East Coast Trip 2007 – Day 1

Vero and I decided to leave a day later and head out on the Saturday to Maren’s wedding after I found out it started at 5PM. We figured we could get there in plenty of time.

After packing the car the night before and making sure we had everything for the coming weeks, we headed out on the road where I gave Vero her travel pack – a bunch of crossword puzzles, fun games and other assorted goodies. I don’t know if you ever had this when you were a child, but we used to go on annual summer trips (usually down to Gaspe) and as soon as we got in the car, Mom passed us our goody bags which were chock full of stuff to amuse ourselves with – puzzles, connect the dots, and those pieces of cardboard where you can draw on this cellophane sheet and then lift it up to have it erase the picture. Do you guys know what I’m talking about? Either way, it was a good times as I always got sick while reading in the car so it was a fun alternative.

The trip to Kitchener was uneventful and we arrived at Uncle Gary and Aunt Lois’s place after dropping into The Bay to pick up a pair of black socks (how I could forget the ever-important item?!). Uncle Gary gave us the tour of their wonderful new house which culminated in a walk through this massive garden in the backyard! We couldn’t believe it was theirs as the backyard was sectioned off from the garden so we just assumed it was someone else’s. Very beautiful (as seen in the picture) and there was a lot of good work put into it. The house was nice also and we really enjoyed the paintjob they did in the living room. It had something to do with putting paint on plastic sheets and swirling it around. Yes, that’s the technical term. 😉

I then brought Vero out to Campus Pizza (formerly Gino’s Pizza) for their world famous slice of pizza. Man, I miss that place!

We headed over to the University of Waterloo campus where the wedding was being held. This was one of the few weddings that we were going to attend where we knew virtually no one. I was pleasantly surprised to see Christina and Kevin and Dan as I had known them from a few gatherings in the past. I also saw Kim and Chris (I worked with Kim years ago) and we headed into the chapel.

The ceremony was great and I enjoyed the priest. He was quite entertaining. There were 12 (?) bridesmaids and 8 (?) groomsmen. When it comes down to it, why does anyone have to choose who their best people are anyhow? Maren and Allan-Paul looked great and everything went off without a hitch (as far as I could tell). It was sweltering hot inside the chapel so I was happy to have a fan near my back. Dan pointed out that my vest would probably make me even more hot and I realized he was right after shedding five pounds in sweat. I promptly took it off after leaving the chapel.

We headed over to the reception hall (the name of the building escapes me) but it was beautiful. They had some good lounge tunes going on and were handing out free drink tickets at the door. Score! After proceeding to have a few drinks the following conversation occurred while I was at the bar:

Vero: So we’re heading to Gaspe after this.
Kevin: Gaspe eh? We were just there. Actually I’m from around there.
Vero: Really, where?
Kevin: Murdochville.
Vero: Murdochville! That’s where ‘s is from!

So it turns out that I have known Kevin from a few gatherings over the years…maybe met him five times…he’s a good chap but in the end, he comes from Murdochville and I know his uncle from the Gaspe Golf Tournaments and I asked my folks and they know his father Keith. Incroyable! What a small world.

After dancing the night away and listening to a few excellent speeches (and meeting Maren’s mother for the first time. She was having a good time that night trying to hook her daughter up with some eligible bachelors) we finally decided to leave the festivities after a good night. It was also good to see Whitney and Mikey as I haven’t seen them in awhile and I have a good time with them. Mikey and I talked guitar for a bit.

We arrived home to find Aunt Lois awake (as she had flown in from Gaspe that evening) so we chatted it up with her for a bit before going to bed. We arose to have some breakfast (Thanks Aunt Lois!) and chatted for a few hours before heading out to London, Ontario.

Thanks to Uncle Gary and Aunt Lois for the warm hospitality and a place to stay during our trip to Kitchener. We love your house…a wise purchase.

Congrats to the bride and groom!