as i mentioned in the previous post, the biggest reason to come to the san francisco area was for the wedding of a friend from garmisch...junior has had adventures in relationships, so i was thrilled to see him so happy...
to get to the wedding, i hired a car, and drove north (over that famous red bridge:) into wine country...the wedding took place on the land belonging to the grandparents (i think? or maybe a close family friend?) of the bride...its gorgeous...in occidental, a small town, in sonoma county, i think...
to get to the wedding, i looked up directions, checked a map, etc...somehow, i missed one of those directions, and drove too far...luckily, the last town i'd driven through (when i knew i was still going the right way) had an information office...(hint to travelers, it's always a good idea to pay attention to signs with that lower case cursive letter i)...when i walked in and told them i was lost, and where i wanted to go, the lady pulled out a map and showed me where to go...woo hoo...
15 minutes later, i pulled up to the house...i could see 2 people sitting on a porch, and no one else...neither one of those people was the groom, and the groom was the only person i knew would be at the wedding...hmmm...fortunately, after i got out of the car and was walking, i heard a voice behind me: "is that eva johnson?"....eeeeeeeeeeee, it was junior!!!!!! scotty is like the brother i never had, and we hadn't seen each other in years...a huge hug for both of us, and he introduced me to the people on the porch...more people came out, more introductions followed...it was nice to meet the bride to be, and to re-meet members of junior's family...i'd completely forgotten, but i met his sister and brother and mom a few years ago in my hometown...
(side note, junior is not his real name, he is not a real junior...that is, his name is not the same as his dad...it's a nickname from garmisch)
after putting my bag in my room, (it's an awesome house) i sat around on the front porch for a while, chatting with the others sitting out in the sun, getting to know them...after not too long, everyone in the wedding party walked off for the rehearsal, i continued chatting...
soon enough, more and more people started to arrive...junior and clair had invited everyone to the rehearsal dinner...in true san francisco style, they hired a taco truck to cater the meal...organic, really really tasty tacos, rice, beans, etc from the truck...everyone loved it...a tent had been set up over all the tables, which turned out to be a great thing, as the weather got really chilly after the sun went down...
the next morning i woke up and went downstairs to find people making breakfast for whoeva cared to eat it, and others figuring out what still needed to be done before the ceremony...i went with junior's step dad to pick up the flowers, ice, and one other thing i've forgotten...occidental itself is a town, but is very small...so are all the other towns around that area...people live in various places, but you don't really feel like you are in a city at any point...we drove all over, or at least it felt like all over to get the flowers and ice...we also stopped at a small bakery that made organic scones...i'm a sucker for scones...YUM...
not long after dennis and i returned to the farmhouse (they call it the farmhouse, but i don't know if there is actually a farm there) cold cuts were put out in the kitchen for everyone to eat something before the ceremony...everyone started getting ready for the ceremony (we had to figure out who would need a longer shower, etc)...i got a quick peek of the bride before she walked down the aisle, GORGEOUS...it was fun to be around everyone who was involved in the ceremony...
i took the altar flowers down to the ceremony location, then stayed down there, others gradually showed up...i had been told ahead of time that there would be one ukrainian chick at the ceremony, though i'd forgotten completely...then, when i saw her, i remembered being told, and recognized her as ukrainian immediately...it was what she was wearing more than anything else...
everyone walked back up the hill to the farmhouse and tent area, some people bringing chairs from the ceremony, since they were needed for the reception...seating was assigned, i ended up at a table with a lot of single people, which didn't much surprise me...some of the others had known the couple from when they lived in reno, i was the only attendee who knew scott from garmisch...
probably the best wedding cake i've ever had...soooooooooooooooooooooooooo good...i ate more than one piece that night, and had more of it for breakfast the next morning...if i could've figure out how to take some with me, i would've done so...ridiculously good...chatting with people, telling life stories, exchanging adventures...a great wedding...
another night of sleeping like a rock...i was a little sad to wake up the next morning, as that meant i was leaving...after another lovely breakfast, and helping clean up, i hopped in the car and started my road trip up the pacific coast highway...
a fantastic wedding, and i hope i see scott and clair sooner than the four years that had gone by since the last visit...
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