A Fast Drive Through the Valley...

Hughson, California, USA

November 13-19, 2007
N 37°35.815
W 120°51.450

After a week in the Central Valley we put over 700 miles on our car, almost all of them on Highway 99. We shuffled back and forth between Hughson, Modesto, Turlock, Selma and Oakdale. At times I drove alone, navigating the unfamiliar country roads like a pro; picking up last minute items for the wedding and running errands.

The time went by quickly and Saturday, the wedding day, was upon us in no time. I spent the day with the bride, maid of honor, bridesmaids and mother of the bride as Lisa beautified herself for her special day. Meanwhile, Marc was with his brother and some of his buddies watching football, relaxing, and drinking beer, as Joel mentally prepared for the big day.

As we always say, “a little planning goes a long way.” The well planned wedding went off without a hitch. The bride was beautiful. The well written vows were thought provoking and even caused me to tear up a little and Mike T. did an excellent job as the ordained minister (from the Internet church).

Fun was had by all. The kids danced until 10:30 PM, two ladies took sexy pictures as they ate their chocolate covered strawberries in front of the chocolate fondue fountain and the speeches and toasts were fairly short and the crowd got into them.

Overall, the whirlwind trip home was well worth witnessing the union between Joel and Lisa, and we were honored to be an integral part of the festivities. We wish the best for Mr. and Mrs. Joel and Lisa Heckman. Plus, we can all spend our anniversaries together.

Now we need to get back to Paris and get a little rest!

Fall in the Valley...

Hughson America

November 14, 2007

N 37°35.815
W 120°51.450

Note: We were able to recover the majority of the data from our laptop with the help of Moses Rogers from CST (Computers, Software, & Training) in Modesto, CA. Here’s a story that was in the works when the computer decided to poop its pants.

Highway 99 was originally built to aid the small towns of the central valley with the transportation of agriculture, keeping Interstate 5 available for through traffic from Sacramento to LA. Today the small towns are now big cities and the two lane highway is packed with traffic at all times of the day, and the agricultural trucks chug along in the slow lane as cars zip in between. We timed our drive along the busy thoroughfare between Sacramento and Hughson perfectly—the traffic flowed the whole way.

As we exited Highway 99 in Ceres we immediately noticed the fall colors on both sides of the rural road to Hughson. The peach trees, empty of fruit, proudly displayed leaves of crimson red, burnt orange and sunshine yellow, knowing it is only a matter of days before they are completely barren. We realized we haven’t been to the Central Valley this time of year in awhile—we always come for Christmas and miss the fall colors.

I pulled over on the side of the road for Marc to snap a few pictures of his childhood stomping grounds and summer employment—the peach and almond fields. The sun shined brightly on us as we continued our short trip to Dad and Pat’s house.

When we arrived, Dad and Pat weren’t home, but there was a note on the door inviting us inside and to make ourselves at home. We felt like we stepped back in time, a time when it was safe to leave your doors unlocked when you weren’t home, and there were no problems. It was very refreshing.

As we relaxed in the backyard, on an unusually hot day for November, we looked at each other knowing it would be one of our last opportunities to enjoy the valley sun. The wedding festivities would keep us busy through Saturday night and, most likely, into the wee hours of Sunday morning.

We wish the best for Joel and Lisa on their wedding day!

Hughson America...

Hughson, CA, USA

November 10-13, 2007
N 37°35.815
W 120°51.450

To those following our journey,

We are currently in Hughson, CA USA and having a great time visiting our family. However, unfortunately, our laptop computer crashed two days ago and we have been unable to make any postings. We hope our computer will be fixed within the next couple days, but we're not optomistic. We believe we've been able to "back-up" 90% of our data. However, it appears we may have lost our book we've been working on over the past 4 months and possibly some special pictures taken over the past 2-3 weeks. As you can probably imagine, this week has been a little stressful.

We'll continue to update our blog as often as possible with (or without) our computer. We'll keep you in the loop.

Everything happens for a reason...