Adrienne's Wedding

I know those of you who read this blog don't know Adrienne, my friend from high school. Still, I'll post some photos from her wedding because it really was a beautiful affair. All the ones are took are posted on Picasa.



Here are all us girls with our hair styled for the wedding. The bridal party included two friends from high school (me and Amanda), a cousin (Erin) and a friend from college (Amber).



Adrienne got dressed at the Frog Pond, an outdoor wedding chapel. We had this nice little bridal suite for our preparations.



Isn't she such a beautiful bride?



When Adrienne was mostly ready, we sneaked out to decorate the car the would take from the ceremony to the reception.



Here's the ceremony. It was a perfect day, even though we got a couple of sprinkles at the end of the ceremony. No one was really worried about it, though!



The new Mr. and Mrs./Dr. Kyle and Adrienne Jones!



After the ceremony, we did some photos at a local garden then came to Crystal Mountain for the reception.



Before the reception began, we all had snacks and a champagne toast at the top of the mountain. We got to ride the chairlift up and everything!



Of course, Mitch and I were goofing around a bit. Would you expect anything less?

My camera ran out of battery before the reception actually started, but it was a great time. We danced quite a bit, mostly with Lindsay and Rich (a friend from high school and her husband). He and Mitch were the kings of the dance floor, at least in our eyes. It's a good thing we're not easily embarrassed!

Chicago!

Saturday, June 21: Let's Party!

6 am: The alarm sounds, dragging me out of bed. I'd spent the night before packing and deciding on party clothes with my friend, Lindsay, in preparation for Adrienne's bachelorette party. Dragging a suitcase jam-packed with a sleeping bag, a Thermarest, a fifth of Bacardi Razz, raspberry Jello and a few pieces of clothing, we loaded up the car and sped off to the train station.

8:15 am: Half an hour late, the train pulls out of the station. We settle in for a nice, long train ride to Union Station.

1:30 pm: Hampered by a few delays, we arrive in Chicago and manage to find the bus that runs past Amanda's apartment. Half an hour later, we're getting settled in and helping her set up for the party. We decorated glasses for mojitos, hung some lights and hit the streets to pick up flowers, cash and more rum.



8:00 pm: The bride-to-be arrives with the rest of the girls. We eat dinner on the roof and surprise Adrienne with a few gifts. Some nice guys take cool photos of us with Chicago in the background.







10:00 pm: We all hop into two taxis and head to the Hancock Building, where we have reservations at the Signature Room, a restaurant on the top floor. Unfortunately, we never got to eat because they require an entree per person and we had only planning to have dessert and drinks. So we relocated to the bar and watched fireworks from the women's bathroom.

12:00 am: Time to go dancing! We headed to Rush Street and found this club called The Level. After a round of lemon drops, we hit the dance floor and quickly found a small group of guys who attached themselves to our party. They bought Adrienne a shot, danced with her and congratulated her over and over again.



2:30 am: Adrienne's getting woozy...too many shots are taking their toll, so we head outside for some fresh air. Amanda makes some plans to meet up with the bachelor party at a bar nearer to the apartment, so we pile into cabs and make our way across the city. When our cab - the second to leave - arrives, we find that one of the guys had gotten sick, so the groom walked him back to the apartment. They lacked keys, however, so Amanda and her husband were heading back that way as well. They intended to let the other guys in and return to the bar, but I called shenanigans on a long night and said we would head back to the apartment, too. The walk was a mile long and most of the girls had their impossible heels off, trudging through the streets of Chicago barefoot. Another girl and I carried the bride over some rough roads to save her little toes!

4:00 am: We're back at the apartment and ready for bed. The birds' eye view of us must have been hilarious; thirteen people wrapped in blankets, scattered all over the apartment. A good time was had by all!

How did I miss this?

How has this been out for three weeks and this is the first I've seen it?!?!

"Joe, American"

I still miss her.

I find it fascinating how little things can bring back little, poignant memories.

Last night, I was cutting up a pair of Mitch's old underwear to use as a rag and as I was trimming the waistband off, I remembered how my Grandma Eccles used to sew old underwear bands to the bottom of the seat covers for the red wooden picnic table at the lake. That used to be my job as a girl: spreading out the old tablecloth, opening the umbrella and slipping on the seat covers while burgers sizzled on the charcoal grill.

Suing Chaperones?

I think this is completely ridiculous.

Wicked Weather

On Friday, my carpool buddies and I (look at us saving gas - three people riding in one car!) left work half an hour early to try to beat the approaching band of thunderstorms home. We ended up skirting the edge of the storm all the way down US 127, only to drive smack into a tornado warning. Here's the article (yes, we are in Bingham Township) and here are some pictures of the damage, only a few miles south of our apartment. Scary - I heard the tornado siren as I was running through the rain from my car to the apartment. I turned the news right on and was ready to toss my cat in his carrier and go down to the lower level of our building, but the siren stopped and nothing outside seemed to get any worse. We never lost power, but the wind snapped some power poles like toothpicks though a tornado touchdown was never reported. If I can, I'll get some photos tonight...though we're supposed to get more storms.

Adventures in Mammoth Cave

Preface

In the midst of a snowy Michigan winter, Mitch and I sat curled up with our favorite coffee table book, featuring America's national parks. We had just canceled plans to go skiing in Colorado and were looking for an exciting vacation spot. That one's too far...we don't have enough vacation time to do this one...that would probably cost a fortune. Then we found Mammoth Cave National Park - perfect!

Only one thing could make our potential vacation better: spending quality time with the Long-Slade family and meeting their newest addition. So, with a few phone calls and emails, we made the plans; and here's the story.

Chapter 1: Mammoth Cave Campground

Our home for the week, Mammoth Cave Campground (also known as Headquarters Campground) was pretty much perfect. While the camping was considered rustic, we did have flush toilets nearby and token-operated showers a short walk away. Hot water was at a premium for the first few days but once the weekend traffic subsided, we were blessed with ten minutes of hot-water glory...for $2 per shower, of course.

The campground connected to a network of short hiking trails, and we took a brisk stroll on Saturday afternoon. By trekking off the beaten path, we made our way down to the Green River, giving CJ the chance to dangle his little feet in the water.



And speaking of the little man, he was an absolute joy to have along. Good-natured, friendly and cuddly, we couldn't have asked for a better baby to have along. I don't think Anna slept much, but this kid was chillin' in serious style: he got his own mini-tent, complete with blow-up mattress and mosquito netting.



Chapter 2: The Backcountry

On Sunday, we decided to delay the park's main attraction and explore the backcountry before heading down to the cave. Rightly, we assumed the tours would be congested while the trails remained relatively empty.



Our route, a point-to-point six-mile hike along the First Creek Trail, was supposed to take us most of the day, as we planned to play along the river and enjoy a long, relaxing lunch. The prolific tick population, however, spoiled our plans; we coated ourselves in bug repellent, put our heads down and booked it out of there as quickly as possible! Despite our best efforts, poor Anna brought some back to camp with her and had to suffer through three rounds of tick extraction two days later.

Chapter 3: The Cave

We scheduled two cave tours: the Snowball Tour, a two-hour walking tour suitable for the young'un; and the Wild Cave Tour, an intense six-hour crawling, climbing and squeezing adventure. We were all impressed by the Snowball Tour - it was amazing just to walk through the cave. Even CJ did great! He slept a bit, but didn't even make a peep when our guide, Ranger Joe, killed all the lights and immersed us in the blackest black I've ever experienced.



Tim, Anna and CJ packed up after Tuesday's Snowball Tour and headed home. Their departure came at a fortunate time for them, because later that afternoon, the rain that had plagued us on Monday returned with a vengeance. It eventually flooded us out of our tent, forcing us to relocate to the big tent we brought for the Long-Slades. I can't believe that tent was large enough for us to share the space with the bikes, who had already staked their claim to the dry shelter!



Wednesday dawned grey and drizzly, so we rescheduled our Wild Cave Tour for that day and donned our oldest clothing, packed our pockets with PowerBars and a disposable camera, and pulled up the kneepads. As luck would have it, we were part of an amazingly small tour: five people plus our two guides, Ranger John and Ranger Taylor.



For the next five miles, we duck-walked, crawled, squeezed and climbed our way through some of the most challenging parts of the cave. I was one of very few who could make it down into the Mole Hole and out again.



Mitch crawled around in Sharon's Lost Sea, but I had no such inclination as I preferred to stay as dry as possible.



By the end, I was beaten up, sore and ready for that hot shower. The Wild Cave Tour was definitely the highlight of the week in terms of activities, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!



Epilogue: The Aftermath

Thursday was our final full day, and we took advantage of the only mountain bike trail in the area. The first five miles were fun, but then it got muddy and rough. I took a nice tumble into a creek, bashed my butt with the seat, and came home sporting a killer bruise.



Back in Michigan on Saturday, we hit another mountain bike trail with my dad and I took another spill, this time cracking my knee and giving myself a pool ball-sized goose-egg. Multiple other bruises currently adorn my thigh and calves - aren't vacations supposed to be relaxing?!?! Well, I don't think I'd enjoy it any other way!

(All our photos are available here. Tim and Anna, I've set it up so you can download any photos you'd like. Thanks for the amazing trip!)