Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Daniel And Amy Got Married

   I know, it has been a long time since I have written anything, but sometimes I think, who, other than my family reads this blog anyway. But then again, that is the reason I started writing a blog in the first place.
   Daniel and Amy were getting married June 29, so we left here June 26, since we were driving. Of course, there was a terrible heat wave at that time and our air conditioner that worked when we left, decided to stop working. The temperatures weren't too bad until we hit CA. and then it was just hot and getting hotter the closer we got to Southern CA.
   We eventually made it to CA and Daniel and Amy's apartment in Bellflower. We met a rude woman who said we didn't belong in the gated parking area of the apartment building even though it did have marked guest parking spaces. We backed into one and went in to relax. That night, I heard what sounded like a car hitting another, but figured it was on the busy street they lived on.
   We didn't see much of Amy, which we expected since we got there on the 28th and she had lots of last minute things to do. We took Amy to meet up with a friend and then Daniel took Tim and I to lunch. We had Mexican food. Up here in WA, we just can't find good Mexican food. I am used to Tex-Mex food since I grew up in El Paso, TX, but Tim grew up in CA and knows what Mexican food tastes like.
   Tim and I really felt out of place and like tourists in CA now, since we had been gone for 7 years. You know you are in another world when all the buildings have bars on the windows and doors. Anyway, like all good tourists and Daniel being a good tour guide, we hit up a big liquor store. I know, who stops there? The price of liquor in WA is really high and I wanted to get a big bottle of Vodka for making more vanilla extract and I had read it works great for killing bugs and for cleaning, so, why not. When we got back to the apartment, I noticed someone had hit the front of the van. We wondered if it was the rude woman who told us we didn't belong there. The damage was small, just the bumper was pushed in and the hood wasn't quite right.
   Daniel took us to Downtown Disneyland that night and we ate at the Rainforest CafĂ©. Tim and I each had a Margarilla, which is a margarita made with orange sherbet. It was good and we will have to make some at home. Every half hour, there was a "thunderstorm" and all the Disney animals made noise. We watched the nightly fireworks display and then went back to Daniel's. It was a really good firework show. It had been a long time since we had seen a firework show and fireworks have gotten bigger and better.
 
    The wedding was in Redlands, CA and once again, it was really hot. It was a really nice wedding ceremony. Amy promised to make Daniel eat vegetables once in a while and Daniel promised to make Amy eat a donut once in a while. It was a very relaxed ceremony. Daniel also had a pocket full of Kleenex for Amy. They were going to have pictures taken outside, but it was just way too hot, so they were taken inside. Amy and Daniel have a really good bunch of friends that are more like family.
   Before the wedding Alyssa, David and kids got ready in our hotel room. It was really nice seeing them, but it wasn't nearly long enough.
   My brother, Gary and his wife Myrna were there and it was nice seeing them as well.
   Tim's dad and his wife were also there and we hadn't seen them for a long time, either.
   We left bright and early, but not early enough for Tim, to go see my parents in Pahrump, NV. It was a hot drive, but not nearly as hot as the drive to CA.
 We had a nice visit with them and saw my sister, Donna and her husband Ron, a couple of times.
   When we left, we were going to go see Tim's sister, Julie, because it was too early to stop by and see her when we were going. We still didn't see her for long because we really wanted to drive at night when it was cooler.
   Leaving Reno, NV headed for Marysville, CA traffic came to a stop. There was a mudslide that had just happened. We have no idea what was going on, but Julie did when we called her. All the traffic was diverted off the freeway onto a side street and when we got to the end of the street, we had to turn around and go the way we came and get on the freeway going the opposite direction then we wanted to go. The "short" detour we had to go on took 5 hours. At least it was really pretty going through the Sierras.
    We saw this really pretty waterfall up there.
   At one point, we were being tailgated by what we thought was a pick up truck. Tim pulled over so it could pass and it pulled in behind us, but not on top of us. It just sat there, so we drove on. A couple of minutes later, the same bright lights were shining in the windows. It got really close and then passed us and we noticed it was a white cargo van. Needless to say, we were really relieved when it passed us.
   A few miles down the road, the same lights were behind us again and we were beginning to think we were in one of those horror movies with the crazed people that prey on innocent travelers.

   It stayed behind us for quite a while again, tailgating of course, and then when we got to a town that had freeway on ramps, it veered off onto an exit. We were really wondering if it was going to come back, but it didn't. We breathed a sigh of relief, but kept an eye out for it anyway.
   We finally made it home. It's always nice to get home, but it we are glad we got to see Daniel and Amy get married and saw family, even though it was for a short while.