Vegas trip, post 3

Sunday...

Sunday morning we went to church with Melissa and her family. On the way to church we almost got in an accident. On one road at a 4-way stop had a stop sign, but the other road did not. Matt did stop at the stop sign, but then some lady was ultra-speeding down the other road and after Matt started to drive after stopping we practically T-boned. That was no good. And then the lady in the other car rolled down her window to yell at us and tell us there is a stop sign. Yes, we did see the stop sign, but did you see the speed limit sign?

Church was... ok I guess.

After church we drove around looking for a place for lunch. We found a Mediterranean place!! Greek food!! Yay!!! I ordered pomegranate chicken and it came with rice and Greek salad and hummus with pita bread. It was so good! I wish I knew of a Greek place to eat in Reno.

Then came time for the reason we planned this trip to Vegas, which was my friend's wedding. She got married up at The Resort on Mount Charleston. The ceremony was outside and it was very bright and hot and sunny. But the ceremony itself was nice and I am so glad that God has blessed her with a husband.
Pretty much immediately after the ceremony the photographer started taking still posed photos while the attendants walked in to the reception hall. As people were walking past the bride was saying hi to some people. When she saw me she was like, "Catherine!!! You drove all the way from Reno!!! Thank you for coming, and I will say hi to you later!!" That made me feel good that was recognized me and stuff. It has actually been a very long time since we have seen each other in person.

Reception was OK. It was loud. I am happy to say that this is the shortest photography-after-the-wedding waiting time session we have had to endure out of all the weddings we have been to in the past few years.
Side note: If I would have been to more weddings before my own I *SO* would have made sure my wedding photography session after the ceremony was short and sweet. I know look back and realize we made people wait a very long time, and I feel sorry for them because I know now that it is a boring wait. And also we didn't do anything with our wedding photos anyway so mostly it was a waste of time.

Anyway...
To eat at the reception we had a vegetable/cheese/cracker appetizer and then cake. The wedding party and their parents and stuff did a lot of different dances. For the daddy/daughter dance they did the song "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman. When I first heard the music come on I said, "Not this song!" I hate the song, but seeing my friend so happy singing it to her dad made me hate it slightly less.
And as promised the bride did come over and see me a couple times during the reception, and her mom came to greet me too. I don't think the rest of her family remembers me. The bride's two younger sisters were both a lot younger the last time I saw them. If I saw them in some random place I would not have known who they were. I think they look a lot different from when they were "kids," and now both of them are stunningly beautiful.

After we left the wedding we went back to my grandma's house for a little while. Then we went and had dinner at Famous Dave's BBQ. They come to the Reno Rib Cook Off every year, but we do not have the actual restaurant in Reno. Dinner was good, and I was ultra-full when we left.

After dinner we drove back out to Sam's Town. I got a coffee at Dunkin Donuts (another thing we don't have in Reno), we played two rounds of basketball in the arcade, and then we saw the laser light/water show they have. And then we went bowling, which ended up being not very fun.

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Monday...

We slept in quite late again.

Then we went and had lunch with Donna and her daughter Jade. We were originally going to go to Beppa de Bupo (you guessed it, another place not in Reno), but it turned out that they were not open that day for lunch since they were doing employee training. So in stead we went to Joe's Crab Shack (another not-in-Reno establishment ;)). We had a nice visit with Donna and Jade over some seafood. Jade is getting ready to start her senior year of high school this year, and yet still when I picture her in my mind I see her as like a 1st grader. I used to go to church with Donna when all her kids were very young, and then did not see her for a very long time after that until I graduated from high school and then during a few of my Vegas visits. It makes me feel old when kids who I met when they were in pre-school (and I was in middle school) are in high school now.

After lunch Matt and I went back to my grandma's house to pack up our things and leave.
Before we officially left town we made one last Vegas stop to Winchell's Donuts. We have practically no donut shops in Reno (and none of the chain ones), and I miss the familiar taste of Winchell's, so we always go get some when we are in Vegas.

On the way back to Reno we stopped in the Candy and Nut Factory in Beatty, NV. I don't know of anything Beatty is famous for really, though their slogan is "The Gateway to Death Valley." At the candy store we left with several bags of things, along with a large fountain soda. Donuts and candy... perfect for people trying to lose weight before they go on a cruise early next year ;)

We made the drive to Reno in 7 hours - woohoo! I like that we have been able to shave an hour off the trip back on our last three Vegas trips (all the online map/direction places say it takes 8 hours to get from Reno to Vegas and vise versa). Now if only we could find a way to shave time off the beginning leg...

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Well, that concludes my travel log from our Vegas trip. I hope you enjoyed reading. Perhaps my wrist will continue to feel well and I can get some more posts up here about daily life...