A Montana Wedding - Part IV

So, where were we? Oh, right... bar hopping, bats...

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We got up and had breakfast on Saturday morning and decided to just mill about for a bit and meet around 11:00 to go back to the fair. The AC in our room wasn't working. It had been a cool night and I had the window open, so I didn't really notice until the sun came out and was warming up the room pretty quickly. We reported the broken AC to the front desk in hopes it would be fixed before we had to dress for the wedding. It's rough getting dressed up (John in his suit and tie!) in 90 degree heat! Val reported her attack bat, but the hotel people didn't seem too concerned.

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William was AWOL, so we went to the fair and saw more steer competition, mini ninnies, food stalls, etc. The rodeo was going on today and we caught some calf roping. There were some horse-running-around-the-barrel competitions too. I know I'm butchering the official name of these competitions!

In between rodeo events, a Zamboni-like machine came out to smooth out the dirt. Who'da thunk it?

We headed back to the hotel after grabbing fair food (hot dog, pizza, Indian fry bread) and found William chatting with Heidi's cousin. The AC guy was still trying to figure out the problem, so we hung out in the guys' room for a bit. Those guys are messy! Clothes, belts, towels everywhere!

We decided to just bite the bullet (for convenience) and get dressed in our sweltering room, although Val did offer the use of her room too. Off we went to the wedding... everyone looked good in their East Coast finery. William and Freddy in tuxes (they were ushers in the wedding), John and Mike in suits, me and Val in summer dresses.

We got to the house to find they had put up the tents with lights underneath, set up the arch, placed plants to mark the aisle, put up lattice to cover the oil/water tanks and set up all the tables. The gift table had these adorable bears:

And mints for the guests:

A beautiful setting for a wedding!

Most guests gathered in the shade of the tent and we were worried folks would stay under the tent instead of taking seats by the arch. As soon as a few took seats, they began filling up and the Montana Wedding was on. Here are the Matron of Honor Heidi and Best Man Tom, along with Flower Girl Sophie and Ring Bearer, Trey:

Freddy and William roll out the white "carpeting" and little Sophie creates a flower petal path for the bride. OK... actually, it didn't go off quite that easily. Sophie's two and a half. Once faced with having to walk down the aisle alone, she threw herself down on the ground. Dad John (behind her with the camera) had to pick her up and go with her, while spreading petals along the way:

Dad Merle and Bride Tiffany, who wore her mother's dress (from 1970 something?):

It was really windy (and HOT!). Freddy and William had to reel back the "carpeting". Eric got very teary-eyed, which Tiff said (later in the evening) was "the sweetest thing".

The food... what a feast! Mike was not shy about being one of the first ones in line for food. There were about 15 different kinds of pasta and jello salad (courtesy of wedding guests) along with two huge pans of roast beef (for bbq beef sammies).

About 150 people had been invited, but per local custom, the family ran an ad in the paper to announce the wedding and were expecting 100 more to show. I'm not sure exactly what the count was, but everyone had a good time. We quickly discovered we were well over-dressed for a Montana wedding. Apparently, showing up in shorts and sandals as if it were a regular 'ole picnic is the norm. But we looked good, as evidenced by the "Napoleon Dynamite" pose:

After a lot of eating, drinking and merriment, the wedded couple take their first dance:

I don't remember what song it was, but when the bride and her father danced, the song was something about a "Montana Girl":

Random pics... Baby Izzy and Heidi's friend, Terry:

Silly Sophie:

It was a long, hot day but a great wedding in a beautiful setting. John, Val and I headed back to the hotel as we were partied out at 10:30 PM. William, Freddy and Mike hung out and caught a ride home with Heidi and Tiffy's aunts around 1:30 or so.

OH! So, Val's bat story didn't end just yet. We walked her to her room and she opened her door and turned on the light. BAT!!!!! It's coming right for us! I screamed like a girl. Hey! Better me than John! Val went to the front desk to report the bat and that she now had witnesses. Again, they didn't seem too concerned. They finally got the bat and gave Val another room to sleep in. However, there was good news for us... the AC was fixed!

The next morning, we all had breakfast one last time, packed our gear, checked out and headed to the Heidi & Tiff's Grandma's house to drop off William's tux. She lives in Fort Benton close to the hotel.

With a few hours to kill, we did a bit of sight seeing in Great Falls and grabbed a bite to eat at a little diner downtown. At the airport, somehow I was the only one with an assigned seat. The other 5 were getting a little nervous they'd be knocked off the flight. Finally, after everyone had boarded, the airline dude passed out the seat assignments. What an ass! Why didn't he just give out the passes when Mike asked 3 times and Val asked about her seat?

Heidi, John J and kids were on our flight and we had a few hours to kill at the Denver airport. John J led us to this yummy Tex-Mex place, but John and I weren't very hungry. We grabbed a few snacks for the plane. Uneventful flight from Denver to Dulles. We landed a bit before 1:00 AM and by the time John and I reached Laurel, it was about 2:45 AM. I'm so glad we took Monday off!

I was thinking how lucky I am to have had this opportunity to see Montana. It's a good thing William stays friendly with his ex-girlfriends and their families! That's the end of our trip. I wish I had taken more pictures. Maybe the next post will be just scenery. Till then, have a great Thursday!