We have finally started our return trip to Reno (via North Dakota). When we left Kilmarnock this morning, we took VA 3 West which was the first time we took a road with that general direction in over a week. The trip East was 3005 miles, but who's counting?
Perhaps we should go back a day and talk about the wedding (after all, that was the reason for the trip in the first place). Saturday dawned overcast with threatening clouds overhead, which caused concern for the outdoor wedding which was scheduled for 5:00 p.m. I'll remove all suspense and say that the weather held off - who says prayers don't work!
We came out to Lee and Sally's (Bill's parents) a little early. Because parking was limited at their home on Chesapeake Bay, they had made arrangements for a van to make several trips to get the guests out to the location. That was just one of the many thoughtful arrangements which Robin and Bill had put together in their wedding plan. It seems that they thought of all the possibilities and had contingencies to cover any untoward events.
Lee and Sally's home is a beautiful summer place right on the Chesapeake Bay and the wedding was held on the lawn, with a large tent (another of those precautions) which served to shield the guests from either the sun or the rain, whichever occurred. Since it was cloudy, people were able to wander freely. The wedding, which was a combination of Jewish and Protestant customs, was a simple, but moving experience. My brother Paul served as the Minister and Stuart Terry's cousin, who is a rabbi, provided the complement for the Jewish traditions. Robin and Bill made their entrance preceded by the parents, flower girl and ring bearer (Marc Terry's adorable children), and the small bridal party - Robin and Bill had elected to have couples on either side of them.
After the wedding, Robin and Bill disappeared for a while to have some more photographs taken and this allowed the guests to mingle, have some wine, and nervously continue to eye the sky. Dinner was served outside on two long tables overlooking the Bay. The food and service matched all the other impeccable arrangements. (If it sounds like I was impressed by their planning, I was!). Toasts and memories were talked about and glasses were raised once or twice (perhaps more). Fun afternoon and evening.
Afterwards, some of the wedding guests (and Robin and Bill) returned to the Kilmarnock Inn for a post-party party. Vi and I were planning on leaving early in the morning to head up to Rochester, so we had a glass of wine with Paul and Sandy and Bill's grandmother, who at age 94, was an alert and extremely active person. Good genes in that family! Drove herself up from the Newport News area and regaled us with stories of her recent heart attack - not many people can pull that one off.
As I mentioned earlier, we left on VA 3 and headed for Rochester. I think if we started to read every historical road sign on that trip north, especially in Virginia, it would have taken us years. We even passed up the opportunity to take a two mile side-trip to George Washington's birthplace (and no, it's not Mount Vernon) - it's out on the North Neck.
The trip north covered territory which we had been over many times when we lived back East and it was fun driving through the farmland, suburbs, river areas and other beautiful scenery of the Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York countryside.
Arrived in Rochester about 5:00 p.m. and visited with Tim and Kathy before going out to dinner at a German restaurant nearby with Kathy's parents who live over in Brockport, NY. Did I mention that it was cold up here - the temperature kept dropping all the time as we headed north and when we arrived in Rochester, it was 45 degrees with a strong wind blowing. When we watched the evening news, the wind chill was 33 degrees! Not sure what happened to Spring and Summer, but this seems more like November than May.
We're leaving about noon tomorrow to follow some really tough directions, get on I-90, stay on I-90, stay overnight and repeat - does that sound similar to what we did on our way out here? Only the road designation has changed.
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