Day 172: Road trippin'
Jun. 27th, 2005 01:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nagi_schwarzThis weekend was a bizarre series of ups and downs. I was up pretty early on Friday to run and get my paycheck and have my money all sorted out. Yutaro was actually on time when I got home from the bank, so we packed our cars, gave Mom and Dad lots of hugs and kisses and took off for the highway. I set cruise at eighty (yes, breaking the law, so catch me if you can) and burned a quarter of a tank alone on the drive up. That drive usually takes about half that much gas, but we were running on a schedule. It was good to see Yutaro again, although she always seems distant and tired and a little sad. We listened to my X Japan ballads collection because I'm lazy and I "Crucify My Love" has a certain touch to it that I like. For all the loud music I love in the end soft music makes me just as happy, and Yoshiki looks just as good at a piano as he does behind a set of drums. The clear piano from the old X days looks pretty cool, but the black baby grand (oxymoron) for the Crucify my Love video looks pretty good too. We made it up to MacBeth Manor all in good time and piled into the back of Del's car. BenTen took shotgun, so Yutaro and I were in the back. Del and BenTen were uber-nice and had some snacks for all of us. I took advantage of the green squall mostly, but somewhere along the ride I fell asleep with all the snacks on my lap and BenTen, who still has her cool camera from fall semester's photography class, took a picture that she's threatening to send to Niichan. We listened to Eddie Izzard's "Dressed to Kill" for a load of laughter, we listened to Avenue Q (and sang loudly to it, though somehow Yutaro managed to sleep through it all), Flogging Molly and John Denver.
We stopped in Provo so Yutaro could buy a dress and shoes, and Del ended up getting an awesome black dress too. In allegiance to my geekiness I bought manga and a Neil Gaiman graphic novel because I got the first volume of Peace Maker Kurogane and I had to find the rest of it. I resisted the purchasing of all things girly because it's much easier to go without a purse than it is to go without my manga. Samurai killing each other over a purse any day, guaranteed. We girls had loads of fun, and there was a bit of confusion before we drove up Provo Canyon to the cabin.
Del's family's cabin is gorgeous. It's two levels with a deck running around three sides of it, and it's right next to a river. It has all the comforts of home (satellite tv, washing machines) and yet it's right out in nature. Meeting Del's family was awesome. Del is so like her Mom, and in all the good ways. Del's little brother is a funny, smart kid and I liked him. Sadly we didn't get to see much of her father (although we did get to have some of his awesome Dutch oven cooking) but I understood since he's been through a lot lately. We ate dinner and then Del's otouto led us on a hike across the river and through the woods (no, not to Grandma's house). It was muddy and a little dangerous, but BenTen brought her camera and picked flowers to press in her journal. I hardly remembered how good a hiker Yutaro is. Then we found out that BenTen has never seen a live cow up close so we chased some down for her, all in good humor.
After the hike we sat inside for a bit before I headed out and joined BenTen, Del, Del's Mom and little brother at the campfire. We told "ghost stories," made smores and just had fun. I do love open fires. I'm the first to admit that I was raised in cities, but I had my fun. Yutaro hid inside because the plants were exasperating her allergies. Del and I stayed up and watched Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing. I loved it. I'm not much of a Kenneth Branagh fan but I liked the chemistry between his Benedick and Emma Thompson's Beatrice. But death to Keanu Reeves. Whose idea was that?
We were up fairly early the next day and took Del's mom's van down to Del's house to get all dressed up for the wedding. I'll admit I was pretty tense as there was someone I wasn't entirely up to facing down and so I had knives decorated with flowers in my hair. In the true style of the tomboy I was the first one dressed and ready to go so I ran around with my digital camera taking pictures because I promised Niichan lots of pictures from the wedding. We got all dressed up and then Del made the trip to Magna. Of course, Del was a little overzealous about being timely (and her mother had offered some rather confounding directions) so we were there almost an hour early. To be nice I scored some pictures of Cassanova (formerly the Cub) in his tux, and a picture of Aya's hairdo before she had the dress on. BenTen volunteered herself as a witness to the wedding, and there was a strange and funny moment with her description of the bishop as 'priest guy'.
Once the ceremony started it was sweet. Aya was sniffling and looked a bit cold, and Panda looked really jittery. Aya had a cold when we ran into her and was a bit hoarse, but the ceremony itself was beautiful. The way Aya was looking at Panda during the vows...that was real love. Seriously awesome. After the wedding itself Yutaro had vanished to call her man (something she seemed to do about every half an hour, probably to tell him about the wedding in hopes he'd speed up with a ring for her) and so we girls wandered about for a bit before deciding to go for food. Yutaro fought with her man - she already had done so several times over the phone - and so we ate. We got back for the reception and so I hung out with the Panda's little sister whom I've never really met before. I got some pictures of the whole gang for Niichan, and then Cassanova asked if we'd taken care of Panda's car. He thought that's what we'd done when we said we were going to it, but it didn't happen, so Del and BenTen took Stacy and ran off to get car-defacing supplies while Yutaro and I stuck around so it wouldn't look too suspicious. I got pictures of the first couple dances and then I even ended up dancing with Cassanova. I felt so bad because Del was meant to dance with him, but we spent our time talking about car plans. I made a Don Pedro/Hero effor for Del because if someone had to dance with him then it ought to be one of us girls and not one of them bridesmaids.
BenTen and Del returned with the supplies in the nick of time (condoms, toilet paper and car paint) and headed inside while the rest of us set to work. It started to rain just as I got started on the paint so for the rest of the day there were little purple flecks of paint on my dress. I missed the throwing of the bouquet on purpose as well as the garter toss in an effort to hide the evidence of the crime, and when I caught up with the others...
Well. Disaster. And loads of ensuing tension. Apparently Yutaro had broken up with her man over the phone (although I doubt they'll stay broken up for long) and was crying and wanted to go home insanely early the next day. We sorted her out as best we could and then headed off to the Gateway to catch a chickflick (Bewitched) to cheer us up. Yutaro's man called her phone several times and she decided not to answer, so he tried Del's phone and got royally reamed. Del kicks ass. The movie was cute and sweet. I'd forgotten how huge big city cinemas are. We wandered around Barnes and Noble afterwards. I bought more manga, and then we had to hurry home so Del could see her sister.
Del and Ali are so different but they love each other, and that's what counts. We met Del's cats and ate some leftover food and spread out on mattresses on the floor to sleep. Yutaro wanted to leave at eight the next morning, and I think Del was sort of sad at the thought of not seeing her family again before she left, but the next morning we saw her whole family one last time anyway before we took off.
Del and Yutaro got along because they're animal rescuers. They spotted one of Del's neighbor's cats dead in the middle of the road and Yutaro moved it. Del called the neighbors to warn them so their daughter didn't find the cat. We took a few return trips to Del's house so everyone had everything, and then we set off. We stopped for gas and the girls rescued a dog.
We made it to Cedar all right, but wildfires across the south shut down the highway so there was lots of phone confusion (from the night before, even) before Yutaro and I started home the back way.
Made it home safely, and that's all that counts.
We stopped in Provo so Yutaro could buy a dress and shoes, and Del ended up getting an awesome black dress too. In allegiance to my geekiness I bought manga and a Neil Gaiman graphic novel because I got the first volume of Peace Maker Kurogane and I had to find the rest of it. I resisted the purchasing of all things girly because it's much easier to go without a purse than it is to go without my manga. Samurai killing each other over a purse any day, guaranteed. We girls had loads of fun, and there was a bit of confusion before we drove up Provo Canyon to the cabin.
Del's family's cabin is gorgeous. It's two levels with a deck running around three sides of it, and it's right next to a river. It has all the comforts of home (satellite tv, washing machines) and yet it's right out in nature. Meeting Del's family was awesome. Del is so like her Mom, and in all the good ways. Del's little brother is a funny, smart kid and I liked him. Sadly we didn't get to see much of her father (although we did get to have some of his awesome Dutch oven cooking) but I understood since he's been through a lot lately. We ate dinner and then Del's otouto led us on a hike across the river and through the woods (no, not to Grandma's house). It was muddy and a little dangerous, but BenTen brought her camera and picked flowers to press in her journal. I hardly remembered how good a hiker Yutaro is. Then we found out that BenTen has never seen a live cow up close so we chased some down for her, all in good humor.
After the hike we sat inside for a bit before I headed out and joined BenTen, Del, Del's Mom and little brother at the campfire. We told "ghost stories," made smores and just had fun. I do love open fires. I'm the first to admit that I was raised in cities, but I had my fun. Yutaro hid inside because the plants were exasperating her allergies. Del and I stayed up and watched Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing. I loved it. I'm not much of a Kenneth Branagh fan but I liked the chemistry between his Benedick and Emma Thompson's Beatrice. But death to Keanu Reeves. Whose idea was that?
We were up fairly early the next day and took Del's mom's van down to Del's house to get all dressed up for the wedding. I'll admit I was pretty tense as there was someone I wasn't entirely up to facing down and so I had knives decorated with flowers in my hair. In the true style of the tomboy I was the first one dressed and ready to go so I ran around with my digital camera taking pictures because I promised Niichan lots of pictures from the wedding. We got all dressed up and then Del made the trip to Magna. Of course, Del was a little overzealous about being timely (and her mother had offered some rather confounding directions) so we were there almost an hour early. To be nice I scored some pictures of Cassanova (formerly the Cub) in his tux, and a picture of Aya's hairdo before she had the dress on. BenTen volunteered herself as a witness to the wedding, and there was a strange and funny moment with her description of the bishop as 'priest guy'.
Once the ceremony started it was sweet. Aya was sniffling and looked a bit cold, and Panda looked really jittery. Aya had a cold when we ran into her and was a bit hoarse, but the ceremony itself was beautiful. The way Aya was looking at Panda during the vows...that was real love. Seriously awesome. After the wedding itself Yutaro had vanished to call her man (something she seemed to do about every half an hour, probably to tell him about the wedding in hopes he'd speed up with a ring for her) and so we girls wandered about for a bit before deciding to go for food. Yutaro fought with her man - she already had done so several times over the phone - and so we ate. We got back for the reception and so I hung out with the Panda's little sister whom I've never really met before. I got some pictures of the whole gang for Niichan, and then Cassanova asked if we'd taken care of Panda's car. He thought that's what we'd done when we said we were going to it, but it didn't happen, so Del and BenTen took Stacy and ran off to get car-defacing supplies while Yutaro and I stuck around so it wouldn't look too suspicious. I got pictures of the first couple dances and then I even ended up dancing with Cassanova. I felt so bad because Del was meant to dance with him, but we spent our time talking about car plans. I made a Don Pedro/Hero effor for Del because if someone had to dance with him then it ought to be one of us girls and not one of them bridesmaids.
BenTen and Del returned with the supplies in the nick of time (condoms, toilet paper and car paint) and headed inside while the rest of us set to work. It started to rain just as I got started on the paint so for the rest of the day there were little purple flecks of paint on my dress. I missed the throwing of the bouquet on purpose as well as the garter toss in an effort to hide the evidence of the crime, and when I caught up with the others...
Well. Disaster. And loads of ensuing tension. Apparently Yutaro had broken up with her man over the phone (although I doubt they'll stay broken up for long) and was crying and wanted to go home insanely early the next day. We sorted her out as best we could and then headed off to the Gateway to catch a chickflick (Bewitched) to cheer us up. Yutaro's man called her phone several times and she decided not to answer, so he tried Del's phone and got royally reamed. Del kicks ass. The movie was cute and sweet. I'd forgotten how huge big city cinemas are. We wandered around Barnes and Noble afterwards. I bought more manga, and then we had to hurry home so Del could see her sister.
Del and Ali are so different but they love each other, and that's what counts. We met Del's cats and ate some leftover food and spread out on mattresses on the floor to sleep. Yutaro wanted to leave at eight the next morning, and I think Del was sort of sad at the thought of not seeing her family again before she left, but the next morning we saw her whole family one last time anyway before we took off.
Del and Yutaro got along because they're animal rescuers. They spotted one of Del's neighbor's cats dead in the middle of the road and Yutaro moved it. Del called the neighbors to warn them so their daughter didn't find the cat. We took a few return trips to Del's house so everyone had everything, and then we set off. We stopped for gas and the girls rescued a dog.
We made it to Cedar all right, but wildfires across the south shut down the highway so there was lots of phone confusion (from the night before, even) before Yutaro and I started home the back way.
Made it home safely, and that's all that counts.
