And REALLY glad to be here.
Our trip to Vermont was...well, interesting to say the least. It rained from the time we left until the day of the ceremony.
The trip from Chicago to Albany was supposed to board at 9 pm. They gave us no updates other than there were delays. We boarded at 11:30 pm and were told that there had been mechanical difficulties with the train.
Then they told us that we would have to take a different route because there had been a train derailment in Indiana of a freight train and one of the coal cars was on fire. At no time, despite repeated inquiries, did they tell us how long it would take. Our trip took almost 24 hours.
We got to Albany and then had to take a bus to Springfield MA because of work being done on the tracks. We pulled into Springfield at 12:30 am.
The next day we boarded a train from Springfield to Vermont. It was a beautiful trip...until the train stopped and the conductor came on and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we regret to inform you that we have hit a tree. It's a fairly large tree. It's damaged our air tank. We are assessing the damage now." A bit later she came back on and said we weren't going anywhere and that they were trying to figure out what to do. Finally a freight engine from another company agreed to come and tow us the rest of the way. We were 3 hours late.
The nice people at Moose Meadow Lodge had offered to pick us up at the train station upon our arrival in Waterbury. When we found out that we'd be really late we told them that we would just stay at a hotel and get there the next day. They said, 'no'. So when we got there we were greeted by Greg with a hug for each of us.
He took us to the inn and we got settled in. The next day they took us to a car rental place and we got a mini-van. We went to the natural food co-op, Hunger Mountain Foods, and bought some groceries. Came out, got into the car, pulled out of our slot and were ready to move forward when "BAM". A lady across from us did not see us pulling out and backed into our door. We'd only had the car 30 minutes! I must say, though, that she was an uber-sweet woman. When we told her why we were in Vermont (to get married) she was saying she could not understand how people could be so bigoted to think that it was wrong for two people who love each other to be together. Then she started talking about the health care reform and was completely ripping on the Republicans and Tea Party. Her name was Eliza and she was a lovely person.
The next day we decided to drive to Canada (which is really close). Crossing from the US to Canada was no problem. We stopped at a couple stores and bought some stuff. On the way back to the lodge we stopped at a Rock & Fossil shop. I purchased some rose shaped stones because I knew my mom would like them. Drove back to the crossing and the guard asked what we were doing in Canada. Told him we went shopping. Asked what we bought. Told him. And we were detained for an hour while they inspected our rocks because they came from Mexico and might have nematodes in them. Sigh.
April 1st arrived. Our ceremony was nigh. I couldn't sleep because I was so excited. Greg and Willie woke up and made the comment that ours was the earliest wedding they'd ever done. That wasn't quite true, though. At midnight, on the day that same sex marriage became the law in Vermont, Greg performed the first ceremony!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F4CIQOpeJg has the story.
The rest of the trip was just exploring the beautiful area. Yes, there will be pictures forthcoming. We have to go through a lot of them. There's going to be many of Moose Meadow Lodge. I cannot speak highly enough of the lodge and, especially the owners, Greg Trulson & Willie Docto. I strongly recommend that if you plan to visit Vermont, especially if you're going to get married, you stay with them and allow Greg to do your ceremony. (www.moosemeadowlodge.com) Oh, and if you go, please don't leave until you ask Greg to tell you the story of Sid. It's a great tale and he's an amazing storyteller.
So I am back. Officially and legally now Will Parkinson.
And I couldn't be happier.
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