"Vacation" weekend:

Vacation is in quotes because I didn't get any days off school (not even Labor day!), but nevertheless I took several days to go back to Seattle (1) to be a groomsman in Tim and Katie's wedding (friends from UW) and (2) see friends and family after spending all summer away. I flew out of Ithaca Wednesday afternoon (after going to my morning class) through Philidelphia. I had the time zones in my advantage, but a three hour flight delay meant I didn't get to bed in Seattle until 2:30am... which of course is 5:30am Eastern time. Ugh.

I stayed that night (or morning, technically) in the shop (my house last year), and saw everyone briefly as they headed off to their various places of summer work in the morning. Then my dad picked me up on the way back home from picking my brother up at the airport, and I spent the rest of the day at my parent's house. It was VERY nice to play my new acoustic guitar, which I had finished only days before leaving for Europe. I also fired up my motorcycle to get some gas in it, because the whole weekend was to be sunny and 80's!

Friday, I started throwing stuff together to take back to NY (winter clothes, computer, etc.), but after lunch I rode down to Seattle to see Tim (briefly), and to hang out with the guys down in Seattle. We had a small BBQ that night and did a lot of, well, hanging out. Saturday morning got off to a nice, lazy start, but by about 11:00, Stephen and Jimmy and I were motivated enough to go out on a motorcycle ride. (Both of them had gotton new bikes over the summer, which was an unnecessary excuse.) We headed out the eastside through Duvall, Carnation, Monroe, and up to Lake Roesiger, before looping back through Granite falls to my parents house (about 120 mi total... it was beautiful!)

After showing them around a little, they headed back to Seattle and I (again) hopped on the bike and rode up to the wedding rehearsal at 4:00. The whole wedding party was staying up at a military lodge up in the hills past Arlington (Jim Creek Naval Radio Station), since most came from out of town. I had met most of Tim's family and most of the other groomsmen before, but there were alot of people from Katie's side I didn't know. It was a great time, including playing poker with chocolate for chips. (Now there's incentive!)

I went to my parents' house that night, then went to early service at FBC Marysville with them and got to see quite a few people there. Then, I was up to "A Country Location" (as it was named) near Smokey Point for the pre-wedding stuff. Of course, the groomsmen were all in tuxes (a first for me), but it wasn't too bad for an afternoon (although a little warm with the jacket in the sun). The location was very nice and adequately named, and the wedding itself went wonderfully. Afterwards was dinner and the normal post-wedding formalities, then Tim and Katie were off to a lodge near Leavenworth before going to Hawaii.

I skipped out not long after they left (about 9:00) and went back home to pack up everything, which took a while. Then, I got up at 3:45 to get to Seattle in time to catch my 6:30am flight. (Ugh.) It was another long travel day, but the flight to Ithaca was only delayed by a little over an hour. I got back and went to the Graduate Christian Fellowship Bible Study (IV sponsored, I believe) before heading back to my apartment and crashing. I slept long and hard... a little too long and hard it turns out. So, I missed my only class today (in my defense, it was an 8:40 class = 5:40am Pacific time), making it nearly a week since I've been to a class here. So, needless to say, its catch-up time.

Overall, it was an awesome weekend of good time and great weather in Seattle (apparently it stormed here in NY), but I'm ready to not be in an airport for a while. Now, its time to buckle down and tackle my first semester here at Cornell.