T-minus two ??? hours ...

Our photographer, roaminrob, appears to be stuck at his home in North San Juan by a mudslide that's blocked off two of the only routes back to civilization. ("SR 49: IS CLOSED FROM 6.8 MI NORTH OF NEVADA CITY (NEVADA CO) TO 1.8 MI SOUTH OF CAMPTONVILLE (YUBA CO) - DUE TO MUD & ROCK SLIDES") He's trying road #3 of, literally, the only five routes to us that don't involve overland hiking. If that fails, #4 is through the high Sierra and is virtually guaranteed to be a waste of time. Barely past 11:00 and already the day is getting off to an auspicious start.

The day is all sorts of windy, and can't quite make up its mind as to whether it's going to get back to raining or not. Given that, we will (as expected) be abandoning the "let's go get married out in the woods with snowshoes" idea. Our backup plan it is: The covered bridge down at Bridgeport.

... Except that road #2 Rob tried was also the road down through Bridgeport, and it was washed out too.

On his side of the river, anyway. There's a possibility it might still be accessible from our end. kadyg and necama are taking a scouting run down to the bridge to see. I'm sitting here holding the fort, waiting for our other guests to arrive.

Except we'd talked about assembling at 11:00, it's now 11:20, and I haven't heard a word from any of the other folk yet.

Perhaps surprisingly, none of this is bugging me. I know better; I've worked conventions for too many years. No matter how well you plan, no matter how many contingencies you make, no matter how much leeway you give yourself ... when the rubber hits the road, there is always going to be some sort of crisis. As they say, no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy.

A nice, romantic getaway into the snow would have made for a sappy story for the grandkids*, but this way, I suspect we at least get a good bon mot or three out of it. And we'll be laughing right along, too, if everyone else can keep their heads together.

Updates:
11:35 - The officiants check in by phone. Just getting a little late start to the day. No worries; they're not the only ones.

11:45 - Kevyn shows up here at the flat, expecting to be the last man in. Little does he know.

11:50 - Rob calls in on his cell phone, in town and about five minutes away. The Malakoff Diggins road, he says was "impassable to any car except mine." Sounds like there's going to be a story there to write up on his LJ so I can link to it later (hint, hint). So our guest list is full again. Now we just have to wait for the scouting report, and for everyone to arrive.

Noon - Kady and Brian return. The road to Bridgeport is clear ... although the place is full of gawkers. It has been decided that Kevyn and Brian, who are both big guys, will have to be the wedding bouncers.

In other words, things are back on track.

12:30 - A bunch of folks waiting around at the house; Rob taking his brother to work; Kady and I getting dressed. "Hey, Bax, you should add a picture to the liveblog." "Of what?" "Anything." I grab the camera and press the shutter trigger. Nothing. I turn the camera toward myself. "Camera, why are you not work --" *FLASH* "--ing?"

1:00 - And we're off! About an hour late, but we deliberately got everyone over here an hour early, so we're basically exactly on time. Kady is bridal now (don't ask me; I have no idea, that's what she asked me to write). Wish us luck.

3:45 - My new wife and I, and our wedding party, went down to the river under heavy cloud cover. Got married. Sun dutifully broke through clouds 15 minutes later, and the day ever since has been gorgeous.

Opinion seems divided whether it was meant ironically ("ha! I withheld the sun until you were finished!") or whether it was meant as a portent of happiness for our new married life. I think I'm in the latter camp; the ceremony itself was short, meaningful, and a little intimidating (out of a sense of newness, but that's about all). Spirits lightened after we were finished and we could relax and simply wander around the area and all be happy.

Now that all the suspense is over with, see next post.

--

* Well, anyway, the grandneeblings**. Kady's brother Caleb has a boy already, and someday he will grow up and quite probably have kids of his own.

** "Neebling" = "niece or nephew." Just as "sibling" = "brother or sister."