Wedding day to L.A.

I had thought the wedding would be in the desert, the arid plains surrounding us. In fact it was in an oasis created by the Furnace Creek Inn. From the ranch we could see palm trees rising in the desert, the inn situated on a rise above. The ceremony was short and sweet. Jonathan did a reading; a glass was broken, they were married.

For the next hour we climbed above the gardens for a cocktail hour. I snuck a peek at the banquet room, which was lit with candles. The settings and floral arrangements were beautiful. Dinner was a buffet; a live band played swing tunes while we waited and ate. The band played the hora and Cherry and Eric were lifted into the air. Cherry's head almost hit the chandelier. After dinner, the band began to play some 70s and 80s songs and I danced with Kit and with Cherry.

The evening seemed short. After dinner people drifted away or decided to sit outside. It was warmer outside; air conditioning had turned the room cold. We said our goodbyes knowing we'd meet again in the morning for brunch. Back at the ranch, I asked Ramsey for what time he was setting the alarm. Seven-thirty he told me. He was planning to go horseback riding and asked if I wanted to join. I said yes.

The two hour ride loped up back and around the inn. The horses were old and taught to walk in a line. The day was overcast but warm. The trail was well marked out and the guides told us facts about the area. Upon our return they pointed towards the mountains at a small dark hill. "Looks like a dinosaur laying down, don't it?" they asked. It did.

Brunch was, like dinner, a buffet. We chatted and ate and asked each other when we were leaving and how they were getting home. Kit and John and I said goodbye to Ramsey and Eddie in the parking lot and then headed for the road. Most of the Ferrari's left over from the convention had left. We had noticed the them in the parking lot before and remarked that the clientele at the hotel must be rich before Cherry told us about the convention of Ferrari owners that convened at the inn every two years.

The drive to L.A. was long. It rained off and on as we climbed out of the valley, but by the time we arrived in Los Angeles the skies had mostly cleared. We stopped at In'n'Out by the airport before dropping off John. Then Kit and I drove to Alhambra and to Sophia's house. She was watching Priscilla, Queen of the Desert with Pakin when we arrived. We watched and waited for one of Sophia's friends to arrive before Pakin told us he wasn't coming. It was a joke, he said. He would explain it to us later; he never did.

We went to a nearby pho place. Kit was still coughing and looking for soup. We were the last ones to arrive and were the last people in the place.

I didn't hear Kit leave the next morning. She left a note for Sophia and I left a message on her cell phone to call me when she arrived in New York. Sophia said she had work to do for her family and so we climbed into the car and set off for Irvine and the promise of good Japanese food. Posted by eku at November 12, 2004 10:03 PM