The Reception

Well, after a wedding you have to have a reception........

Now I'm just a small town boy, so this was a big deal when I get to have valet parking!  This whole thing was a big deal, because we got to see and party with several actors from our favorite TV shows!  And let me tell you, this went WAY past my bedtime!

Disclaimer:  Sorry to all of Nick and Erica's friends for not catching your names for these pictures.

Well Dad, I did it.

Jessica and Craig

Oh yeah, I'm a star too!

Cat Fight!  I want to hold the baby!

Logan and Loraine

Krin and Justin

Joey doing a very good stand up routine about
when Nick and Erica first met.  Oh, and Joey
WAS NOT the Best Man, but got to do his
speech anyway.........

Erica and Karen

Megan, Hallie, and Robert Baker

John Togo from CSI and Hallie.

Hallie two timing it with Justin Long and John Togo.

Some of the Ohio family.

The day after, looking at gifts.  

The Wedding

Our whole trip was timed for this event, we had to be in Hollywood on this day, everything else was negotiable.

Erica, our niece, was just Drop Dead Gorgeous!   We got here a few days before the wedding, and have been helping decorate the reception hall, and help with the rehearsal dinner.  It's been a whorl wind of activity with Erica's family in from Ohio, and us off the road trip, and then all the Aunt's from the four corners, not to mention Nick's (oh yeah, we have to have a groom) local family.  Nick is an actor here in town, with a family who "is in the business" too, and of course, all of their friends are "in the business".  Nick is a real nice guy and we had our share of fun with him while he's pulling out his hair with all the wedding details.  Thank God for Karen, Erica's mom, who assumed the role of Wedding Planner.  She had her spreadsheets for all the schedules and details, and held planning meetings each evening so we'd know what's on deck for the next day.  It was quite a production for the Ohio gang.  

The wedding kept us busy in the background, Sandy and I ran out at the last minute to Target to replace all the candles for the reception with LED candles.  Even though it was stated in the contract, the owner was concerned with the Fire Marshal inspection that night.  No one told Erica, we just handled it.......

The wedding was held in the back yard at a friend's house, who is in the business, a very nice house, I must say.  It was a perfect day, blue sky, and not a cloud to be seen.  Now, in Texas, we'd all be burnt to a crisp in a few minutes, but in Hollywood it was picture perfect, warm but not hot.

Those two were having a good time during the ceremony, in between tears.  It was really touching to watch them express their love for each other in front of everyone.  Later, Erica told me she was nervous at first, but then just relaxed and went with the flow, and had a kick out of Nick with his tears.  She almost got the hands crossed when exchanging rings (getting his ring on the wrong hand), but Sandy had shown her how to do that part earlier in the day.  I could tell she was having a good time.

Congratulations Nick and Erica!  May your new life be full of fun and happiness.

San Francisco

We moved camp closer to San Fran to check out the sights and pick up our grandaughter, Hallie, at the airport.  Southwest Airlines was ahead of schedule, but we were ready, and picked up Hallie without a hitch.  Sandy has a few Groupons for us to explore the town with.  We hit the Exploratorium first, it is a hands on science center for kids, but Sandy and I had a good time exploring too.  This is a must see for kids, and it is included in the City Pass booklet, if you think you'll use it.  We made the mistake of taking her to Ghirardelli's Chocolate Factory the first day, because we had to go back each day for more free samples.  

We saw the California Academy of Sciences, but it was just OK, not as exciting as the Exploratorium.  The Aquarium of the Bay is in the City Pass book too, and Hallie had a good time touching all the fish and displays.  The City Pass book is good for nine days with unlimited bus and trolley car rides plus the sights I mentioned already.  It's a good deal if you really use everything in the book. 

The last day in town we went to the Alameda County Fair to watch the horses race and the other fair stuff.  We had a good time, but I think Hallie's best time was at Ghirardelli's.

Napa Valley

We spent a few days in Napa and Sonoma Valleys, staying at the Sonoma County Fair Grounds RV park.  We had a very relaxing time, driving around to a lot of the wineries, not to drink wine, but to see the sights.  There are WAY to many wineries to sample them all, and we are by NO means connoisseurs of the grapes.  We lucked-out in that the Fair Grounds had a fireworks show for the fourth of July.  

What to do with all of those corks?

Century old Zinfandel vines.

Old vines that have been ripped out.  You can use this for BBQ
smoking, or fire wood.

This place drilled tunnels for wine storage.

Sandy found a Segway Groupon for us at Healdsburg, CA. A nice 2 hour trip with some wine tasting along the way, and races through the vines........