Dancing Till Dawn, or at least until the end of the evening

Back in Spokane/Coeur d'Alene, there are a number of chores/errands that need to be completed before we head to Montana and Glacier National Park. We thought we would need to do everything today, Tuesday, because our original plans called for us to leave on Wednesday. But when we took the car to the dealer to complete the servicing that began last week, we learned that the wrong part (new motor for the push-button third-row seats) had been sent and that the right part would come overnight and the repair would be completed on Wednesday. We now plan on leaving on Thursday and that gives us an extra day in Spokane/Coeur d'Alene.

It had been a week since we have been on a trail so this afternoon we went back on the Liberty Lake Loop trail and completed it in reverse (see blog post for August 26, "Hnmulshench").

While we were gone this part of Washington state had some rain and the cascade had a bit more water.

We noticed this huge cedar tree last week. It is by the cascade and...

is one of the biggest trees in the forest. Magnificent!

Even the "falls" had some more water - maybe it doesn't look like it, but we thought there seemed to be more.

Last week when we went by this overview we could hardly see the mountains beyond Liberty Lake because of the smoke. Rain, and a wind storm over the week-end seems to have cleared up things considerably.

Now for the wedding trip. This is mostly for Suzanne who was not able to attend. 

THURSDAY NIGHT

We arrived in the Cincinnati airport, which is really in Kentucky, and went to the hotel in Covington, Kentucky, right across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. Peter and Vian were on a plane from California that arrived about 45 minutes after ours from Spokane. We were able to drive together into Covington where we met up with some of the family for a late supper in downtown Covington. It was a warm evening and the restaurant had outdoor seating. 

We gathered for a picture in front of the fountain on the square, where we ate.

My sister Rose relaxed about the coming festivities.

FRIDAY NIGHT

Rose and Ralph, and my brother Jack and his wife Cheryl, hosted a party for the out-of-town guests.

Me, in blue, in the back left talking with Josie and Peter and Vian, just to the right, talking with my brother, Paul. We are at the Clubhouse of the complex where Kelly's mother lives.

Peter and Vian with smiling baby Jamie, my niece's 7-month old.

SATURDAY - THE WEDDING

Peter and Vian have returned to California and the wedding is in Erlanger, Kentucky, just south of Covington, at 2 p.m.

Michael awaiting his soon-to-be wife, Kelly.

Jackie doing a reading.

Exchange of vows.

Looking relaxed with eyes only for each other.

SATURDAY NIGHT - THE RECEPTION

Held at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in downtown Cincinnati, the venue reminded me a little bit of the Library, only modern. The Center opened in 2004 to commemorate the slaves - as many as 100,000 - who fled north across the Ohio River to safety in the decades leading up to the Civil War. The Ohio River, just across from Covington and steps away from the Center, was likened to the River Jordan in those days and Cincinnati, with a large African American population in the abolitionist state of Ohio, was one of the most important cities in the Promised Land. Designed by the late Indianapolis architect Walter Blackburn, the grandson of slaves, the Freedom Center is a bold architectural statement.

The colorful quilts on the second floor main rotunda where the tables were set up for dinner and dancing.

Introducing the bride and groom who stood on the balcony above.

Arriving in the hall.

First dance.

Mike with his mom, my sister, Rose.

My sister Rose on the left; Fran, mother of Jamie (her husband Jonathan is working in England); my niece Jackie, sister to Mike, and her fiancé Rodrigo.