Days 13 and 14: Some gorgeous ladies get hitched. Fun is had.

On Thursday the 7th Patty and David flew into Phoenix and met us at Kats's house with a rental car.  After a trip to buy cowboy hats and a lunch during which Joaquin and I spent time counting the number of chickens in the artwork of the restaurant, we drove north through the desert to Prescott, AZ the location of my best friend Aurora's wedding to her beautiful lady Julie!  Hi, Aurora!!

So pretty.  Prescott is a smallish college town with a courthouse square and the usual art galleries and touristy shops.  The wedding itself took place on a ranch just outside the city limits in a little valley.  The country we drove through to get there is unbelievable....

High desert and the SKY.  My god, the sky.

We arrived at the ranch just in time to get settled in the house John and I were sharing with a few other lovely folks, including a college friend of mine (Beth) that I hadn't seen in years, and a high school friend (Anna) that I hadn't seen in forever.  Lovely ladies to reconnect with.  The ranch house was no frills, but very comfy with a huge main room and a front porch featuring a kickass porch swing.  John and I were just really, really happy to have a bedroom with a door that closed in the midst of the wedding brou ha ha.  Made all the difference for our sanity.  We got changed and then attended the rehearsal, and the super delightful rehearsal barbeque.  Despite a few sprinkles the weather held and the sunset was a beauty.  Good food, a few beers and Aurora and Julie's incredibly lovely friends and family.

The next day was rain, rain, rain.  A couple of Roar and Jules' friends pitched in and there were delicious omelets for breakfast followed by a trip into town to poke around with Beth and Anna.  We went back to ranch for a little nappage and then getting ready for the main event.  The weather cooperated and the ceremony was deeply personal and very beautiful, under the branches of an enormous tree.  I read at the very beginning and although I had the poem memorized, the emotions got in the way and I was thankful that I took the paper up with me.

The reception was kicked off with a group tequila shot.... 

and then just got better from there, despite some rain issues.  I have seldom had more fun at a wedding, and I was thrilled to see Aurora so ecstatically happy.  Fully half of the attendees were wearing cowboy boots, the photographer was adorable and took several shots of John and I "being cute" (her words).  Tequila bottles were passed around freely and a ridiculous amount of booze-fueled dancing ensued.  The band had to hold on account of rain once or twice so everyone started making their own music stomping up the dance floor with the drummer in the lead.  John and I had a great time and met many extremely lovely folks, but called it a night early on account of pooped.  From our bedroom we could hear the band tearing it up through the rain late into the night.