Thanks for following along.  Or checking in sometime later in the future.  Or hey future Truman or Carrie reminiscing about what will hopefully be beautiful and fun trip.  Or if this is an artifact that's discovered in some apocalypse future, well, I hope you're alright and can lay your hands on some bottle caps or whatever is the currency du jour.

What will follow here is a brief accounting of our trip out west to get married in Yosemite.  Brief because I'm typing this after driving all day, and because my laptop's dumb butterfly keyboard keeps sticking my "T"s, and because I have the utmost care for my dear readers' time and attention.

We spent some time packing up over the last week or so.  Mostly throwing camping things in a bin, figuring out how to transport all of our costco peanut m&ms, and wrangling all of the generous presents that folks sent (thank you so much, generally -- and a much more personal thanks forthcoming after we return home).

We also put some Nutzo in squeeze pouches, and worked through a long packing list, and tried not to check the Yosemite air quality index too often.  Carrie's mom came to visit the last weekend before we left and brought a helpful guide to writing vows.  It recommends several times to get started a few months in advance but, uh, oh well.

We're really hoping to be able to snag either a backcountry permit, or an unclaimed reservation at Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the grand canyon.  Who knows if that will happen, but we decided to prepare some backpacking meals just in case we're able to hike down.  Carrie found what look to be some great recipes, which we sort of followed.  We're hoping to spend two nights down there because the hiking part seems pretty difficult and a little intimidating.

We set out this morning at eight -- having planned for seven, only dropping an hour is a pretty big win.  Our first day will bring us to Bristow, Oklahoma (we originally planned for Oklahoma City, but decided to cut an hour) by way of St. Louis.  Expect some breathtaking photography of the Arch later on.

I'm grateful to be able to go on this trip, and grateful for the love and support from all of you.  I'm looking forward to stepping away from my day-to-day life for a couple of weeks, to be getting married -- and saving on health insurance, which was literally part of Carrie's marriage pitch late last year.  We've been together for very-almost ten years, so practicalities sometimes speak up first.  But I did use every one of the eighteen candles that we have floating around our house to later do a real proposal, so not all romance is dead. 

Anyway, hopefully we can all hang out soon.  Thanks for your time, and for your attention.