Trail Junctions and Wedding Bales

Over the last five years my mountain trail has crossed and re-crossed the trail of a very special person. I met Lori by chance at a triathlon/duathlon race in Bend, OR . After subsequent running, biking, and dinner dates in Mt. Tamalpais country, I knew our trails would join. At long last, that happened this weekend at a friend's ranch in Middletown, CA. Lori and I were married at about 4:45 p.m. on Saturday, November 1, 2008 in a hay barn!



We had planned to get married under the wisteria arbor in the yard at our friend's ranch house. It was a magical place. Despite perfect weather for a month leading up to our wedding, Winter set in and it started raining last Friday. We had three inches of rain over the weekend, so it wasn't just a little storm either. Anyway, scrambling for a backup plan, we decided to get married in the Hennessey barn on a neighboring ranch. It was loaded with hay, but otherwise pretty clean and dry. The only hitch was the very muddy road down to the barn. So, with three 4x4 SUVs and our Jeep we hauled the entire wedding party (no one was "just" an observer -- all had a role) down to the barn and we got hitched!

The whole adventure fit our personalities well. Afterwards we four-wheeled our way back to the ranch house for an amazing dinner put on by one of Lori's catering friends.

So now, Lori's and my trails have merged and my mountain trail includes my permanent companion and her dog. :-)

Cool!