life with the Griswolds: WEDDING AND A FUNERAL

Friday night Robyn and I thought it would be nice to go out and get a bite to eat at a chinese place called Wok in Motion she had heard about. The food was ok but the air conditioner must have been on the fritz. They had several fans placed around the resturant but they weren't doing the trick. But the most unusual thing we noticed was that they only had tea in bottles. I don't think I have ever seen that in a chinese resturant. Being the cheapskate I am, I went with the free water. Anyway, after dinner we went to the bar next door. I had some concrete tables in there that I wanted to check out. The place is called Tonic and it was a full house. We were able to get a seat at one of my tables. Here's a picture of us with our elbows on the table...

Ok, I guess this isn't the best pic of the table, but she is hot!

Saturday we had a wedding to go to. My nephew Deano was getting hitched. Robyn put me in charge of the gift..

It took me a couple tries, but I finally got the gift they registered for.

It was an outdoor ceremony and the weather wasn't cooperating. It rained all morning but quit just in time for the wedding, unfortunately the humidity took it's place. However the wedding was beautiful. Here's some pics

No, he wasn't "pulling her finger"

The deal is sealed with a kiss

After some sweaty "I do's" we went to the shelter house for a reception. That's when we recieved a call that a close family friend had passed away and the funeral was Sunday. Everyone decided to head up to Sioux City on Sunday morning. We thought it would be better to go after the wedding. So we said our congratulations and went home to pack. This would also give us an oppertunity to see our niece's new baby.

The trip up was mostly uneventful, but as they say 'there are two seasons in Iowa..winter and road construction' and this ain't winter. We had several long delays but when we hit I-29 the flooding was the real issue. Canyon, Calvin and Hai rode in the back with the seats laid down so they were able to sleep most of the way...

Dog days of summer?

We call him our foriegn exchange student

I have never seen an interstate sand-bagged like this. The water was higher than the road. The river is actually several miles to the west.

Like bumpers at the bowling alley

Once we arrived in Sioux City the true scope of the disaster became evident. Here are some pics to give you an idea..

The employee entrance at the river boat (wear golashes)

Need a boat to get on I-29 from Hamilton Blvd

You may want an upstairs room at the inn

After witnessing some of the devastation, my brother Dave invited me to take a tour of his work. They fabricate the equipment that is needed to make concrete pipe. Pipe for main sewer lines or other construction projects. Here is a picture of just one small area in his factory..

My whole shop could fit in this one room

Afterwards we all headed home to get some much needed rest (except the boys, they slept all the way there)

Sunday was the day of the funeral. Our friend Marty was discovered dead in his home Thursday, the day after his 51st birthday. The autopsy showed he had stomach cancer. He never told a soul. Marty grew up across the street from us. He was like a brother. My brother Steve and he were best friends. In this picture from right to left (I know thats backwards but work with me on this one) Are me, sporting an awesome moustache, my younger brother Dave, my older brother Steve and our fourth brother Marty.

I guess white pants were all the rage in the eighties

At the funeral the pastor talked about how we all like beginnings. How Marty loved to ride motorcycles. The anticipation he might have at the start of a ride. How there is that excitement of the unknown. But to have beginnings, we must have endings. He talked about how when one thing ends, there is another beginning waiting to happen. Although Marty won't have another beginning here on earth, he is just starting with the most spectacular beginning in Heaven. Rest in Peace Marty, ride the wind.

Marty had several friends that rode bikes with him. One brought a picture of him on his bike, riding to Sturgeous. He looked very happy. I didn't bring my camera to the funeral, of course, but I had to try to get a video of this special thing that happened at the funeral. The quality isn't great but maybe you can see what is going on..

With the funeral over we went to visit my niece Ashley and her baby Peyten Jade Petersen. She is as cute as Robyn's face says she is...

I hope Robyn dosen't want one

After a quick visit with Family and friends, it was time to hit the road. Here's a pic of mom and dad's back porch. That's my sister Diane with her grandbaby, Bentlee.

I wish I could have spent more time here

Robyn and I decided we would take a back road home to avoid this...

gridlock in the countryside, roadwork sucks

And this is very picturesque...

now thats open road!

Of course these back roads bring out the worst in me when it comes to impatience. Farmers never seem to be in any hurry at all and I have important things to do, like...um.. well, you know.

Canyon and Hai rode back with my brother Steve and sister Sherry. All I had on board was Calvin and an antique display case my dad made to hold the last few model railroad trains he had left from one of the coolest set-ups ever. I remember going down in the basement as a child and checking out the model railroad he had built in a whole half of the basement. There were mountains with tunnels, rivers and bridges, a depot (complete with a station that had no roof and you could see a person sitting on a toilet in the bathroom), country side and city. Multiple trains ran all at the same time. The controls were located at an opening in the middle of the set-up. Dad had to stoop down so he could walk under and get to it.

I passed my brother and a farmer that was going WAY to slow (the speed limit) when I came up on another car very quickly. I noticed that it said SHERRIF on the back of his car. As luck would have it, he pulled me over right next to a field of cows. Calvin has never seen a cow up close like that and he went beserk.

As the cop walked up to my open window he heard me and Robyn hollering at Calvin to settle down, he heard Calvin barking like he was a border collie rounding up the herd, and the sound of a loud crash as Calvin jumped through the glass on the antique display case. How Calvin didn't get a single cut is beyond me.

The officer said how's it going? I said, well I'm coming home from a funeral, my dog just smashed the unreplaceable antique case my dad made, and I've just been stopped by the police...how are YOU doing?

He let me check on Calvin before he cuffed me. Actually, he knocked down my speed to 10 miles over (I may have been near 80 mph) but it was still $119.

That's Barney Fife behind us

Here's a picture of my sister Sherry and brother Steve telling me how glad they are that I passed them only moments before coming up on the fuzz (that's 60's slang for police).

me asking if they want to split the ticket, them laughing

That brings us to the end of another Griswald adventure. But as we discussed earlier, after every ending comes another beginning. I wonder what is in store for us. Here's to beginnings...