Anacortes, Washington

Wednesday night I made it as far as Ritzville, Washington, before I had to find a motel where I could sleep for the night. I slept in Thursday morning and made it to Anacortes around 1:30pm. After having lunch with my brother, I reluctantly made it to my haircut appointment...but, both my brother and his fiancee said they approved of the Jesus/Eddie Vedder look and that I should only get a trim. Thankfully Apryl, the appointed stylist, agreed and only took a tiny bit off. This news was not extremely well received by my sister, but as long as the bride and groom were happy, I figured no one could say anything to me. Thursday night we had a great picnic along the water at a park with friends and family who had already arrived for the wedding. We then sampled some of the local bars and did our best to not destroy the groom before his big weekend.

Friday morning a bunch of us got together and headed out to a spot for some cliff jumping into one of the nearby lakes. We would only let Blake go off the 25 and 30 foot cliffs, but some of the other guys in the wedding party tried the higher ones, including Blair Morrison who threw himself off the 70 footer that required him to clear several tree branches in the air before splashing safely into the water below. In the evening, the wedding party and family got together for the rehearsal dinner with a cocktail party following. Everything went great and Blake and Shawmonee were surrounded by tons of friends and family who were able to make the long trip out. Unfortunately some of the guys who made it out to for the wedding ran into some local trouble after the cocktail party. Thankfully no one was seriously injured, but several of the locals were arrested...promising to return the next night to crash the reception.

We woke up Saturday morning to gray skies and weather predictions calling for rain in the afternoon. However, the pastor performing the ceremony promised no rain, and we hoped we would have the man upstairs on our side for the day. The wedding ceremony was performed on cliffs overlooking Deception Pass. The bride was (and remains) gorgeous and the weather held just as the pastor predicted. During the ceremony, several orcas passed below as if they were wishing my brother and his new bride a bright future. As we were taking photos of the bridal party after the ceremony, the skies opened up and the rain came. Thankfully, many of the pictures had been taken before the ceremony, so we quickly scooped up the bride and groom and headed for the reception. The reception was wonderful (and the promised threats from the locals from the night before did not come to fruition). Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and we were able to send of the new couple in style. Blake and Shawmonee spent the night in a small bed and breakfast a little outside Anacortes and would be catching a flight the next afternoon to head to Kauai for their honeymoon. I couldn't be happier for my brother or more excited to have Shawmonee join our family.

Sunday morning we had a brunch at the hotel where most of the wedding party stayed. We all had a great time sharing stories from the previous night and nursing our hangovers with a wonderful buffet. Early in the afternoon, my family and the Alamedas packed up and drove north to Canada where we would be spending the next week in a house in Whistler, British Columbia. I do have to say that I was suspect of where Canada had come since my last visit to British Columbia as I was detained with my buddy Kevin at the border...I'm pretty sure it was because of the long hair and the fact that I stated I was unemployed. During the seconday inspection, the border agent furthered my suspicions of the good-naturedness of Canadians by asking my how I was going to support myself for a week in Whistler if I was unemployed. Not the friendliest group of people at the border. But, we made it across, and apparently none to soon since a women a little later in the day attempted to cross from Canada into the US carrying a suitcase she claimed held a bomb. We finally made it to Whistler Sunday evening and I am looking forward to a great week hiking, biking, golfing, and exploring the area I have only known in the winter.