After being dropped off in Woodland by Sean at Doug's home, we enjoyed a delicious dinner of tacos provided Doug's mom, went to bed and woke for a late start. I started the drive south and Doug finished it with a twist, or atleast new scenery. He took us off the main drag and we enjoyed a drive west of 101 that started south of Gonzales. It brought us into Paso Robles withsome great heights and great views of Lake Nacimiento, with only about 20 extra miles on the trip.
Once we returned to Atascadero, I went with Doug down to SLO so that I could take part in the trial hair run. After spending about an hour with Vanessa, Karis and Stephanie on hair decisions, I went with Doug and Greg to firestones to eat a much needed sandwich.
On Tuesday there was very little that Doug and I did. I showed him a little more steps of east coast swing, and while going out for lunch he noticed something I did not. It looked as though it were snowing on my car. Small particles of ash were falling from the sky, almost too small to see, but large enough to give an amazing sunset. I went to bed early that night in preparation for Brenda's big day.
I woke at 4:30 in the morning, careful not trip over Doug's sleeping form on the floor, and got to work. I parted my hair in the manner I would wear it, and then headed into the garage to my pile of boxed in search of the most important thing of the morning, my espresso machine. I spent another hour curling and pinning my hair, washing my face and gathering the rest of what I needed for the day. I woke Doug up and we drove down to SLO racing the sunrise. Doug dropped me off and I arrived at the Mansion ready to finish my own hair and help where it was needed. Everyone's hair basically was completed by the time Brenda arrived at 6:30 when we needed to head across town, fully dressed, to the Salon where our Brenda was made up and our makeup was done. It only(cough, cough) took about 45 minutes per person. When we finished we quickly stopped at the mansion to pick up Teri, who was dressed and ready to go, with he hair up in a neat braided twist. We quickly took a couple photos and headed our way to Pismo, everyone dressed for the occasion, but the bride, who would dress in a little more style than her party.
When we arrived at SeaVenture, we quickly made sure that the groom was not present, and led Brenda up to her mother's room where she dressed, and we took some photos helping her get ready, and shared in a toast. Once we were all ready, we descended to the main floor, all the while making sure the groom was not in sight. We got in the limo and headed to an estate on the coast who's owner allows bridal party pictures. We spent some time framing Brenda with girls and flowers and posing with trees and smile. At 10:50, we left and headed back to SeaVenture, piled out of the limo and then waited for the ceremony to start.
The girls in this ceremony walked alone. I was first and though there was no man by my side, I managed to find my way, stumbling in my heels through the sand. The ceremony was simple, short and surrounded by a handful of friends and family. I'm pretty sure its exactly was John and Brenda wanted. Though there was fog on the surf, there was not glare from the sun, and from what I can tell, it made for some pretty nice photos. After we took some photos of the bridal party, we left Brenda and John for their own pictures and headed up to the reception for some hors d'oeurves. I dined on some delicous Halibut with Mango salsa...sorry John... and danced the rest of the time with Doug, and old friends.
We were back in Slo by 5 pm and stopped by the afterparty and found our niche with a bunch of nerds. We went to dinner at the Shack and spent the better part of an hour discussing Fantasy books and the possibility of Robert Jordan's last book to be good even though it will not be written by him. Doug and I were back in Atascadero by 7:30 and even got a bike ride in, just in time for another beautiful sunset, once again provided by the fires in Big Sur.
Doug spent another 3 days with me. We did nothing remarkable to the average person, but it was special for me. We went and visited Derek and Robyn in Los Osos who I had not seen for almost 4 months. It was nice spending time with them, and challenging them in a couple rounds of Halo and Foosball. Even though it was late, the skies were clear once inland and we went out to Santa Margarita to star gaze and watch as they fell from the skies. Our conversation was only occasionally interrupted by a moo from a distant cow and not a car passed by to ruin our view.
The night that Doug left, he planned to take the bus from Paso. We decided it would be nice to go bowling up there until midnight, and then wait for the bus that would come at 12:40. It would have been nice were it not for two things. One, the cop, and two, I did not want him to go.
After we left the bowling alley, finishing our fourth game of unlimited bowling, I headed towards the trainstation. Slightly distracted and talking with Doug about whatnot, I was suprised when I saw colored movement light up my rear view mirror. I pulled over. The cop approached, asked me if I knew how fast I was going. "No" I was going 45. He asked is I knew the speed limit, "No" Apparently, it was 30. Hmmm. He didnt ask me if I had been drinking, which I hadn't. He took my info and returned stating. "I'm going to have to give you a warning." "whew" Close one.
A little teary eyed and upset from the state of events. Doug convinced me to get out of the car to play some frisbee in the lit, but extremely empty parking lot. It wasn't long till one of the trees decided to play, and we stopped. Instead, Doug took me in his arms and we danced. It's not everyday that will find you dancing, under the stars in a trainstation parking lot. But that day is with me, every day.
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