Wedding in the Woods!

A whirlwind trip indeed, but well worth it! Seeing a wedding band on my brother John's finger brings a smile to my face and after 43 years, I can say, that his new wife, Amy, is definitely worth the wait! A wonderful celebration with friends and family; I am so thankful for the time away to attend the festivities and my awesome husband for manning the fort while I was stateside.

My trip started Thursday morning with a 6:00 a.m. taxi ride to the bus station in Santa Elena. The bus ride was uneventful until about 10 km outside of Alajuela where a strike was happening right in front of our eyes, bringing traffic to a dead stop. Cell phones started to ring on the bus and I quickly became aware of a strike that was going on (I think with the Custom Agencies) and some of the roads were closed….not to mention THE ROAD that was to get me to the airport! Well, at this point, I was not panicked as I had a good 4 plus hours before my flight took off, so I propped open the window a little more on the bus and started to fan myself with my flight itinerary as the bus was clearly not going anywhere…the air was still and I had just taken the last swig of H20 about a mile back. Lucky for us, the strike was to end at 10:30 a.m., and that it did! What seemed like hundreds of cars, started turning around and the blockade soon became passable. We were again on our way. A quick drop off at the airport, moving toward check-in and then all the computers were hard down. What a loss of power? Not to worry, as the Agent reverted back to ‘manual’ procedures and presented me with a hand-written boarding pass. Four hours on the plane went by quickly as I had my nose in the “Redirecting Children’s Behavior” book. Yes, I am re-reading for the second time and highlighting now, as this edition is all mine. I was very eager to land at the Charlotte airport and greet family. After an hour waiting at baggage claim, I was greeted by my nephew Zach, Josh and my sister Beth who had just arrived from Chicago. We boarded the Enterprise bus and headed off-airport to pick-up our rental car. The laughs and jokes started immediately – I feel sorry for the gals on the Enterprise shuttle and the customer service rep at the counter, as they had to put up with four very silly and tired customers! After some miss-turns and a quick stop at Arby's (for some horsey sauce…this was a new one on me), we headed toward Rutherfordton and made it to John and Amy's around 12 midnight NC time. My head hit the pillow and I was out. What, no 4 year old crawling into bed with me?

Friday was a glorious, sunny day - we all chipped in and put the finishing touches on their out-building which would be the venue for the reception -- hanging lights, candles around the property and filling luminaries to line the driveway. Zach and Josh were a huge help in hanging the lights, contorting their bodies every which way; hanging from rafters to get the job done, and that they did. There was not much for us to do as Amy had the event well organized and set us up so we could have lots of R & R time and enjoy kickin’ back. We checked into the Firehouse Inn on Friday morning – (an old fire station in the heart of the little village that has been converted into an Inn). Beth and I shared a room and I was in Heaven! David, the Inn Keeper was a chatty European with a great sense of humor. Apparently he trained the staff at the Plaza Hotel in NY, so he knew how to keep his guests happy! We enjoyed a great bbq at John and Amy's Friday night where we got to meet other wedding guests and family. It was so comfortable, the food was yummy and the choice of wine, well, far out-weighed the box wine I drink here in Monteverde. I had a chance to see family from NY and John's old college roomie, Doug as well. Lots of chuckles.

Saturday was a great day, and the rain held off for the reception. The ceremony was lovely and I barely stumbled on my Reading. When we arrived back at the house for the reception, the light of day was fading and the candles began to twinkle in the night sky...it was beautiful. Amy and John walked up the drive with their three dogs, all sporting a bow tie for themselves - Dog lovers they are! The food was outstanding and everything was perfect.

Sunday we watched as Amy and John opened their gifts and then settled down to watch a movie as they ran Amy's folks to the Charlotte airport. I howled as we watched "It's Complicated" and remembered how much I like a good, entertaining movie. Dad had booked us a hotel room near the airport in Charlotte for Sunday night so we did not have to make the long trek to the airport on Monday to make our 7 a.m. flights. Kisses and hugs doled out and we were off in the rental car, about 9:30 p.m....or so we thought. Keys, keys, keys...where could they be? To make a long story short, the keys to the car went missing and after 90 minutes of looking in the pitch dark (it's dark in the country), Amy and John made their second trip to the airport with the four of us and all our luggage. We laid our heads down about midnight at the Wingate Hotel only to be buzzed by a wake-up call around 5 a.m.

Monday was another long day of travel; I arrived back at the San Jose airport a 1/2-hour earlier than scheduled and ended up sitting at the bus depot for close to five hours before the 2:30 bus up the mountain departed. My backside was numb by the time I boarded the bus after a 4-hour flight and hanging out at the depot. Finally, after a short taxi ride from Santa Elena, I was greeted by hugs and kisses by all my boys about 7:30 p.m. Michael and John were talking a mile a minute...Mike and I smiled at each other and just let their motors run. I missed the boys terribly and told Mike that I never wanted to take another vacation without the family. All I wanted to do was to get close, hug and kiss on them…okay, big Mike too ☺

They had a great five days without mom, outing to the Frog Museum, swimming at Poco a Poco Hotel and the Pet Festival. This mom is glad to be home and it was truly like ‘coming home’ when I landed back at the SJO airport. I was a little over stimulated when I arrived at the Charlotte airport Thursday night, blackberries, cell phones going off, people and more people (and this was a small airport), not O’Hare – how will I feel in another 5 weeks when I land in Chicago? John lives in the country, so Wal-Mart made out pretty well with us being in town. I had a few things I wanted to purchase for the boys and for other friends here, so I am convinced that if it wasn’t for my sister Beth, pressing me for decisions; I would still be in the store trying to decide which outfit to buy Loandry (Gaudy’s son) – too many choices – boy was I confused and overwhelmed.

So, I am home now, still suffering from the sinus issues I have had for the last nine days. I purchased several natural remedies from the Macrobiotica store in Santa Elena yesterday so we’ll see if it gives me any relief.

Less than four weeks of school left and I can’t believe we’ll be back in the states within a little over a month. We are looking so forward to seeing friends and family, spending lots of time in Chicago, maybe NC and would love to squeeze in some time at the farm in upstate NY. Lots of choices!

BTW, the Pet Festival (mentioned in previous posts) was a huge success – I can’t wait for the next one.

Peace,
Signed: S