Big Red: THE WEDDING AND BEYOND! JANUARY 2012

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. David Irwin, married on January 1, 2012.
Clare and David had a beautiful ceremony at the First Congregational Church of Griswold, near their home, officiated by Clare's uncle, Rev. Dr. Byron E. Waterman. They even wrote their own vows, which were beautiful. After the ceremony we all enjoyed a great sit-down dinner in the church hall, complete with "birch log" wedding cake.

During our 2 1/2 week visit in CT, besides the wedding, we had a great time with family and friends (especially Christmas morning with our grandgirls!). Little Blue took us all the way up from Texas and back, and we had some great scenery and stops along the way. One regret is not getting pictures of Cousin Courtney and her family, who graciously hosted us for a night at their great home in Jefferson, GA.

Here is a pictorial history of our Little Blue/Christmas Holiday travels.

Early frosty morning on I 66 from Washington, DC after spending the night
with Carol's sister Nancy Twist and her husband, Russell.

Over-nighted in Pigeon Forge, TN, and drove through Smoky Mountains National Park.
We plan to revisit this beautiful park in the future.

On our way down to Memphis we trailed behind this truck towing two vehicles,
which were only held together by the vines that have grown over them! Yee-haw!

Made our pilgrimage to Graceland, which Holden hadn't seen, and he particularly enjoyed the kitchen. I was impressed with the fancy fabric ceiling in the billiard room. Graceland is really worth the stop, partly to get a look inside the two private planes parked on the property, as well as Elvis' awesome auto collection (including the famous pink cadillac). They also have great audio tour technology.

After Memphis we headed to the Dallas area, spending a night with Holden's cousin Woody, wife Anita and daughter Emma. As seems to happen so often on our travels, we get so busy visiting that we forget to take pictures once we get inside! So, here's a picture of their rental house in Richmond Hills, TX.

While in Dallas, we stayed at the unique Aloft Hotel, which is literally a loft hotel, with lots of cement and colors.

We took a day's tour of Dallas and nearby Fort Worth, including a reenactment of a cattle drive, which consisted of a dozen head of longhorns wandering down the street to the sound of whips cracking and cowboys shouting. :-)