A Good Weekend

At the time of my last post, I was basically walking out the door to meet my good friend Ben Sholes to ride up to Huntsville, AL. I suppose this post will be semi-not-short, as it will cover the whole weekend.
I would be staying with Ben for the weekend, while also attending the wedding of Mr. Matt Beaver. We left my car in the Cost Co. parking lot by the Galleria, and headed off in Ben's semi-new sweet BMW. The ride went by pretty quick...Ben and I had a nice lengthly conversation on my job for the summer, his job (of around half a year) at PWC, as well as various business topics such as CPI, management, and what kind of work I want to do, among other things. After arriving in Huntsville, we talked with his parents for a bit and then hit the sheets around midnight or so.
On Saturday morning, we all awakened around 10 a.m., and the Sholes family treated at a restaurant called Red Robin, which is similar to Johnny Rockets (for those residing in the Birmingham area). After a filling lunch, we all went back to the Sholes's residence and hung out until around 3 p.m. or so. At this time, we proceeded to get ready for the wedding, as we were scheduled to start making our way there at around 4:15 p.m. We rolled out at around 4:30 p.m., and arrived at the wedding location at around 4:55 p.m. It was at some sweet little place (I don't know what to call it), and the weather actually turned out pretty nice, even though it had rained a good bit the day before. I had been getting pretty excited about the wedding, because I knew that a lot of familiar faces would be there:)
To name a few, Mr. Kyle Carlton (and his wife of course) were in attendance. I had the pleasure of rowing in a spectacular 4+ with Kyle the Spring season of my sophomore year. We medaled at Aiken Co. and John Hunter Regattas that semester, as well as becoming the first men's boat form the U of A to race at the Dad Vail Regatta up in Philadelphia, PA, as well as making it into the semi-finals at this prestigious race. Other good faces to see include (but are not limited to) Lucian Hornbuckle (and his wife), Jason and Allison, Chris Thomas and Stamps, Larry "D", and a slew of ladies including Rachel K., Marley, Bryn, McKee, Vic, Rachel J., Cristin, Leigh Ann, Ali, Cara...and I'm sure that I'm leaving someone out! Point is, I really enjoyed seeing all these people and catching up with them!
The ceremony itself was short and sweet, lasting only about 15 minutes, but we stayed around the reception and caught up with old friends for another 3 hours or so. From there it was back to the Sholes's house...we were all pretty worn out. Breakfast this morning was at Cracker Barrel (thanks Mr. and Mrs. Sholes!), and I met up with Marley and Bryn to ride back home around 9:30 a.m.
I will say that I'm pretty impressed with the 2007 4Runners (Marley's new car), as it provided an excellent, comfortable ride back home. I was chillin' in the back seat, windows down, sunroof down, sun shinin', and wind in my face, and it gave me a nice chance to relax, clear my mind, and worship God in my only little way, since I would be missing the usual Sunday morning service. We made it back quickly, and Marley dropped Bryn and I off at my car before darting back to Tuscaloosa for some commitment. Bryn's flight back to FL did not leave until 6:05 p.m., so being the excellent friend I am:), I sought out to entertain for the afternoon before dropping her off at the B'ham airport. After a stellar lunch and some cheesy end to a Steven Segal movie, we became engrossed in the movie K-PAX, which was playing on the Sci-Fi channel. It finished up just in time to run her to the airport, so I quickly did that and headed back to get a workout and bike in.
Jamie and I lifted our weights as usual, and at around 6:30 p.m., Phil met up with us for a bike ride. We ended up riding about 18 miles, traveling up Patton Chapel, through Bluff Park, down to Alford Avenue, and back around, finishing with a nice spring down Patton Chapel and then up into the Preserve. I will note, however, that we encountered some murderous climbs, and the usually not-to-bad 18-miler seemed rather tiring. Our competitive fires got going when finishing up the last leg down Patton Chapel: Phil was already a little ahead, as he was first in line, and we had to slow down for a stop sign. After passing the stop sign, Jamie started to hawk down Phil, and I positioned myself right off his back wheel and took off with him. We caught him after 30 seconds or so, and then, right before the crest of the next hill, Jamie's chain popped off. I quickly flew by him and rode even with Phil until the bend by Simmons before falling back in line. Max speed on the hill: 40.8 mph, yea! We quickly headed home since darkness was approaching rapidly.
That was my weekend, and hopefully this week will be cool. I don't plan on doing anything on Friday, since it is Friday the 13th, ahhhhhhhh! I do plan on attending The Basement on Tuesday though, as well as completing my regular weekly workouts, and hopefully I'll get in a round of golf.