July, 2004 Week 1

Thursday  July 1, 2004

I took my bike down to the BMW dealer and they did an oil change and a 30k tune-up and replaced the front tire...$453... ouch. I got back for the barbeque, Sue and Ross arrived with Katie and Christine and Dave and their three kids. I met the family of the groom, nice folks. Billy and some friends of the groom 'kidnapped' Jim, the groom and they went out to some local place and bottled some beer.

Friday  July 2, 2004

I went shopping for a wedding present, ended up buying a nice Cherrywood silver service storage chest. I got a call from my cousin Martha and she invited me down to her church to look at her mother's genealogy stored there... rode down to Newton to see her. She is very nice, she says I look like my mother... odd... everyone, including me, says I look like my dad...

We went into the basement and there were five or six boxes of stuff... awesome... she said she would copy what I wanted... I got greedy and said... honestly... I want it all. She said good... I will send it to you. It took my breath away. I will get it all entered into my database if it takes the rest of my life.

I got spruced up in one of Bill's old suits and we went to the Rehearsal at Saint Pauls and Rehearsal Dinner... what an extravaganza. It was at the Ritz Carlton across from the park... it was beautiful... the food was great, there were speeches by all the major players at the wedding... lots of laughing and a great professional video presentation.

Saturday  July 3, 2004

Wedding day... the service was beautiful... the bride was beautiful the groom was dashing... they looked pretty proud of themselves coming down the aisle. We all went over to the Harvard Faculty Club for the Reception... more speeches, Bill and Meg did the Father Daughter dance... lots of food... good food... I said goodbye to Leigh and Bill and took off with Sue and Ross to get an early start... I suited up in my riding gear packed up and took off... I made it to Scranton, NY at sundown...

Sunday  July 4, 2004

I went south from Scranton to see Pat and Mike... I noticed that the windshield 'carrier'... the bracket that holds the windshield so it can be adjusted... had snapped. I wedged it where I wanted it and forgot about it... I couldn't fix it till I get home anyway. I stayed on the highway too long (missed my turn) and rode into Redding, 60 just ended! I was looking for Highway 422 West to Wernersville but every sign said 422 East on a one way street, some old guy in a minivan finally got me on the right track... I got on 422 but it disappeared and I was on 222 heading north... exasperating... a 45 minute ride took 2 hours. I finally made it to Pats at about 1100, they have a nice little three bedroom brick house with a big yard... we visited for a while and I took off West. I made it to Zanesville, Ohio and got a Motel