So in my half assed writing yesterday I didn’t get into any details about the delicios breakfasts we were served during our stay at the Blackberry Inn. Each night we went to bed wondering what delicious dishes we would be served the next morning. We woke Tuesday morning and were served our first of four delicious breakfasts. Tuesdays menu consisted of an egg, mushroom, and olive quiche which was delightful. With it came a small dish of scalloped potatoes and baked grapefruit with cinnamon topping. Wednesday our meal started out with a bowl of blueberry and pear cobbler which was a meal in itself. The cobbler was followed up with a egg, cheese, and turkey sausage souflet with a side of coffee cake. Thursday and Friday Misty were the only guests at the Inn so we enjoyed breakfast alone without the company of the stuffy arrogant rich folk we had the pleasure of feasting with the previous two days. The breakfast on Thursday started out with a fruit and yogurt cup which contained various mixed fruits stacked in a cup with yogurt on the bottom. After eating the fruit cup I would have been full, but then we were served an omelette souflet with country potatoes surrounding the plate. Friday started the same way with a fruit cup to start followed by eggs in a nest. A delicious hashbrown mix with potatoes, onions, and chicken which nested a sunny side up egg in the middle with a cinnimaon biscuit on the side.

Our whole experience at the Blackberry Inn was amazing. The home was beautiful, the food was great, and we also discovered halfway through the week that the Innkeeper was in fact the author of numerous outdoors books. We happened to be reading through the Yosemite guide books featured in our room and discovered that the book had been written by Ann Marie the Innkeeper. Upon further reading we discovered she had in fact written a total of 11 outdoors books covering various subjects in regards to hiking and National Parks. At the end of the week we asked to purchase one of the books, but instead she gave us a book free of charged as a wedding gift. She even inscribed the book personally to us it was amazing. The whole week was incredible and we plan to return in April for Misty’s birthday. The waterfalls are supposed to be gorgeous that time of year and the colors and sights are supposed to be even more vibrant in the Spring. Ann Marie even offered to give us a deal since the weather prevented us from enjoying most of the Yosemite sites…

So it finally came. On October 23 Misty and I were wed. It was one of the greatest moments in my life. Everything went as we had hoped, and our only regret was that the reception wasn’t longer. I woke up early that Saturday in order to prepare for the day. As I finished getting ready, my best man Rick showed up with lunch. We feasted on Carl’s Jr. before leaving for the wedding. We arrived at the mansion around two, and we all looked dashing in our tuxes as we waited for the photographer. We started photos a bit early allowing us to get a little bit ahead in case people showed up late. Rick was in touch with Misty the whole time so that the two of us wouldn’t run into one another. We had one close call when Misty was pulling in to the mansion and I was walking back to the Pavillion, but neither of us saw one another. After pictures myself and the groomsmen head over the the Pavillion to help set up for the reception. My parents had hauled the centerpieces and candles for the tables and they needed to be unloaded. After helping with the reception we head back to the gazebo to start greeting the guests. Finally 3:20 rolled around it was ten minutes until show time. I took my place on the mansion porch as Rick and his brother escorted our mothers and grandmothers. Once they were all seated the groomsmen joined me on the porch and we waited for our queue to walk.

We received our ok and we followed the pastor to the gazebo. I turned and watched as Misty’s brother and her niece walked down the aisle as the ring bearer and flower girl. The two of them walked down the aisle like pros and neither of them wandered on their way to the front. Misty’s sisters then followed and each of them looked amazing. Then time froze as the pianist began playing the theme for the bride. I then looked to see Misty and her father walking down the aisle. Misty was in tears before even making it down the aisle. She looked so beautiful in her dress and I was in awe when I saw her. When she reached the front with her father the ceremony began. It went exactly as planned, we had asked the pastor not to use God in the ceremony and he respected our choice and didn’t. Misty cried the entire ceremony as I kept my composure and fought off my tears.

Following the ceremony we took what felt like a thousand pictures before heading to the reception where we were greeted with a great applause and an ocean of smiles. The reception started with a beautiful yet witty toast from Rick. This went great except for the fact that the servers looked over a handfull of people when it came to the champaign so many were left out of the toast. We then dined on a delicious feast of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and a dinner salad. Misty and I had a hell of a time eating since almost everyone wanted to come talk to us while we were eating, but about thirty minutes later we finished. All the other ritual reception rites went on in a fast paced order following dinner. The first dance, the father/daughter and mother/son dance, cake cutting, boquet/garter toss, etc. By the time all of these flew by there wasn’t much time left for us to enjoy the reception and enjoying our guests. The DJ didn’t do too bad, we were a little upset that he played some rap towards the end when we asked him specifically not to play rap. Not to mention he only played a small portion of the songs we requested even though he said before the reception he got about 90% of the songs we wanted. At the end of the night we head back to the mansion loft where we spent the night.

The next morning we head home to open our gifts with plans to leave for the honeymoon just after. Sadly it didn’t work out that way and we wound up leaving for the honeymoon the following day since we got to a late start on Sunday. We arrived in Groveland, CA around 11 pm Monday night after getting lost and taking a long detour through Yosemite National Park. We stayed the week at a lovely bed and breakfast just outside of Yosemite. Sadly due to inclimate weather we didn’t get a chance to spend more than a day in the park due to snow. Tuesday we spent in a small town named Jamestown where we did some antiquing. The next day we head over to Sonora to pick up a few things from the local wal-mart and to buy chains before heading back in to Jamestown to check out a few of the shops that were closed the day before. We ate that night at the Iron Door Saloon, which is the oldest continuously operated drinking establishment in California. It has been around since 1852 and is world famous. That night I had my first Buffalo burger. It was really good. Bufallo meat has a sweeter flavor than beef.

Thursday morning arrived and we woke up early so we could visit Yosemite. Of course after we bought chains the day before the chain restriction was lifted. Oh well…We enjoyed all of the beautiful sights before heading back to the Inn. We left Friday morning and stopped at Solvang on the way home. The whole trip was beautiful and relaxing. The only downfall was that I got sick when we got home and have been home sick from work for the last two days.

I’ll post pictures later this week hopefully…