San Francisco - Part 2

We are now safely back in Ghana after our most recent adventures. I'll likely take the next few blog posts to share all the fun we had for the almost two weeks we were away.

Dan arrived in San Francisco on Wednesday and we went out for drinks with Colin (aka Whiteman) and his girlfriend, Karin. It was good to catch up with them since they were not going to be at the wedding the next weekend. Dan hit the hay pretty early on since he was on his first day and the jet lag was in full force.

On Thursday, we both went to our respective offices and worked the better part of the day. It was really great seeing everyone. Dan and I had a chuckle about all the double-take's you get in the office after being away for so long. The familiarity of walking to the office and hearing all the city sounds was a refreshing reminder. That evening we met up with Pete, Sean and Patrick for dinner and some drinks. Casey and Fiona had arrived and everyone was meeting at the bar where Casey and Fi had their first date. We had a good time and met some of Fi's family and friends from Taiwan.

Friday morning, we got up and went to Golden Boy to buy a sheet of some of the best pizza ever. We planned to bring it up to Guerneville for "late night eats" after wedding festivities. We drove up but we knew we couldn't check in to the hotel until 4pm so we made some stops to kill some time. We went to Ridge Winery and did a wine tasting and got some Mexican food in downtown Healdsburg with Shy and Jenna. The drive out to Guerneville required us to get off the freeway at the same exit as Vintners Inn, where Dan and I got married a little over two years ago. So Dan threw me a bone and stopped at the venue where we asked one of the groundskeepers to take a photo of us under the same pavilion where we exchanged our vows.

The wedding took place behind a brewery on a large grassy area on a river. There was a quick rehearsal for the wedding at the brewery on Friday afternoon and then a big party at a house that Casey's family had rented. They made a bunch of pasta and salad and had pizzas delivered and invited all the guests who were already in the area to come over for dinner. It was a really great night of being reunited with our friends and catching up with everyone. Certainly was convenient to have everyone all in one place.

Saturday morning, Jenna and I were requested to assist with setting up the event and decorating. So we tableclothed, and centerpieced, and decorated to the best of our ability given the limited instruction we were provided. Fiona seemed pleased with how it turned out which is really all that matters. Some stressful moments and rushing around filled out the afternoon before getting ready for the ceremony. The wedding itself was short and sweet and the party that followed was long and enjoyable. They had some tasty barbecue catered and hired a bartender to make drinks. A musician sang good tunes with a guitar off to the side and it was just a really nice time.

After the reception, there was an after party back at the house that Casey's family rented. Dan brought the remaining keg up to the house and people slowly meandered over. Stas set up all his DJ stuff in the corner and a dance party commenced.

The after after party was back at the brewery and once it closed the after after after party was at a house that some of the guests were staying in. I can't tell you anything about that as I was long asleep by then.

Sunday we got up a little rough and went to Shy and Jenna's house to watch some football. Around 5pm we drove back to the city to drop off our rental car and go to the airport for our long flight to Munich and Oktoberfest...