Tubasaluki: Quoting music since 2003

Recently, I’ve really gotten into Lost. This show, on a regular basis, takes your mind , bastes it in barbecue sauce, throws it on the grill and laughs as you try to comprehend everything. In short…the show is awesome. Every now and again, they’ll focus on a character that you haven’t even seen for a half a season. That’s when the “Previously on Lost” recaps come in handy. It helps you get your bearings before the show’s writers grab the compass out of your hand and throw it into the sea.

I say this because I need a “Previously on Alan Went on Vacation” because its been awhile since I’ve returned and I can’t remember details about certain things. There may or may not have been Others. I can’t remember.

Before we get started, this is hilarious.

When I last left you, it was June 11 and I was eating a delicious bagel in the St. Louis airport. After that, it was basically four hours of sleep. I have a love-hate relationship with early morning flights. I love them because I basically sleep from St. Louis to Seattle. I hate them because there is no possible way to sleep on a plane that doesn’t involve you becoming painfully aware of a new muscle group that really shouldn’t be contorted into that position for two plus hours at a time.

On the flight from Denver to Seattle I woke up just in time to see Mt. Rainier. This time, I actually had a camera on me, and I took a picture. Its on Facebook, as my profile pic. This is because, despite being snowcapped and a mountain, Rainier looks younger than I do. (I swear, I heard the phrase “Are you grayer?” more than I heard anything else that week)

After a brief nap at home, it was off to Bellingham for Isaac’s bachelor party. Keith and Will were there as well, along with some of Ike’s Bellingham friends. I won’t do a complete recap, but here’s some highlights.

~Yelling “We invented Democracy!” after a man accused a beer garden of being to Greek. This was stop one.
~There was random climbing of buildings by other people.
~We found the greatest beer deals in the history of Bellingham
~Camping near Bellingham Bay, this included a 10:00 pm decision to go to the beach. Don’t try that…um…at home, kids?
~Sailor Jerry Rum, which is 92-proof, was described as “Cream soda made by Satan.” Translation: delicious.
~Cigars! I may have been the only one to enjoy his though.

The next day was spent ferrying people around in wedding preparations. There were amazing hamburgers, dancing in grocery stores, and a lot of us holding our heads, mostly because of Sailor Jerry. This day is considered “normal” in my social circles. I drove home that night, so I could pick up my date for the wedding, which was Saturday. It actually is not as far to Lake Stevens from Bellingham as I thought.

Saturday…wedding day! I wore a suit. Have I mentioned that I look dashing in suits? I do. This ensemble, since there have yet to be pics on Facebook, was a grey jacket with grey pants, blue shirt, with blue and white stripped tie. As I said, “dashing”. I picked up my date, a friend from high school (who also looked good. Dressing up makes people look good, kind of funny how that works out) and headed back up towards Ferndale.

The ceremony took place at Evergreen Gardens, which was picture-esque even with the wind. Saw lots of people I knew there. Scott was even there! That was nice. Had a lot of catching up to do with a lot of people. I did that until the festivities got underway.

The wedding itself was nice. There was a string quartet which was kind of neat. I think the group had played at one of Western Washington’s graduation ceremonies that day, so they were pulling double duty. They sounded fantastic. The wind even died down a little for the ceremony, which was nice.

I was talking about how nice things were with my date when she asked something about getting married at Safeco Field. As strange as it seems, I had never even considered this. My mind, of course, thought this was awesome. Best reception ever! Especially if we can do it on Felix Day, how awesome would that be? I actually sort of zoned out for a bit before coming back to reality in time to take pictures.

The ceremony itself was short but nice. Nice is putting it mildly, really. It was enjoyable and it was nice to see Ike and Jen get married. As long as I’ve known them as a couple, they’ve been happy and, as Isaac said on Thursday it night, “it seemed natural”. The ceremony reflected that.

(NOTE: If you’re looking for “details” about the wedding, I am a terrible person to ask. When asked what Jen’s dress was like, I responded “white”. This is apparently insufficient. )

The reception was also nice. It featured several toasts (I did not make one, as I had nothing to add the toasts that were made.) The cake cutting went well. It was not nearly as messy as my brother and his wife made it out to be. The spread was delicious, as it featured smoked salmon. That alone makes it delicious. The spread could have featured nothing but tomatoes, peas, Vegimite, and smoked salmon and I would have deemed it “delicious”. (Please do not test this theory) I even snuck away after a few dances to change ties. No more blue and white stripes…it was solid laser green tie time. This proved to be a popular move. Everyone loves a bright green tie.

The reception also spawned a business idea. I can offer my services to be “the whitest guy at a wedding or any event”. Are you an awkward dancer but would like to look amazing? I can dance horribly, do air guitar to 80s rock songs, AND sing loudly to Journey. Who wins in this transaction? You do, since you’re not “that guy”. I’m thinking $40/hour should work well.

Let’s see, after the reception I drove back home. As tempting as the after party was, my date had to get back home, so back home we went. A good time was had by all.

The next day was a family barbecue with a few friends. More seeing of people. This is also when I learned that my wedding descriptions were inadequate. Burgers were good though.

The day after that, it was off to Seattle. I was making up for lost time on I-5. I love Seattle, this has been documented many times. I went to Pike’s Place market, in search for reading material (my favorite book store is there). Also ate cupcakes at where my friend Kira works, and those were amazing. I also now own a Sounders FC Scarf, because one cannot own to many articles of neon green clothing.

The next day, it was back to Salem. The plane rides were uneventful as I slept/read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas all the way back to St. Louis. An uneventful trip back. For details on waiting in the Sea-Tac airport, refer to my last note on Facebook.

That basically wraps things up. Its amazingly hot in Salem at the moment. If you’re wondering if my opinions of the place have changed, rest assured they have not. I already can’t wait to head west again, and really hoping the next trip is taken in a moving van.

I think I should wrap this up now, as I’m nearing the 1,300 word mark, and you probably stopped reading when I mentioned “smoked salmon” because that made you hungry and you’re now off to get a sandwich. There will be more posting in the coming days, so stay tuned for that.

Going down to the freight yard,
Gonna catch me a freight train
Gonna leave this place…worked and got to home

Alan