Wine, Wineries, and a Wedding

On June 18 Jake's brother Ben and his new wife Liz exchanged their vows in a somewhat unusual but very lovely ceremony.

May I present, Bennett and Elizabeth Gibbs

Jake and I made our way to the regional airport in Tallahassee, FL on Thursday, June 16. What we thought was good time management turned out to be a big mistake because we had forgotten about the 1 hour time difference between here and Tallahassee. Oops. So Jake being the pessimist that he is "knew" that we were going to be late for our flight because we had to drop of Cricket and Penelope at their "resort" (which included a great pool the girls didn't use) which was a 15 minute drive from the airport. I, being a bit more optimistic in nature (okay, just occasionally, but this was one of those rare occasions!) tried to reassure Jake that we'd make the flight, barely, but we'd make it. Needless to say, after about 15 minutes I decided silence would serve me better and we rode to the kennel without exchanging more than a few words. By the time we got to the kennel and didn't run into any traffic on I-10 we were back to normal cheerful selves (haha!), rushed through the registration and made it to the airport with time to spare. Well, 20 minutes before boarding but TIME nonetheless. Phew! Both flight were uneventful and we made it to Fresno, CA ahead of schedule. From Fresno it was another 2 hour drive to our destination at Paso Robles, CA. Has anyone ever needed to wait 25 minutes at the car rental desk for ONE family renting ONE car to finish their transaction? RIDICULOUS! It took us a grand total of 3 minutes to give the lady behind the desk Jake's license and get the keys to our prepaid Subaru Impreza rental car. On a side note, what a crappy little car. Most expensive in it's class and gets the worst gas mileage to boot. Why would a car rental agency purchase such a gem? Your guess is as good as mine! We're on the road by a little after 10 p.m., which is midnight back in Enterprise. We make it to the hotel without incident and fall into bed for a relatively short nights sleep. What a LOOOOOOOONG day!

The next day started fairly early considering how late we went to bed. It also started with wine tasting at 10 a.m. Not sure I would do that again. I stopped "tasting" after the second winery. I got my nails done with the brides maids around lunchtime and met back up with Jake at the hotel before the next wine tasting. Yes! More wine tasting! This time it was a group wine tasting with all the wedding guests who were already in town. Jake went to the wedding rehearsal (he was one of the groomsmen) and I went to another wine tasting. Two more wineries to add to the list. We ended up buying a LOT of wine, which is now waiting for us in Ben's wine cooler. At least I hope it's still there! We'll be stopping by Hanford, CA on our way to Alaska to visit and pick up the wine. The rehearsal dinner was downtown Paso Robles at a little cafe. Delicious food and interesting conversation. We decided to make it an early night and headed back to the hotel. I hear we missed out on a wild night of dancing and drinking. I enjoyed a dreamless sleep instead :)

Ah...the day of the wedding! The Gibbs family minus Ben and Liz went to see Hearst Castle in the morning. It was pretty much what I remembered from way back when. Over the top ornamentation and a touch gaudy.

We grabbed a quick sandwich for lunch and then relaxed for about an hour before it was time to get dressed and ready for the wedding. Jake and FIL left with the other groomsmen and MIL, SIL and her husband, and I took the wedding shuttle bus up to the winery/vineyard. I'm glad I didn't have to drive. What a narrow and winding road! What a venue, though! The view from the top was stunning and totally worth the queasiness I felt on the drive up! After pictures and socializing it was time for the ceremony.

Jake looking snazzy in his ill-fitting tuxedo and the beautiful venue

So yes, the ceremony. Um. It was short. Very short. The officiant stumbled through the greeting, the vows were exchanged, and VOILA! You may kiss the bride and may I present Mr. and Mrs. Bennett Gibbs. Yup, that was it. The vows were very sweet and Ben and Liz looked radiantly happy so overall it was a great ceremony. Jake would've loved for ours to be so short! I really enjoyed the reception afterwards. The h'ordeuvres were mainly stinky cheese and white bread, which was terrific! Jake won't let me buy stinky cheese because it stinks up the fridge. I got my fill that night! Dinner was also delicious. Mexican something or other. It was served family style which was nice since you got to choose what and how much of something you wanted. Jake was happy with all the veggies and I was happy with the still very raw beef strips :)

What an awesome view!

Jake and I. By the time this was taken it was COLD up in the mountains...

The rest of the night was spent talking with friends and family and drinking white wine (me) and beer (Jake). Jake also had a little flask (gift from the groom) filled with whisky. Needless to say, he was not sober on the ride home. Thank god for the shuttle!

Our flight back home was early the next morning. We had to get up a few hours after we went to bed since we had that 2 hour drive back to Fresno. It took me 20 minutes to wake Jake up. Seriously. He was OUT COLD and still drunk. Bad combination! Jake did not drive to the airport. He was asked to relinquish his keys to his designated driver, Joe :)

Two uneventful flights later we landed in Tallahassee, picked up the dogs, and drove on home! It was a very lovely weekend out in California and I can't wait to drive out there next month to see Ben and Liz again and to do some more sightseeing!