Adventure in the Bay!

So this past weekend a good friend and wrestling teammate from high school and college, Jeff Owens, got married in San Rafael. Woo Hoo! Another road trip! Luckily Marlene's mouth wasn't hurting as much as it had been. I am usually pretty good about planning road trips and usually give us plenty of time to make a couple stops or to account for traffic. We always make it where ever we are going on or before schedule. And this trip was not going to be different! The wedding was at 1:00 so I figured we would get to the hotel at 12:00, check in, get ready and have plenty of time to get to the wedding which was about three miles from the hotel.

We were in the Hayward area and ahead of schedule until...we got on the 580 and hit some traffic, but even then we were ok. Then we see a Toll Road ahead sign. We, thought, "well that sucks, but oh well. It won't be more than about $6." Then the closer we get on the signs it says "cash or fast track". Uh oh! No where did I see, "ATM or Credit Card" and Marlene and I don't have any cash on us. By this time, we were stuck in the "cash line." When we get up to the toll booth I go to hand her my card, but nope, it's cash only! This lady wasn't going to budge! I tried everything. I asked if there was an ATM or if she could just give us a break. There weren't any signs that said cash only and there is no way to turn around once you are in the line. I even offered to write HER a check. Well, we ended up getting a $25 ticket unless, we were able to cross the bridge find an ATM, come back over the bridge, wait in line and pay our $4, all in 15 minutes! Yeah right! We were still on schedule and could make it to the hotel with plenty of time to get ready so we just took the ticket and headed to the hotel. Luckily when I made the reservation I asked for early check in and our room would be ready when we got there. So we get to the hotel on schedule, go to the front desk to check in...and there are no rooms ready! We asked if there were any rooms clean or not, that we could at least get ready in. The guy said "No, sorry, but you could get ready in the bathroom." I thought, we are not getting ready in the bathroom, we are getting a room, I don't care what this guy says. So, we got ready in the bathrooms in the hotel lobby! I have never had to get ready in a public bathroom for a wedding. It was definitely an experience. On our way out, we went up to the front desk to let them know we would now need late check in because we would be at the wedding. It was a different lady this time. She said, "Oh we have a room available if you guys want to check in now." Oh thanks, where were you ten minutes ago? But we made it to the wedding on time and despite the fact that we got ready in the bathroom, Marlene still looked beautiful! The wedding ended up starting about an hour late, but it was a beautiful wedding and the reception was fun! Marlene and I ended up sitting at a table with my high school wrestling coaches, Tim Cano and Nate Erickson, Cano's date, and Erickson's family. We had a great time reminiscing about how much of a pain in the butt I was in high school and about wrestling, of course. We all had a great time! Congratulations Mariam and Jeff Owens! I am so proud of Jeff!






We ended up leaving the wedding at about 7:00 and decided to go into the city! We went to Fisherman's Wharf and had a lovely evening just walking around.

The next day we slept in and went to breakfast at our hotel. We took our time getting ready and headed off to the City again. We ended up walking across the Golden gate Bridge, walking up the steepest hill ever to get to Lombard St, the crookedest street ever, and driving though San Francisco. We had a great time! I love spending time with my wife, no matter what we are doing! We are so blessed to be able to take little mini vacations like this and I am so thankful to have such an amazing wife to spend the rest of my life with!