June 30, 2017

This morning I slept in kind of but not really, got ready, and then packed up everything for the trip. My goal was to leave town by noon. I left my house at noon but that was just to head over to my Mom's house so I could print out my directions for the trip. I didn't actually leave town until 12:20PM. Not bad.

The drive was uneventful. I listened to an audiobook the whole way, Tess Gerritsen's Playing with Fire. I've never read one of her books before but I put them on personalized reading lists and I occasionally take them to my homebound patrons, so I decided to see what they're actually like. Playing with Fire is already different than I was expecting and I like it. It goes back and forth between the present day and WWII-era Italy and I am interested to see what happens. And I should be able to finish it on my drive home.

I made it to town right around 4:00PM, which isn't bad, and went straight to the bridal shop to try on my tux. According to the lady in the shop, the pants were a little too big for her liking, but I didn't take the measurements or make the pants, so it's beyond me. I think everyone else's pants were also a bit big so I'm thinking maybe the shop needs to up their pants game because I can't imagine all the different people we had measure us were that bad at measuring.

Following the tux fitting I met my friends at a bar for about five minutes before we headed back to my friend's house. We hung out there for a little bit before heading to the wedding rehearsal. It's going to be in a big building, built to look like a giant barn, and it looks pretty cool. The rehearsal was late getting started because the reverend got lost on the way there, but it gave my other friend time to get into town. I don't know if his flight had been delayed or what but he had flown in from Nevada super early in the morning, so I guess we're lucky he made it at all. The rehearsal itself went well. We didn't go through every tiny detail of what would be said but it seems like it will be a fairly short wedding. At least I'm hoping so because the groomsman and bridesmaid are standing up front the whole time. The last wedding I was in was a Catholic wedding and it went on so long we had our own row of pews to sit in.

After the rehearsal we went to the country club for dinner. The meat options looked excellent, the veggie options not so much. I ended up with a salad (which was good because they cut the lettuce into bite-sized pieces), scallop potatoes, and a couple rolls. Nothing to complain about. The groomsman also got a cool glass as a gift that has a bullet melted into it. I'm going to look like a badass while I drink my orange juice.

After dinner we went back to my friend's house for a little bit, played a round of pool in his basement, and eventually went to the new casino around ten or eleven o'clock I think. It was late. I've never been to a casino before and it was definitely sensory overload with all of the lit up slot machines. It was overwhelming and it never really abated. I did not gamble and I was a little surprised by my complete lack of interest in trying it. I thought I would at least be a little bit interested, but nope. Instead I watched my friends play Blackjack and Craps, which is a very confusing game from an observer point of view. Casinos do provide interesting people watching. I don't know if it is worth the stimulus overload, but it made for an interesting night. Also, two guys won a pretty decent amount and the other only lost a little, mostly because he kept going back to the Craps table after winning at Blackjack. I'm glad I went and I'm glad I didn't lose any money.

On the way to the hotel we stopped at Taco Bell for late night drunk food. Or sober food in my case. I actually got a couple bean burritos, which is the first time I have eaten Taco Bell in more years than I can remember. It tasted about the same as I remember. Which is not that great. The plus side is that we didn't get kicked out of the drive-thru when my friend in the backseat started responding to the worker's questions in a less than appropriate manner. My other friend, the one getting married, said he has actually been kicked out of the drive-thru before, I imagine while a little less than sober.

We made it back to the hotel around 2:30AM. It was a long day.