggs were spectacular. (Must have been the sex.)

I torchured Jason by forcing a side trip to the Whitman Mission, where in 1847 (or thereabouts) the Cayuse Indians put an end to the mission by ending the Whitmans and a few other whities. It seems they were a tad bit pissed about the diseases that had wiped out half their community and the never ending inflow of travelers into the region. This national historic site is interesting, but certainly not a destination to make your soul focus of a journey.









After the mission, a couple wineries and a picnic lunch we headed back to our apartment/hotel for a nap.





Once fully refreshed we headed back out to Cougar Crest winery and picked up some super yummy reserve wines for the wine locker at home.

We had dinner at a place recommended by many of the local folks we encountered and it did not disappoint. After dinner it was back to the room for some cable tv, packing and a dip in the fun and huge jacuzzi bath tub. (oversharing?)


We are having fun telling everyone we are on our honeymoon and have been treated well everywhere we have gone.

Tomorrow is a road trip day, with a lunch stop at some Spokane place and an over night in SandPoint. I doubt we'll even pull out the laptop, so just know we are on the road about 5 hours tomorrow.

Don't miss us!

Honeymoon Day 1

We thought we would be leaving Issaquah in the 7 am hour, but managed to lallygag around until later in the morning. Since we weren't required to be anywhere the puttering was enjoyable.

We stopped in Granger for a tiny pit-stop at my parents and then pushed through to Walla Walla. I've crossed this lovely state of ours many times but sometimes I forget about the diverse and interesting the landscape.

We grabbed a quick lunch on the patio of a pub (that was later poo-poo'd by the wine purveyors at the Forgeron Wine Cellars). Walla Walla has cute downtown area, little shops (a massive Macy's) and a few coffee shops. We stopped into Hot Poop, Washington's Oldest Independent Record store. Obviously the name is what drew me in. I may be a married woman now, but a good poop joke makes me happy

We managed to enjoy a couple wine shops and plan out our day for today. We've got breakfast plans, a dinner reservation and in addition to stopping at l'Ecole we'll tour the Whitman Mission historical site.

Our little apartment is super cute and we even made diner for ourselves last night. We are thankful that we left Tuesday rather than the day after the wedding. I was a zombie Sunday and a bit more human Monday. We are sleeping like the dead and I think we will be 100% back to normal today.

We'll check in again tomorrow.

Mr. & Mrs. TP gal

Thank you Erika for these wedding pictures.

More will come!!!