Photos From the Road

I'm back from a week and a half traveling to Oregon and back, though my absence might not have been especially apparent thanks to the combination of prescheduled posts with posts written on my iPad during our travels!

The impetus for our trip was our youngest daughter's wedding in Pleasant Hill, Oregon, which was just as special an experience as one could have hoped.

Our new son-in-law is a 2015 University of Oregon grad who has a side business as a rafting instructor and guide. After the morning wedding rehearsal everyone in the wedding party went on a rafting trip down the McKenzie River.

Our son-in-law's grandparents have a beautiful place on the river, and I think this idyllic photo from their back deck of the kids rafting by might have been my favorite of the entire trip!

The wedding took place right on the Willamette River; this is another favorite shot:

One of my favorite wedding stories: The Best Man was unable to get leave from his service with the Marines, but he "attended" in uniform from North Carolina via Skype, watching the entire ceremony thanks to one of the groomsmen holding a phone. After the wedding the Best Man's toast was also given via Skype and broadcast so everyone at the reception could hear it. It was a neat use of modern technology to help overcome something which had been a big disappointment.

The day's special touches also included a unique wedding cake design inspired by Disney's TANGLED (2010), one of our daughter's favorite movies.

After the wedding we drove home via the Sierras so we could spend some time in our favorite town, Bridgeport, which I last wrote about in July 2014. Here are a few shots taken around town; incidentally, there's a great map for walking historic Bridgeport available online!

The most striking sight in town, the 1880 Mono County Courthouse:

The bakery, a favorite stop in town since 1952, continues to be going strong after reopening in 2012!

The Community Church on Emigrant Street:

A favorite family photo spot in front of Ken's Sporting Goods:

On the road to Twin Lakes:

Although we've been to Bridgeport's 4th of July celebration a number of times, we've never been to the Founder's Day celebration, held over Labor Day Weekend. A future goal!

Happy Labor Day Weekend, everyone!