Day 25 –
Saturday was a one of the bright sunny mornings were after being awaken by chirping birds you just had the feeling that everything was gonna go great. And after a big cup of coffee, I started to believe it. while finishing my breakfast the family was all abuzz about taking a rafting trip down the Snake River. I have never been rafting before, and when I had passed through Jackson Hole several years earlier I had wanted to do a rafting trip then as well. Sean’s uncle was paying for the whole thing and he invited me along, I was stoked, because I didn’t really have the money left in my budget to pay for the adventure myself.
At the river raft shop we all signed our liability forms, chapped up our lips and spread around the suntan lotion. Soon a big blue bus arrived and we all loaded up and drove out of town. The bus followed along the Snake river for about 10 miles or more, until it came to the starting point. We all filed out of the bus, strapped on our life vests, and proceeded to learn the signals and actions from our rafting guide. After our short lesson we pushed the raft out into the cold water and jumped in, I found a nice spot along the side of the raft, and dug my foot down into a crack, and twisted my shoe in order to lock myself firmly to the raft. We paddled a few times away from the edge of the river to the channel, caught the current and away we went.
The raft rid was amazing fun with a good mixture of family friendly currents, slow lazy drifting, and big fast drops. The entire raft ride lasted nearly an hour and a half, and just when I was starting to get tired and cold, the ride ended. We loaded our raft back up into a trailer, and walked the short trail up the hillside to the bus, where we rode back to town, letting the breeze coming in the windows dry our clothes.
Back at the Stauth house everyone began cleaning up and preparing for the wedding. Before long we were all dressed and driving in a caravan out of town. The wedding was being held on the elk preserve itself, in the mountains on a treeless hill that looked out over the entire valley. On the other side of the valley was the Grand Teton Mountain Range, one of the most dramatic and jagged set of mountains I have ever seen. The sky was still perfectly blue, and the air was cool with a slight refreshing breeze. On the top of the hill the wedding party had already set out chairs and were working on staking the flower covered arch into the ground. Mike Stauth was busy unloading a small keyboard hooked up to a car battery on order to power it out here far from any electrical line. Finally all the guests had arrived, and the bride arrived to meet her waiting father. Christina had on a beautiful blue silk dress and a garland of yellow and blue flowers in her hair. She joined arms with he father and walked up the hill; her crying sisters and mother waiting to join them on the last few yards of the walk up the aisle.
The ceremony was presided over by a friend of both Sean and Stina’s from college, and in the middle Sean and his brother Jason sang a rendition of Bright Eye’s’ song First Day of My Life. After the exchanging of rings and vows, the new couple kissed in front of the distant blue mountain peaks then walked down the aisle to the tune of Mike’s keyboard. At the bottom of the hill everyone joined the couple and groups of friends and family began posing for pictures. Several people had brought their dogs and had dressed them up, and someone had brought a shotgun so that the boys in the ties, suits, cowboy boots and hats could pose with the weapon. They looked like Tommy Lee Jones in his Sunday best.
After the pictures we took down the arch and chairs, loaded up the keyboard and car battery, and away the convoy drove back to town. The Stauth’s had reserved party space in the newly built Jackson Hole Arts Center building and it was there that we went for the reception. The buffet was good, the Snake River beer was fresh, and the live music was kick-ass. A bluegrass band named Steam Powered Airplane had been hired to provide the nights festivities, and they did not disappoint. About the time 3/4 of the wine had been drank and the first keg was emptied, the groom disappeared for a short while and came back dressed in a gorilla suit. By then all the guests were gassed, and it didn’t matter if it was just me up on stage playing the spoons with forks, they still would have danced like mad men and women. But when Sean arrived in the gorilla suit, the festive atmosphere reached a whole ‘nother level.
It was the thing of every colored persons nightmares, a whole room full of drunk “honkies” dancing to bluegrass pickin’, and in the middle of it all was a big sweaty, hairy gorilla dancing wildly. After every lady and gent had his or her turn, Sean shucked off the top half of his gorilla suite and went out on the balcony for some cool fresh air. The drinks table was also on the balcony, and it was it this time that the second and last keg went dry. And while the bartenders opened the last few bottles of wine Sean grabbed the keg, pulled it up out of the ice, and held it over his head in triumph. The party still raged for a few more hours, but I think it was the defining moment of the day.
A quick side story from that night:
During a break in the music I approached the band leader and asked him if they had any copies of the CD for sale, the guy handed me a CD and told me that they are always free for wedding photographers, I don’t know if he knew I was just some crazy cousin with a camera or what, but I accepted the gift. Anyways I got to conversing with him, where he was from and so one, and I told him about some of the bluegrass from Kansas. I am not sure how we arrived to it, but at one point he began to tell me a story:
“A few years back, when Harrison Ford first bought a house here in Jackson, he didn’t know anyone and needed some help getting to know the area. Anyways we met and he hired me to spend some time with him and help him with his new house. One day we decided to go to Home Depot and buy some things for Harrison’s garage and wood shop. Harrison, before he was an actor was a carpenter, and he still enjoyed such things in his spare time. Anyways, we were at the Home Depot and we filled up four or five carts full of power tools and equipment. At the checkout counter, the clerk, a high school boy in his late teens began ringing the items up, while Harrison just stood there with his ball cap pulled down over his face like most stars do in public. After tallying everything up, the total came to some outrageously high number, about 30 to 35 thousand dollars. The clerk, obviously recognizing Harrison, read him the total and Harrison handed him a credit card from his wallet. The clerk held the card in his hand, looking at it for a few seconds, and then said in a slightly sarcastic voice, “now Mr. Ford, are you sure this card will accept all of these charges?” Harrison leaned over, lifted his ball cap, and pointed a finger in the teen face and said, “Listen son, I make hundreds of dollars!”
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