2004-10-07 - 10:22 a.m.
The notebook was left in the car, so this chunk is remembering back. Anyway, here's more vacation!
GAY WEDDING WEEKEND part 2
10/3/04 10:05 a.m.
Wow, I wish I'd updated this as events occured. Many things happened. The Pie In The Sky is a great place. Very barny yet comfortable, old-fashioned but not. Ridiculously modern bathrooms. The people that run it are jay and Jude. They both seem like they used to be hippies. There are pot books in the library they have. We met Lee, a bald, nice-in-an-awkward-way friend of James & Jhawn. I assume he's gay but this later turns out to be wrong. Friday is at first spent looking around the place. Our room is flesh-colored and has a cozy bed. I wish I felt more like writing. It's harder to notate things that already happened a few days ago. We're currently driving back to Portland. I work today at 4:45 which gave us a viable excuse for leaving early. Not that we had a bad time, but it was definitely time to go. I'll report past occurences of the weekend in spurts.
10:20 Quite soon after arriving the boys all go to get the marriage license. Me and Annie stay behind and explore. The library is several bookcases, well-stocked with interesting-looking non-fiction books, a lot of which involve either protesting or farming. Jay strikes me as well-read and willing to discourse at length on current events. He's also kind of terrifying. His wife Jude is meeker and very eager to please. There's also a high school aged girl, related to them somehow I'd imagine, who helps them with cleaning and cooking. There are three cats wandering around at all times. Barney: a fluffy, very cute grey and white cat that sits around and doesn't do much. Venus, a white stand-offish female, and Henry, a half-Siamese, half something else cat with a bloody head wound. They're outside much of the time and we only see them intermittently. There are also three sheep, of three different breeds, kept in a pen outside. They're pretty nonplussed. There are two porches, three bathrooms, and a sun room with a hot tub in it. There's a kitchen and a big living room with a wood stove. Upstairs are the bedrooms and library. It's all very nice and relaxing.
10:40 The boys get back with the newly-acquired license. We are then asked if we'd like to go check out downtown Vermont (**it was posed to us as a "scenic drive", which not only sounded nice but heading into town was necessary as the wire in my bra had popped within ten minutes of arriving) with Lee, James and Jim. We go in Lee's car. Jhawn stays behind to await possibly visiting relatives. And to debone chicken. Lee's station wagon has tinted windows and two seats in the trunk, which is where Annie and I opt to sit. Lee seems pleased that we want to use these seats. We go to Montpelier first. It takes 1/2 hour or so to get there (**I don't think it took more than 20 minutes maximum). James provides most of the conversation with occasionally funny jokes, many corny jokes, references I don't understand, and calling everyone either "Judy" or "Becky." Lee says "exactly" a lot. Jim infrequently responds to James's comments with a blearily sarcastic comeback. Annie and I are generally quiet. It's hard to add much to the conversation when you're stuck in the trunk. Are made uncomfortable by cars pulling up behind us. One older woman particularly unnerving (**she had the smallest, angriest mouth I've ever seen). During this ride we pass both the House of Tang and the Vermonter! House of Tang provokes hearty laughter and a Japanese waiter joke from James, We point the Vermonter out to Jim and he squints and says "That green thing?" We stop in downtown Montpelier and, much like last year, we are hard-pressed to find anything to look at or do. We stop in a Ben & Jerry's so James can use the bathroom. Lee buys a shake of some sort (**chocolate.) When we follow the hallway that supposedly leads to the bathroom, it opens up into a shopping mall quite unexpectedly. There's a musical instrument store in there as well as some other businessy-looking establishments. James takes pictures of us standing in front of various things, informing us, as he does so, that we all look constipated. We soon abandon Montpelier and drive to Barre on a quest to get Annie a bra, as hers has broken somehow (**there had been enough walking around downtown to realize that there was no prayer of attaining a new brassiere...they even know what bras are) With some difficulty we locate a WalMart (**we stopped at a gas station where James ran in and relayed a well-choreographed story of the situation to two poor confused girls) which is in a castle-shaped building that also features a Payless (**the sign identified it as the Berlin Mall...it sucked). James keeps referring to Annie's bra situation as a "wardrobe malfunction", to the amusement of no one. A crappy bra and two crappy bathing suits acquired at WalMart.
11:15 The trip back to PITS - ha ha - seems to take much longer (**though in reality the trip was cut in half by the discovery of route 14). We all expect Jhawn to be in a fuming rage, but he turns out to be perfectly calm. Jhawn's mother Pam is there, along with a dog, Shelby, a small black cute dog. Shelby is barking at people, something she apparently does when she's hungry. After repeatedly crying that "there's no phone" at PITS - even though there is one - Pam & Shelby go back to their hotel, and we drink wine and eat some tasty chicken things that Jhawn has made with the wok and rice cooker we transported. Jim leaves a message at the hotel his parents are supposed to be at, ending his message with "thanks very much", after which he hangs up and repeats "thanks very much" in an embarrassed tone, sighing and shaking his head.
11:31 Several glasses of wine consumed. The real winey, bitter kind of wine. Used to Cumberland Farms wine, so this is different. Me, Annie, James and Jim get tipsyish (**I was unquestionably drunk). Lee dislikes wine, as well as most food it turns out. Much joking anf laughing. At one point we mistakenly believe that James has recommended that Lee fellate his own father, after which there is a stunned silence. Hot tub is eventually entered by everyone but Lee, who retires. Hot tub is quite awesome. Many jets. Fun to be drunk in hot tub. Went to bed exhausted around 11 p.m. or so. Dreamt about a video game called "Mr. Pencil and the Googies."
11:51 Awaken at 8 or so in the a.m. (**Saturday) to the welcome smell of bacon. The PITS crew makes waffles in the shape of barnyard items, including cows, chickens, and barns. Not surprised that they have real maple syrup, but not happy either. Canteloupe and strange zucchini muffins eaten out of politeness, but waffles and ESPECIALLY bacon are delish. Stomach instantly upset so I lie down awhile. Could go back to bed and sleep another ten hours. Everyone getting dressed. Wedding scheduled for 11 a.m. I get dressed and go downstairs. Meet Jim's parents, who are mild-mannered and are being good sports despite clearly being mortified by everything and everyone. Jim's dad informs me that giant otters are called "fishers," and they eat cats.
