The Wedding on Saturday: Cindy's Perspective

Saturday morning started out slow (to say the very least)!  The boys and Jordyn and I had an opportunity to explore the town of Hood River while Cheech biked the area.  I HIGHLY recommend Hood River for it's natural beauty, charming town, and endless fruit orchards.

By the middle of the afternoon we were getting ready to be picked up by the "transport bus" that would take us to and from the wedding venue.  I am ever so grateful to the hosts for providing this service.  They showed the foresight and consideration to know we would all be too inebriated  exhaused by the night's end to drive ourselves down the mountain and back to our hotels.

The bride was gorgeous, the groom handsome, and the parents proud and tearful at the thought of ushering their "babies" into this new phase of adulthood.  The officiant was a family friend.  She was able to introduce the right amount of humor, wisdom, and family lore that makes for a perfect ceremony.  This all occurred in a grassy knoll with the Columbia River Gorge as the backdrop.  (I've always wanted to be able to use the phrase "in a grassy knoll" but couldn't figure out how to fit it into anything I wrote in Tucson).

Wedding Venue (photo by Nick Calenti)

The reception was a BLAST!  Good friends, good food, good music.  The reception also included a "surprise" flash-mob dance by the bride's parent's friends.  Note that we are all in our 60's, have the requisite number of aches and pains, and were NEVER good dancers to begin with.  One of the group members stated that we looked like a clip from the movie Cocoon. (Cocoon- a 1980's movie about a group of very old people who are rejuvenated by pool water that is infused with a "life-force" from aliens).  We on the other hand, were only infused with alcohol so needless to say La Bamba, Youtube, and flask-mob flash-mob dancing will never be same.  I personally am grateful that none of us was sober  aware enough to fully remember comprehend the vision we produced.

Family Photo Booth Fun (Cheech, Tony, Jordyn, Tony)

Next morning we all went berry picking along the Hood River Fruit Loop.  I think it's in the blood because we just couldn't stop picking those blueberries, cherries, raspberries, etc.  We filled our car with the "fruits of our labor", snacked, and tooted tootled our way up to Olympia for a four day stay with Tony and Jordyn.

About 8 pounds of cherries!