Big day, big post

Wow, what a day it was Friday. I was up at the crack (and was reminded how it is dark at 5:30 am nowadays) to get ready to head down to Portland for Mags's wedding. Otis was bleary-eyed but somewhat bushy-tailed, so we actually got on the road before 7:00 am. It turned out to be a good thing, because at about Olympia we passed the first of many wrecks we encountered on the round-trip; the police and emergency services activity slowed us to a crawl for about a half-hour.

Nonetheless, we made it down in plenty of time for a lovely wedding at the Overlook House. What does the house overlook, you ask? Well, here's Otis giggling at the view:



After running through food from Tacoma to castle Rock, we were pleased that the outdoor ceremony was graced with sunshine. Here's the obligatory wedding party photo:



You should be able to pick out Mags and her blushin' groom easily. One totally cool note to the affair was the cross-gendered wedding party: there was a boy bridesmaid (far left) and a girl groomsman (the redhead on the right, behind the camera).

So, after ceremony, salsa & chips, and individual wedding cupcakes (another cool touch), we jumped back into Renty Red and pointed her nose north to head back for the Full Belly Barbecue in Volunteer Park. We even had time to stop at home and feed kitties before joining the gang and feeding ourselves!



Mass kudos out to Johnbai and O for managing to turn what we do anyway - hang out and eat - into a vehicle to help us devote some measure of our resources to social good. (Go see the blog for details.) When you add in O's delicious cooking, well, you've got it made.


Johnbai did yeoman work with the fetch and tote portion of the evening


The queen of the evening, O shows off her cute new 'do


Welcome-back Wheylona with jet lag action smiles through her brain-fog as Stella strikes a dramatic pose


We're happy and exhausted and going home

The food was great and the company was greater, but we faded out pretty fast and went home to bed. I slept almost until eight this morning, that's how tired I was. My cup runneth over with fun.