The time has come at last!

[marauder307]

As I write, the bags are mostly packed...garbage stacked near the door for easy removal...the first of the last 2 loads of laundry is churning in the machine...a "Blues Brothers" breakfast is waiting for me (dry toast...ha!).

And the limo picks us up this afternoon about 1:30, Hawaiian time. Let's just hope the driver ain't operating on "Hawaiian time"...those of you who've been here know what I mean...:rolleyes:

The fiancee and I are heading home to close the deal. Next Saturday (the 11th) we're exchanging our vows back home in Montgomery. I've decided to splurge a bit; we've got a Cadillac DTS from National car rental waiting for us in Birmingham and that'll be our ride for the week.

Of course, it wouldn't be a wedding without drama...we woke up to a phone call this morning from my inlaws-to-be; they made it as far south as Nashville and I-65 before having a minor accident. They ate up a muffler that fell off a truck in front of them; their car is a Kia Amanti. The muffler made lunchmeat out of their transmission. The folks are in a hotel for the night while they wait on the verdict...I'm telling 'em to just get a loaner and press on tomorrow. We'll see.

The missus is telling me to get a move on. I'll try and keep in touch during the week but internet access is limited at my old family home in Montgomery...y'all may not hear from me until next weekend. Take care! Pics to follow!

[jgc61sr2002]

Congrats.:D Best of Luck and Good Wishes.:party: :cheer: :beer:

[fastblackmerc]

GOOD LUCK!!!! & BEST WISHES!!!!

[MM03MOK]

Congratulations Baker! Best Wishes to you both!!

[marauder307]

And we've discovered that while we love being married, the run-up to the wedding is a right b***h.

Her folks finally arrived in Montgomery, after dealing with a torn-up transmission in Nashville...more on this in a moment. We ended up with our
own drama in Chicago...United's feeder line flying out of there seems to have problems identifying when the airplane is broken. After a 7-hour flight and a 5:15 a.m. arrival in Chicago, and getting no sleep on the flight (c'mon...who can sleep in those seats?), we managed a loping sprint across O'hare to the commuter terminal and caught the plane.

We're boarded and buckled in....and going nowhere fast. With my flying experience, I can tell something's off; the ground crew keeps going into/out of the cockpit and I see lots of frustrated hand gestures from the flight crew. (It's a little discouraging when you can overhear the crew chief say, "well, go get the rubber mallet outa my toolbox and smack that sumb***h one time...see if if goes back inta place.") I cast a glance up the aisle; the cockpit door's open and I see enough red lights on the panel to light up Wacker Drive, one end to the other. Finally the flight crew gives up and we get herded off the airplane.

Turns out the doggoned thing came in broken...Did we do our preflight properly, United? No. 2 engine was dead (something having to do with the starter/exciter box---Petrograde would know what I'm talking about), and the servos for the elevator trim tabs were burned out. How the thing even managed to make it to Chi-town is a mystery to me. And this wasn't some old worn-out DC-9 either---it was a fairly late-model CRJ.

An hour later, we're on another airplane and on our way to Birmingham. My then-fiancee-now-wife got her first taste of "Malfunction Junction"; for those of you who don't traffick Birmingham, this is the interchange where Interstates 65, 59, and 20 all ram into each other---and the result is a gawdawful mess. The traffic coming out of B'ham Airport was its usual level of bedlam. Makes for a fun drive when you're in an unfamiliar rental car and dealing with jet lag and sleep deprivation. I pulled over at the Old Cahaba Rd exit south of town, got a bite, and let Terri drive the rest of the way to Montgomery. (She'd actually been able to sleep on the flight from Chicago to B'ham. I, on the other hand, was a bundle 'o nerves.)

We muddled our way through the rest of the week, but things still got crossed up. As a for-example: 45 minutes before I was due to line up and go into the chapel for the ceremony, I get a call from the restaurant that was doing the reception. The manager asked me what was going on for the reception (menu items, confirmation that we were going to be there, and so on); I'd given his bar supervisor the menu the day before...:shake:

But we're back in Hawaii now; the jet lag has subsided and we're back into the mundane Sunday schedule of doing laundry and cleaning house.

I got pictures! Here we go...some are honeymoon shots from The Big Island but I got one of the ceremony in there too:

This one's of Mauna Loa...the buildings in the foreground are at Kilauea Military Camp, a MWR facility which is actually really great:

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h194/GXP307/Wedding%20and%20honeymoon/Honeymoon001.jpg

These next few are of the recent lava activity (April 2003) and the ongoing lava flow:

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h194/GXP307/Wedding%20and%20honeymoon/Honeymoon027.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h194/GXP307/Wedding%20and%20honeymoon/Honeymoon032.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h194/GXP307/Wedding%20and%20honeymoon/Honeymoon030.jpg

This one is of the ceremony:

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h194/GXP307/Wedding%20and%20honeymoon/WeddingPictures061006033.jpg

Thanks to all of you for the good wishes...looks like I've got a co-pilot from here on out! :D At least she likes my car...

EDIT: Sorry about the pic size...didn't realize how big these things were until I loaded 'em into Photobucket...

[ncmm]

Thanks for sharing and congrats! :)

[jdando]

Congratulations!:party: :woohoo:

Coming up on 12 wonderful years for me. Be good to each other.

jeremy

[SergntMac]

Congrats and best wishes for much happiness ahead.

[shakes_26]

Congrats!!!

Ah the welcome site of Quonset huts, warms the heart, is there a more ubiqiutous Military base icon?

Hawaii to boot, you lucky b@$tard!!!