DD Kimball Road: 600 Miles

So most of the time when you go to weddings, they are local. I mean within a 30-60 mile radius from your own home. When we got the invitation for D's cousins wedding neither one of us realized that it would be a 600+ mile round trip up into northern California. Not that we minded....we both like to drive, look at the scenery and talk (sometimes sleep) on the way. We rose out of bed at 6am, took the pup to my in-laws and then hit the road. We passed all the pretty crops and not so pretty smelling cows as we made our journey up the 5 freeway. I caught up on some reading as well, and of course read quotes from the book to D as he drove. Something I tried to do to break up the country music that we had on in the background....which was appropriate considering we were driving through the most vast and empty part of the middle of our state. Mostly just farmland and animals for miles.

When we arrived at our destination we were starving. We met up with the family; parents, siblings, grandparents, other relatives; checked into the room, and then the clan (13 people) walked over to a restaurant to have a quick lunch. After lunch, we were short on supplies so I went with D's mom to hunt and gather. Although trying to find a drugstore in a new town is a little challenging. We passed Sunset Blvd and Bel Air in our travels we were gone that long! We had no idea that we could drive that far and be right back where we started! Once back at the hotel we parted ways.

As we arrived at the Country Club all gussied up in our finest...D and I took in the scenery. The ceremony over looked the green of the golf course as did the reception area. It brought us back to our own wedding day....wanting to do it again! The bridesmaids were very elegant in their black gowns, the flower girls tossing their rose petals were adorable, and the poor terrified ring bearer, who had to be carried down the aisle by his daddy, all prepared for the entrance of the bride. Dressed in a white gown with a black sash, escorted by her father who had tears in his eyes. She looked beautiful and happy. She walked to Feels Like Home, which is D and my song, so as she made her way down the aisle I whispered the lyrics to him and he squeezed my hand tight. After a quick ceremony and of course I Do....we were headed up to the cocktail hour. Wine, beer and appetizers....a black, white and yellow candy bar and we got our table assignments, complete with the kissing bell. A kissing bell is similar to the clinking of the glasses. You ring the bell to get the couple to kiss. D and I danced, went in the photobooth for silly photos and all around enjoyed ourselves with the fam bam. At 11 we all made our way back to the hotel where D and I enjoyed one last dance for the evening. After we crashed so we could peel ourselves out of bed to tour the state capitol. But that's another post.

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Bozick on their marriage. May their lives be blessed with love, laughter and a happily ever after!

Below are some photos.....iPhone and some from my M.I.L. We didn't bring the nice camera in and I am kicking myself! At least we were able to capture some moments!