Apr 11, 2012

We went to a wedding

This weekend Ryan and I had the privilege of attending the wedding of one of his old volleyball buddies who now lives in Golden. So, somewhat early on Saturday morning, after a rushed pack job and a too-late wake-up after a too-fun night in with friends, we hopped in our car and hit the road. Coffee was definitely needed to get this train rolling. And it was consumed.


It was a dreary day. Cloudy and grey. Somehow, these dreary days have a way of making the mountains look even more ominous. I know I say this a lot, but I really mean it. This landscape simply awes me. Majestic doesn't begin to describe it.  

Soon into our trip, the flurries started up. It was practically a white out. Fortunately, it was short-lived, and soon enough the roads were perfectly fine again.  



Then, as is the case on the road to Golden, we were eventually stopped along the highway due to some ditch work they were doing on the mountain. It blows my mind that they can do such heavy construction so far up a mountain! Seriously, the road maintenance crews that manage those highways receive a proverbial tip o' the hat from yours truly.  


But, regardless of those guys' awesomeness, we still had ourselves the makings of an extremely remote, and high altitude traffic jam. This moment was made only sadder by the fact that Ryan polished off the last Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and had the indecency to leave me with little more than the chocolate skid on the wrapper.  Ew. Chocolate skid. That conjures up other imagery. 

I'll stop there. 


Anyway, eventually we got the right idea. Kick back and relax. There's not much else you can do when a situation like this presents itself. 


Finally, there was some movement with the traffic in front of us. But, wouldn't you know it, the highway maintenance let the backed up line of semi-trucks go first. Now, this wouldn't ordinarily bother me. But, it certainly bothered Ryan. O yes. Our conversation proceeded as follows:

Ryan: Are they seriously letting the semi's go first?!
Carli: I think so.
Ryan: That is so annoying. Now they're all going to be backed up, and for the next 20 minutes, they'll have the rest of us attempting Evel Knievel style passes on these twisty mountain roads. (Disclaimer: He didn't say Evel Knieval...I've added that for emphasis...I think it paints a better picture. I also added twisty.  I don't think that's a word I've ever heard Ryan say).
Carli: So the semi's win and we lose?
Ryan: (With accompanying picture below) We're all losers here Carli. There are no winners. 


Coming from a guy who doesn't get worked up about much, I was surprised to see road construction etiquette affected him so :) Such a mystery, this one.  

Finally we arrived in Golden, and I have to admit, I did a terrible job of taking pictures while we were there.  I did manage to snap a pic of the town sign though.  Yay me. 


From there, we drove as fast as we could to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. It was a bit of an ordeal, as we had packed in a hurry and didn't really know how to dress, considering the wedding was 1920's themed.  We played it on the safe side, as we weren't too connected with the other party goers in Golden and really had no clue what the commitment level was going to be. Turns out though, people went gung ho! Like, major costume rentals. The whole place felt like an authentic, 1920's event.  The bride and groom did such a fantastic job of pulling the whole thing together.  

We didn't get any great pictures of us dressed up.  The following pic is super random and a total plug for McDonald's baby espresso cups. If in need of a coffee, and no Starbucks is nearby (Read: Small towns like Golden), Ryan and I most certainly hit up Micky D's for their teensy, leeeeetle cups.  Its the only reason.  Plus we like coffee.


Anyway, above you can see that I was wearing a head band thingy of sorts, kinda like they did in the 20's.  I think?? Look, I was grasping at straws. I had no idea what to do for a 1920's wedding. Turns out, renting a costume was the thing to do. We learned this a little too late. Like, walking into the wedding kind of late. Never the less, we survived the night in tact, and no one threw us out due to poor/underachieving costume performance. Phew! :)

The next day we started the trek home after some breaky.  I should note here, that because of our intensely rushed pack job, both ryan and I forgot to bring different shirts for the ride home. Why? Because we're classy like that. And, weirdly in sync it seems. So, if you can, focus on the mountains and not our repeat shirts :)


Crazytown.  


Awesomesauce.


Snappin' pics because how can you not?

On the way home, we decided to stop in Banff. Its one of our favorite places in Alberta. We walked the town for several hours before stopping on a bridge to snap some final pics. The first is an attempt at taking a pic in the blinding sun.  And on that note...

Glorious, Blinding Sun!!! Honestly, that day felt like the first time I'd felt the hot sun on my face since last fall! And it was glorious! It made me wonder why I don't live in a warmer climate (O right, I love where I live)...then it made me wonder why I don't baste in the sun when given the chance (O right, I don't want to be that lady on vacation that looks...well...more leathery than not)....then it made me wonder why I'm not an iguana, they kick it in the sun all day (O right, I like being human...and frankly, if I had to be any animal, a reptile certainly wouldn't be my first choice). So no more wondering, just basking in the moment. That should do. 


Then, promptly following this photo, my eyes began to feel like they were on fire/bleeding. It's the sun. I can't handle looking even remotely in the direction of the sun. Does this happen to anyone else?? I often need people to count down when they are going to take the pic so I can keep my eyes shut until the moment they shoot they photo. It's super annoying. If I let it go too far, and keep my eyes open too long, it starts an eye watering flood of epic proportions. And no one wants to see Carli with tarantula legs of mascara running down her cheeks, do they?

So, sunglasses on it is!


Ah, much better. And, makeup crisis averted! Success all around. 

5 comments:

  1. CUTE headband! It looks so pretty against your dark hair! And that picture & caption of your husband cracked me up. Sounds like an adventure for sure.

    mattandcarlycross.blogspot.com

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  2. Hello, those mountains are gorgeous! Beautiful pictures!

    xoxo,
    Taylor

    taylormorgandesign.blogpsot.com

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  3. okay, all of these pictures are SO absolutely incredible!!! what an amazing location!
    xo TJ

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    Replies
    1. Hi Taylor and TJ!

      Ya, we're pretty lucky here in Canada. The scenery can be pretty incredible :)

      xo Carli

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