06/09/96

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It was dark and dank at 4:00AM when we turned the car on and drove up East Wash. Both bleary eyed from not really sleeping the night before, we turned left into the Duncin' Donut's. Walking in we blinked at the blinding light and blaring Mexican music.

The donut dudes were dancing and smiling and we purchased some happy donuts and off we went to Milwaukee and a waiting jet to fly us to Las Vegas.

DJ was not real happy about flying as she does not really appreciate being 30,000 feet over land. Me? I'm like a dog in a car, if I could open the window I would have my head hanging out but . . probably not a good idea. I think every aircraft I've been on gives me a sore neck from looking out the window.

Of course it didn't help that two weeks before our flight there were scenes repeated over and over on TV of a jetliner tumbling end over end on the runway.

It was foggy in Milwaukee but that was common. The spring of 1996 was unique, we had had over 30 straight days of clouds and rain, well, maybe a couple sunny days here and there but all during the week. People were getting angry and there had been more and more incidents on buses in Madison. People were grumpy because we had YET to have one of those wonderful beautiful spring days . . and it was June 9th.

There had been 8 straight weekends of gloomy weather. The actual high temperature in Madison from June first were, 45, 45, 62, 61, 69, 45, 57, 61 and June 9th, 64. Wonderful, and it had actually rained every freaking day.

We took off and hour late and landed in Las Vegas about 4 hours later and I had a sore neck. We walked through the air conditioned terminal, got our bags and walked outside to wait for the shuttle that would take us to The Rio.

It was 110 degrees and not a cloud in the sky and both of use were all smiles - it felt GREAT!! Thirteen years later I still remember that particular feeling as we walked outside into sunshine. It was like when you hop into a hot car and the heat envelopes you like a warm shirt fresh out of the dryer. It was wonderful.

We took the shuttle to the car rental, purchased tickets to "Enter the Night" at the Stardust** (this was before the mega great shows in LV) made it to The Rio and went off in search for the County Clerk, you see, we were getting married that afternoon.

Filled everything out . . .. in pencil . . . and went back to the amazing suite with floor to ceiling window/wall.

A few hours later Louie the Limo Driver picked us up in his older model Limo with air conditioner not really working to well as it was now 120 degrees, a record for that day in Las Vegas (we broke another heat record 10 years later when we arrived in Las Vegas). We waited outside The Little Church of the West for our turn, there was an Elvis wedding before us but we spotted Elvis leaving the building so we knew we were up.

Little did we know that The Little Church of the West was about to be move because a nearby casino was going to me blown up. It would not be the last time our vows would create havoc as exactly 10 years later we renewed our vows in Sedona AZ and that area promptly burned down 2 days later.

Not having any witnesses Louie the Limo Driver filled in.

The Ceremony was more then we had hoped for. It was not religious but very spiritual and perfect for us. Once "I Do's" were done and tears of happiness were quelled we hopped into the hot limo for the drive back to The Rio where we got a table in one of the bar's, had some umbrella drinks and just sat there floating, watching the surrealistic comings and goings of a casino.

And THAT is why this is a special day.
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**Stardust - Enter the Night. We watched the show in the front row and after it was over we decided to wait for the crowd leave. While waiting I played some Deuces Wild poker on a machine and hit Four of a Kind Dueces. DING DING DING!! JACKPOT.

While waiting a L O N G TIME (like over one half hour) for someone to bring me the money I played the machine next to it and hit a Wild Royal Flush. DING DING DING!

We flew home about 6 hours later and have lived happily ever after.

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A couple things I said yesterday might have been taken the wrong way.

As Kim says - Main Street is not just historic buildings but the businesses that are IN those buildings also. Sort of like a tiny Chamber of Commerce but concerned with keeping the historical aspects of buildings intact. We care about downtown. It is the most important part of Columbus and some people overlook it.

Also - I did not mean to pimp Chamber and it's lack of website. Websites are not cheap. Your typical nice website can cost $100oish and it's hard to find people willing to just give you a site for cookies and beer. I know - I burned out on making cookies and beer websites. However - there should be SOMETHING there besides a broken link which tells any outsider that no one really cares.

Another thing Kim pointed out was lack of volunteers. I'm not sure if this is a "problem" with people not wanting to volunteer. I believe the percentage of volunteers in Columbus is greater then other towns, it's just that being a small town there are so many things, that the volunteer corp can be worn a little thin at times and with larger towns there is a more varied trade component. It's not how many people you can get but what do they bring to the table. Quality, not quantity.

Plus (my last point). Success breeds success. The more things that get done the more people will see they are not wasting their time and volunteer.
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I took a few photos of Blake and Milo last night


Have a nice Tuesday.