You call this vacation?

So, I spent the last part of last week, and into the the weekend, on a "vacation." That is, I used vacation time to accomplish a mission which could not be otherwise accomplished. Specifically, I had to go to Pocatello, ID for the wedding of my good friend Biscuit.

Biscuit is a college buddy. We met through our college fraternity, and became very good friends. Though I'm awful at maintaining distance relationships, through Biscuit's sheer will-power and occasional calls we have maintained a good friendship.

A little over four years ago, I was honored to have Biscuit as one of my groomsmen as I married my lovely wife.

Biscuit chose to return the favor by inviting me to be a part of his wedding party.

All well and good. The only complaint? The wedding location: Inkom, Idaho. I mean, we all have humble beginnings. Just turns out, Biscuit's were more humble than most.

So, I took two days off of work to allow my attendance at the blessed event.

Thursday morning, I got up at 4:30 and prepped for my long road-trip to Pocatello, of which, I guess, Inkom is a suburb. I loaded my car and kissed my wife goodbye, then headed on my way.

Now, originally, my wife was supposed to go along. Unfortunately, our dog broke the dog-sitter's leg during a recent weekend out of town, and we couldn't find anyone willing to gamble their appendages on such short notice, so my wife (who's preggers anyway), volunteered to stay behind.

Away I went, on my short drive to Idaho. Short in the sense that it was less than a day. Otherwise, entirely too long.

On the way, though, I took some lovely pictures.

First, there was the lovely sun rising over the Eastern Oregon portion of the Columbia Gorge as I wearily tried to keep my eyes open.

This was, of course, before I got a little coffee in me. Not much, just enough.

As I drove past what used to be wide-open spaces in college, when I commuted this stretch of the road regularly, I noticed what appears to be a tree farm. Miles and miles and miles of tree farm, looking quite out of place when you see the edges or the clear-cuts in the middle of large blocks of trees.


Near Umatilla, I passed the eponymous Umatilla Army Depot, where scads and scads of our nations finest-quality chemicals are stored in earthen bunkers, awaiting some sort of destruction.

While driving by, I often hold my breath for as long as possible. Since the depot is pretty long, it's never enough breath to sustain me through, but I figure every little bit counts, right?

Eventually, after 9+ hours of driving, I made it to Pocatello, where I met Biscuit and Chachi, his best man and a mutual college chum. Always a pleasure to see him.

Thursday night was rehearsal night. I spent most of the after-rehearsal time eating copious amounts of pizza, drinking plentiful quantities of Corona, and schmoozing Biscuit's 82-year-young grandma, who was an absolute kick in the pants.


Eventually, though, the night had to end, and the next day brought much golfing (although I took pictures, they sucked) and, eventually, a wedding. The bastard to whom I entrusted my camera to take some shots of the ceremony succumbed to peer pressure and refused to actually utilize it, so no pictures of me in my tux. Sorry.

However, I was able to later snap a picture of Biscuit and his lovely bride, the new Mrs. Biscuit, as well as Little-Man Biscuit, a happy new addition to the Biscuit Clan.


The reception was a great time. I saw a bunch of old college friends, and hung out with new friends, including Cliffy and Pierson, a couple of Biscuit's old work buddies (along with Chachi, of course).


Later, Lee (the afore-mentioned camera-sitting bastard), Chachi, TB, and BA joined me in swiping some wine bottles from the reception (they'd been popped, but most everyone had left, so it was all going to waste) and taking it back to Lee's room for some post-reception hijinx. This is where the evening got fuzzy. I hear I fell asleep on the floor. I just remember waking up in my bed, wondering how exactly I got there.

After a delicious breakfast with several college friends, the bride, the groom, and some other wedding party members, it was off onto the road for the return trip. Not much to see, but I did get a closer picture of the depot dunes and a neat picture of the sun setting behind the trees in the gorge, which I deliberately took blearily for a nice effect.

At least, I liked it.

So that was my exciting weekend. And this is my long-awaited post the internet ate. Now to bed, my friends. Sleep well, and see you soon.