Wedding and Change of Direction for Trimming

I didn't have to hitchhike to Sacramento, I got a ride on Couchsurfing's San Fran group. I relaxed most of the day at Couchsurfing Base Camp, enjoyed a great dinner, and Dan came to pick me up around 10 or so, turns out he'd been to Base Camp and met some of the people there, even donated the Foosball table I'd been enjoying. We made a quick stop at his friend's place for a beer and to give someone else a ride home, then we were on the road. We rolled into Sacramento just after midnight, I caught up with Aaron at his apartment talking over a Guinness until sleep took over.

More friends and family arrived came to town as the wedding came closer, I drank some new beers along the way, always a good thing. Things like picking up our tuxedos happened also. Thursday night a group of us gathered at Aaron's apartment for the liquor filled bachelor party, by the time we picked up to head to the bar most of us had a fair share of shots, luckily Ryan, another groomsman, was able to drive. We jumped to a few spots in town, the sand bar first where I got dragged away by bouncers threatening to do worse, I'd tried to walk back in the bar on the way out to find a friend left behind and they wanted me to get back in line to do so, I drunkenly mocked his memory, I had just walked out, they didn't like that.

Jessica, Aaron's bride, and the rest of the bachelorette party were at the next bar we came too. I talked to a couple girls there unaffiliated with the party, that resulted in one of them sending me her powerpoint presentation the next day on the aurora borialis, drunken conversation leads to such things. The night ended at Denny's, as any good drinking night should.

The day before the wedding involved rehearsal at the church, I sported a bow tie and a shirt the woman at mens warehouse made me get with a gift card that had been kicking around in my bag for over a year. We went to the reception hall to set up, filled the fridge with beer, and attempted to set up a complex canopy. Andrew, a friend from San Diego, was up on the ladder for hours hooking it up, but we ended up tearing it down after all of it towards midnight.

Once back at Aaron's place there was only one thing on our minds, cold beer, and we had good options. Aaron headed to sleep after a bit, he had a wedding in the morning, Andrew and I stayed up until 4:30am drinking cold and smooth black & tans and Smithwicks from the irish 18 pack he'd got earlier. We talked about America, road trips, the state of our living. We both agreed we'd have to some time soon hitch from New York to Jackson Hole, he'd been there the first time on his road trip cross country from San Diego to NYC and seen what it was all about. Jackson's a great place on the planet, I have loose plans to be there on Thanksgiving.

The first thing I heard in the morning was Dave Matthews exploding from the speakers, "Wake up fuckers!" laughed Aaron as he handed us each a glass of champagne, the tone for the wedding day was set. For the first time in almost two years I shaved, clean shaven with a razor, we all showered and suited up in our tuxedos while polishing off the champagne bottles. Aaron had earlier given us flasks with our names engraved, an awesome gift we now filled with brandy and put in our tux flask pockets.

We got fired up with good music on the ride to the church, once there we enjoyed many toasts with our flasks and got our photos taken in and around the church by photographers that looked like they should be getting their photos taken instead. The ceremony was brisk enough, the knot was tied, and after some more photos we made our way to the reception hall across town. We enjoyed plenty of beer and good food until it was time to go, most of us changed into comfortable clothes and headed to a bar in town filled with karaoke where we closed out the night, I wound up staying at Ryan's house that night.

In the morning we headed to Aaron's for football and good times, Maeve made great chicken wings and I drank from a 36oz vase, at one point we headed to the store and I grabbed a bottle of Lagunitas Maximus, a great IPA. At some point I passed out, apparently missing a much debated irish car bomb, the drinking continued, we went to sac brew across the street for a drink after a chili cheese dog, back at aaron's place my vase turned into a strange green drink, the night is foggy after that. At some point in all of this I got a phone call from Yossi who I'd met in Willits with Kimmie, he just said to come to Willow Creek for work.

Andrew got a ride to the airport in the morning, I slept in a bit and then had breakfast with some folks in a distant hungover state of mind. I said my goodbyes to Aaron and Jess who were off to honeymoon in Tahoe, I got a ride to I-5 by the airport. The day before I'd planned on heading and an hour and a half south back to base camp in Berkeley, now I was standing on the north on ramp with a day of hitching ahead unsure of where I was exactly going.

It wasn't long before a car stopped, Sweet Home Alabama blasting from the stereo. The guy told me stories about his ex girlfriend flight attendant that enabled him to travel the planet for peanuts. We stopped once where he got me a burger and a pepsi, he finally dropped me off at a fairly desolate exit. I stood there for a little bit until deciding to walk along the shoulder of the freeway. A little hike later a car stopped, an audio nerd going all the way to Portland. The thought of going all the way there crossed my mind, but I kept to the path I was on and jumped out in Redding where I had to pick up the 299 to head west.

I walked several miles through town towards a suitable hitching spot past all the sidewalks and shoulderless area I was in. I waited in one spot towards the edge of town until a woman in an SUV stopped for me. She took me within 60 miles of Willow Creek where I was headed, she told me about her home off the grid powered by hydro and also of her travels around America and the world. When she let me out she left me with a 20 dollar bill and a smile on my face, I bought a drink at the gas station and started walking to the edge of town, it wasn't far, but the sun had disappeared. I called Yossi, he told me a bar to go to once near town if I could catch another ride.

I waited under a street light, after a while of waiting a car stopped, a young guy who whipped down the windy roads as if he'd done it a hundred times, we didn't talk much, the music blasted, the wind whipping through the absent rear windshield. Soon enough I spotted the bar and hopped out, I ordered a beer and used the phone there to call Yossi and let him know I'd made it. The people in the bar were friendly, I talked to a woman from Portland and a couple girls who were working in town gave me some pizza, I wanted to stay and talk with them more, but my ride showed up so I finished my beer and hopped the car and got to the house where Yossi was, trim and the type of work I'd be getting into all over the table and floors.

I'm not sure how long I'll be in town, but I'll start doing whatever it is I'll be doing likely today, I had a decent nights sleep and am up for anything.