Ben and Andrea Decide To Be Married on Vacation

My youngest son Ben and his fiance Andrea decided a traditional wedding just wasn't for them: too much planning, pomp and circumstance to say nothing of the expense. I guess I said something in jest to them that they took to heart: "You should just get married when you're on vacation and jump off the cliffs at Elephant Butte Lake. That would give new meaning to the phrase, 'taking the plunge'!" After a little thought and some fast planning, they were married in a beautiful setting with a meaningful ceremony on Saturday, June 20, 2009 at sunset at Winding Road Park, Elephant Butte State Park, Elephant Butte, New Mexico. This is my version of things:
Thursday, June 18. I woke up at 2 AM and couldn't go back to sleep - too excited. The alarm is going off at 3 anyway. So off to the airport, stopping at Racetrak for a breakfast sandwich 'cause it's going to be a long time til lunch. The flights thru Dallas were uneventful and we arrived at 10:20, pretty much on schedule. Ben and Andrea (hereafter B/A) were there to pick us up; her mom, Jeanette and stepdad, Steve (hereafter J/S) were already there and getting a rental car. We headed out in Ryan's Infiniti (more on that later) and south towards the lake. Everyone is excited. We met with J/S in Socorro eating a wonderful meal at Socorro Springs Microbrewery. We headed on down to Elephant Butte Lake State Park and parked Ryan's car at storage and arrived at Hot Springs Landing campsite around 3:30. Weather: partly cloudy, warm and breezy. We started introductions with those already there: Ryan, Chrystie, Larry, Steph, Little Stacey, Estoban, Mrs. G., Phillip, Martha, Bruce, Guy, Kim, and kids, Jonathon, Kaylee and kids, with Michelle, Jason, Devon, Curtis, Allan, Lisa and kids, Jim and Margaret to arrive later. Whew!!!! We plotted, planned, made trips to Truth or Consequences (hereafter TorC), WalMart, Elephant Butte Inn, and Pat's for gas, ice, food and incidentals. Had green chile chicken enchiladas, red chile beef enchiladas for supper compliments of Steph and Chrystie. Really good and Martha made posole - great. We had a few drinks, no campfire and the clouds parted enough for a little stargazing. Then off to bed: Wil and I in Mark's trailer, B/A in the honeymoon pop-up. I had a hard time sleeping on the sofa bed with Wil and without my "iron lung" so I was pretty restless and got up with the dawn taking pictures of the gorgeous sunrise.
Friday, June 19, 2009 - I spent a restless night so was out of the camper at 6 AM, crocheting - Mark wasn't far behind. Eventually, everyone got up - there were lots of boats out on the water and another pretty day. We had muffins and pastries for breakfast along with coffee and Carolans. J/S came around 9 from the Inn but Jeanette wasn't feeling well and went back to the motel while Steve and I went with B/A to check out the wedding site. After much confusion, it turned out the site they picked wasn't available so they had a park ranger show us an alternative which was perfect - Winding Road Overlook which was up on a bluff overlooking the actual Elephant Butte, the dam, the original marina and the lake, complete with trees and grass - a rarity in the wilds of New Mexico. We paid for it, contacted Reverend Celeste with the location and went back to camp where the boats were awaiting us. After a chips and sandwich lunch, the old folks and the kids loaded up on the pontoon boat and the young-uns went with either Bruce or Larry. Bruce skiied and Ben rode the wakeboard but Mark had to drive due to his knee problems. The rest of us watched. We had a good time and a nice long boat ride: Phillip took us around Elephant Butte where the other boats saw the wild goats. J/S finished up some shopping for tomorrow - he took her to see the wedding site - she approved and later in the day, they came back to formulate a plan for the morrow. We had brats and potato salad for supper and the rest of the folks started arriving. Michelle and Stacey dropped the wedding cake off at J/S motel room for safekeeping. We had drinks and conversation again no campfire and kind of a cloudy sky for stargazing. We were in bed 11 ish with some excitement shortly after as a car got stuck in the sand next to B/A's pop-up. Mark and the remaining "boys" had to go push and pull them out. Again, not much sleep for me but a little better rest for both Wil and I as I slept on the kitchen table/bed. We all got up a little later the next morning as the cloud cover kept the sunrise to a bare minimum.
Saturday, June 20, 2009 - The big day! Most of us slept in a little as the sun was behind a mostly cloudy day. We re-worked the plan, writing down little assignments for everyone. Ben and Andrea will be staying at the Elephant Butte Inn tonight so we have an extra room to shower in for the ceremony and Curtis, the official photographer, can sleep in the pop-up instead of his SUV. We had a light breakfast - yesterday's leftovers, some coffee cake and Guy's egg casserole, fruit and coffee. We tried to get everything organized: separated for the evening - some stuff for the wedding location, some to stay at the campground. I calligraphied an invitation (even though my calligraphy pens exploded in the baggie in the airplane) and hand delivered it to everyone in our camping groups so that they knew what was going on. I passed out a few of the 9 disposable cameras for people to start taking pictures: Jason and Devon in particular. Then after a sandwich or maybe before, the boat rides commenced. I think Wil was on every boat that went out - pontoon, Bruce's, even Jim and Margaret took him with them when they took Mrs. G for a ride. He enjoyed them all. I stayed behind and tried to get organized. I cooked a big pot of jambalaya and another of black eyed peas, made a cheese tray and a fruit tray with several kinds of crackers. We iced down the Cook's champagne (a whole case of it), talked to the drunken camper next to us (although his camp consisted of a broken down panel van, tarped over boat, a Kathleen and Johnny size camper and several beatup rope loungers - no people mind you, just equipment and gave us some cock and bull story about his wife breaking her leg or something - he was so drunk I couldn't even understand him), and just generally hung out until time to get showered. Andrea left with her mom to go meet her sister around noon and left Steve behind for a boat ride. They met back up at the campers to meet everyone and then they were all off again for "bride" things like hair and makeup and girltalk. We got our wedding clothes together and left with Ben around 4 for his hotel room - not bad: a handicapped room with a big walk-in shower which felt wonderful on our sandy and sunburned skin. On the way, we transferred cars around (for someone who flew into town, by week's end I had driven Ryan's Infiniti, Stacey's WRX Turbo, Courtney's rental Hyandai and Mark's Expedition). We got our showers and dressed taking a few candid casual photos of Ben getting ready. His first order of business was hooking up to the internet as he was having withdrawal, I think. Wil and I went back to finish up with the final preps: picking up the food, decorations, Mark, Stacey, Curtis, bubbles, champagne, cameras both disposable and digital, all in no apparent order. We loaded it all up and headed to the Inn to pick up Ben and the rest of the food being stored there. We drove up to Winding Road overlook - the weather was beautiful: sunny and warm with a few clouds but very, very breezy. We had a little trouble putting out the appetizers without everything blowing away. The bridal party was the first to arrive and we got some nice pictures before the rest of the guests came. When they did, I passed out cameras and bubbles and assigned Little Stacey to the guestbook. Everyone is excited and B/A look so happy albeit a little nervous. Her dress is lovely - a white cotton sundress with a full swingy skirt and a halter top. Her hair is done up with little white pearls in lieu of a veil and she's wearing fancy beaded flip flops on her pedicured feet. Ben looks comfy in new khaki shorts and a nice white lined long sleeved linen shirt. He's wearing new brown leather flip flops. Her mother has a lovely flowery long dress and Courtney is cute in a short dark brown/ khaki printed mini dress. Andrea is carrying 3 calla lillies with ferns and baby's breath and Courtney has a single calla lily both wrapped with white satin ribbon. Everyone is eating appetizers - pinwheel sandwiches, veggies, fruit, cheese, crackers - when Reverend Celeste arrives - pretty much on time. The winds have died down and the sun is setting off to our left giving the location a mystical feel. Celeste takes B/A (and most of the rest of the wedding party except for Wil and I who are rearranging the food platters -- ???) down a little hill and out onto another part of the bluff which is more protected. There's actually green grass and some unusual trees - you don't see much of that out there in the desert. Someone calls to us that they are ready and the rest of us head down the hill where they are waiting. Celeste has them face us and she stands off to the side. She is a mature, middle aged long haired blond with a far reaching voice. She tells us a little about marriage and goes on to read their vows - one of which was "I promise to play with you whenever I can", which drew a snicker from the crowd. When it was time for the rings, Mark pulled out a big old kid's "ring-pop" - a purple and red sucker - which also got a laugh from the crowd. He really had the real ring but several of us thought a little levity was in order. And I don't think they minded. The ceremony was about 15 minutes and then we took lots of pictures. We came back up the hill to the shelter house and had a champagne toast. Everyone was loaded back up in the vehicles and went back to the campgrounds for a "reception" . The tables were decorated with lovely blue tablecloths, candles and glo-stix. We had food of all sort and a beautiful wedding cake with bride and groom rubber duckies on top. They plan to buy a nice Willow Lake piece to commemorate their wedding when they return. We had roast brisket and pork - the best I've ever tasted and enough good food to feed all of us and the rest of the campers in Hot Springs Cove that weekend. It was pretty dark by the time we ate so the glo-stix came in handy. B/A cut the cake and had another toast - the cake was wonderful - layers of strawberry bavarian cream between white cake and not a lot of icing. Everyone loved it - even people who don't normally like cake. The wind died down, the stars came out. Andrea's mom, sister and step dad left for the hotel since they had an early flight out in the morning and they were 2 1/2 hours from the airport. B/A also left shortly after - it was their wedding night after all, and everyone else sat around talking and drinking until midnight or after. All in all a pretty wonderful day: wedding, camping, friends, family, weather. No mishaps, no miscues, no mistakes. We missed those that didn't get to attend but know they were with us in spirit.
Sunday, June 21, 2009 Father's Day - Up around 7 for another beautiful day at Elephant Butte Lake State Park with very few clouds and no wind. The water is calm and there are not many boats out. Happy Father's Day!!!! We had another boat ride after B/A got back to camp from their honeymoon night at Elephant Butte Inn. We finished out the disposable cameras on the ride and said our tearful goodbyes and thank you's to everyone. Wil and I loaded up Jason and Devon in Ryan's Infiniti and headed back to Albuquerque. We had to stop for gas and couldn't figure out how to open the tank - pretty funny! There was no help forthcoming from the others at the gas station as they were all either trucks, campers or SUV's and not another car like ours in sight. This is a $60,000 car as evidenced by the sticker in the glovebox. Ryan was able to purchase it thru the body shop he owns when either the insurance company totalled it or the owner refused to pick it up. At any rate, it is a fantastic piece of machinery with so many features it's impossible to describe them all. It has individual temperature control on all seats, built in GPS, DVD, back-up cameras, lane change warnings, cruise control safety features, bluetooth capabilities, and so many other things that I can't even remember. But still, it took Wil, Jason and Devon 10 minutes to figure out how to put gas (Premium, I might add) in her. And the stupid thing is: there's not a safety feature or inside button to release the gas cap - you just push the door to open and unscrew the gascap - anybody could do it, if they knew how..... At any rate, we drove on home in Ryan's car and B/A took Stacey's car and headed for the Sheraton in Albuquerque where they had a reservation. When we got home, Jason and Devon took Michelle's car (which they left at Mark's on Friday) and went on home. Wil and I headed in and took long hot showers and a much needed nap until Mark and Stacey got home. We ordered Dion's pizza and watched TV for a little while - In Plain Sight which is filmed in Albuquerque - and fell asleep around 10:30. It was the best night's sleep I've had since we took that Cruise to Nowhere 17 years ago and was lulled to sleep in the aft of the ship. I woke up long enough to say goodbye to Mark as he headed out to work at 6 AM and went back to sleep until I smelled the bacon cooking and the coffee brewing.
Monday, June 22, 2009. Stacey got up and fixed us a "full English breakfast" of bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, toast, coffee and juice. We ate it all while we planned the day. Wil had been working on the computer since Mark left but took a break to eat with us and has to work the rest of the day so Stacey and I left around 9:30/10 to drop off the disposable cameras to be developed and then we drove to Old Town. I picked up a few gifts - a traditional Santa Clara wedding vase for B/A, some arrowheads for the kids, and birthday gifts for the girls. Ben called and said they were ready for some sightseeing so after geting the pictures and looking at them we loaded up some snacks and headed north for the Jemez Mountains again taking Ryan's car. (By this time, I've probably put more miles on it than him.....) We drove up NM528 and saw a movie being filmed at The Big Chief gas station, stopped for Indian frybread at Jemez Pueblo/Red Rocks Park, on up to the stone tunnels where B/A hiked down to the river. Then on to Jemez Springs, Jemez Monument and the Soda Dam where B/A hiked a little more down to the bottom of the dam and then up to the top. Many photos were taken. We headed back to Rio Rancho where once again we were actually stopped for the filming of the movie and on to Turtle Mountain Brewery and restaurant to meet with the Garcias, Bruce, Mark, Chelsea and Sean, Ryan and Chrystie and to watch the LSU game - Geaux Tigers!!!!! It went into extra innings and extra beers and things disintegrated to the point that I had to drive Mark's Expedition home - everyone making fun of me on the way. Little sleep tonight after packing and getting things ready for the trip home tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 - Woke up in time to tell Mark thanks for everything and goodbye again. I fell back asleep for another hour and woke up with a start from a bizarre dream featuring Little Oak School, Edwina DuCre and Judy Pichon and kids who are now adults who used to go there. I got up and showered and exited the bathroom before anyone else's alarm even went off. Finished up the packing, had some coffee with my email and then B/A took Wil and I to the airport after once again saying goodbye and thanking Stacey for all she did to pull this wedding together. Wil had a few problems getting himself together this morning - he had some unusual stomach pains and flipped the futon when he sat down too close to the edge of it. We all had to help him up and could barely contain our laughter after finding out he was OK and not suffering any broken bones - only embarrassed feelings. We got to the airport and B/A headed off for one last sightseeing trip up to Sandia Crest where Andrea reported that despite being told not to run, she did and got altitude sickness (known to some of us as numb-skull). They are coming home on a later flight and into New Orleans. In the meantime, Wil and I had arguably the best breakfast burrito in Albuquerque at La Hacienda Airport. If not the best, then the heaviest - I bet mine weighed one pound and his two pounds with every bite a large cube of meat. The green chile was great and not as hot as the server said and I savored every bite! I have eaten at the original in Old Town and must say in this case, the airport location was much better. The security guard who checked our ID's remembered us from our last trip - I'd say she deserves a raise for doing her job well. We had an uneventful flight to Dallas although with a celebrity of sorts on board - James Carville - who I might add sits in 1st Class. But we almost missed our connecting flight due to incorrect gate information and the fact that Wil was absorbed in the book Mark and Stacey gave us and told us we wouldn't be able to put down. Guess they were right - he had it read before we reached Baton Rouge - but we had to run from gate B-12 to B-29 and were the last ones on the plane after a two hour layover. Our steward, the ghost of Flip Wilson, closed the door and helped us get seated so they could take off. I think we ruined their "on-time" record but at least we didn't get stuck in Dallas like we did on the way home from New Zealand. We got to the house in good time despite it being rush hour and even had a nap and a short view of the LSU CWS game before Wil went to bed and I went to get B/A from the New Orleans airport. They had flight delays on the way home from Dallas also - theirs were mechanical and they had to change not only gates but concourses 3 times before they got their flight. But everyone made it home, safe, sound and married and a good time was had by all! We certainly missed those who didn't get to witness the ceremony but we know they were with us in heart and soul. And hope they will be with us for the "reception'" whenever they decide to have it.
The pictures for this story can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lindadudle
It will be listed as "Ben and Andrea's Wedding"