AUTHOR: Scott G DATE: 12:13:00 AM ----- BODY:

Where do I begin?

Well.. the trip overall was a success, of course. I'm married and I'm happy. That's not to say that it didn't come with a fair amount of stress. I'll start here and try to sum it all up. The 18th we left, we got to Chris' and our jaws dropped. Deb and I cringed at the fact that they were bringing literally every article of clothing they owned. After somehow packing their 8+ bags, our two meager bags, and the wedding dress.. we left. Now it's just the four of us.. Chris, Sandy, Deb, and myself. The first half of the trip flew by except for the fact that Sandy was annoying in every way possible. If we weren't stopping an hour after leaving to eat, it was for over the counter medicine that was packed. She needed cough syrup, we stopped. She needed Dayquil, we stopped. She needed to use the rest room or needed to eat/drink, we stopped. All this in the first 8 hours. We made good time despite all of that. Then there was the second half. The half that ended up being the final 2/3 of it. Chris seemed not used to highway driving so he went a little slow, it took a while. They stopped as often as they wanted and played the loudest, most irritating music while we tried to sleep. While we turned ours down to suit them, they turned theirs up to suit them. Needless to say, sleep was nowhere to be had. When we got there the trip had finally taken shape. Rather than this big happy family-like get together of friends, we were seperating. Jaime was with Adam and along with their girlfriends they attended our wedding and reception, and that was all we'd see of them. I wish I could say that for Sandy. Three or four of the 7 days we drove out to the beach for the purpose of dropping them off. They wanted to go to the beach, so they went. Aside from that we had to put up with her. Deb and I had some fun. We stayed out with her friends sometimes as late as 9:30 AM without sleep. Getting to the room at 5 AM or later was common. We quickly distanced ourselves from Adam and his girlfriend just by going out late. They woke up early and went to bed early. Back to the fun we had. We went to Jacksonville Landing the day we went downtown to get our marriage license. It's a beautiful set of shops and restaurants next to the river. I liked that a lot. The main outlines of the trip were these. Friends from work on their own. Chris and Sandy as beach bums with Sandy bothering us when around. Wonderfully amazing wedding that I can honestly say I was completely in a state of shock during. I had never been married and I was nervous to the point of really not being there mentally. I had to be told where to stand or walk. I managed to get through it and I'm very happy about it. I really couldn't ask for more. Then came time to go home. With the 8 or so bags they had + everything they bought during the week and ours + wedding presents, we were stuck. We could try to cram it in and put even more in the back seats and be uncomfortable, or something else. We took a bus. It took around 22 hours, but it was painless. All we had to do was sit back. You'd think the stress would end there, but no. Chris and Sandy thought there was a problem with the car we took. They were supposed to leave at 8 PM or so and take all of our stuff back with them. When it came time to board the bus we got a message saying the car was broken down. So we get on it anyway and throughout the trip we check in on the situation. Deb's godfather checked it out and it was fine. When we got in at 9 PM they were in North Carolina. If all goes well we should have our car and stuff back by noon, but we'll see. I'm emotionally and physically drained. That's all for now. --------