Vacation - day 6 (wedding at bryson city)

Last night was a long night. We went to the end of Allison & Kevin's rehearsal, then we all had supper in the little building (it's across the lawn in this pic; which also shows where the wedding will be held). It was good food, but we were still a bit frazzled from traveling and from the shock of the deep woods cabin situation. Plus it was hotter than heck, and the music was just blaring loud in the little room, and both of us were having serious allergy problems from the woods and the fire they were cooking smores on outside.

I tried to use the restroom but couldn't get the door to close, so at one point I walked back up to our cabin. I barely made it (seriously). The hill was so steep (it is seriously like 45 degrees) and my heart got to pounding and I was sweating and I started to have a bit of a panic attack. I finally made it back down - just because I didn't want to die in this little cabin in the middle of who-know's-where - but I didn't last much longer. I convinced Jane to call it a night, and I didn't realize until then that she wasn't feeling good either. I guess we're both more citified than I thought. We took some more allergy medicine and went to bed about 10 pm.

This morning Jane's brother Mark made breakfast for us and his wife. Their cabin is adjacent to ours. He tried cooking eggs and sausage on the grill, but ran out of charcoal, so he went inside. We talked with them for awhile and eventually went back to our place.

Jane and I then decided to walk down into the creek area where everyone else's cabins are. There is a neat little stream running along in front of these cabins, and there are probably half a dozen or so of them along here. On the way we saw Jane's brother John and his wife Ginnie. They got in about 11 last night. Then we went down to the cabin in the picture and Jane's brother Terry and his son Michael and his wife's brother and his wife (Driscoll & Ann) were there. We drank some more coffee and chatted with them.

We finally decided to head into town to find some lunch around 12:30. The road is still just quite a trip, and I still can't get my bearings directions-wise, but things are getting a little better.

We ate at a Pizza Hut, and it was good. After lunch we came back and I was finally able to get a weak internet signal for a minute by the main office. We got different directions for our trip home because someone advised us against the scenic route right through the middle of the Smoky Mountains. I had seen enough scenery. We were able to get new directions, came back to the cabin to get ready for the wedding, and Jane's brother John came over. He talked and talked and talked and talked. Finally he left and we were able to get showers and get to the wedding.

It was a beautiful location for a wedding, but it was over 90 degrees, so the 50 or so guests and wedding party were all pretty hot and sweaty. The ceremony was nice. This is a pic of Allison and her dad walking in (right), and also Allison and Kevin reading the vows that they wrote themselves (left). She was a beautiful, beautiful bride, and everything went well. After the ceremony we went in the little building and I gave the blessing and then we had a great meal. I had the steak and Jane had the trout. Then we danced and partied until about 11 pm or so. It was a pretty good time, but we need to get up early and hit the road for home, so we didn't want to stay out too late.

On our way back up the hill (we had to drive, because Jane couldn't come down the hill in heels), I swear our car was growling at us - it did not like climbing this hill. I thought I would pull in front-ways, and I started squealing the tires because of the incline. Then it was making all these power-steering sort of noises. Geez... I am ready for some flat land. Anyway, here is a pic of my lovely wife dancing with her oldest brother (Terry). They always dance a few number together, as they both like to dance (and fast dance), and neither of their spouses care for it much. :) I did dance a slow number, and would have danced more, but there weren't too many slow songs.