Amy's Wedding

My good friend Amy Smith got married in Steamboat, CO on Sept. 6. Best excuse for another trip that I could think of! As luck had it, I was participating in Cycle Oregon a week later and ended up planning 2+ weeks out West.

This was my second trip to CO but first to Steamboat. With all the events planned throughout the weekend, I was on the go from the instant the plane landed. Tom came with me and several of my VA/DC friends were in attendance which made the weekend all that much more fun.

First up, about an hour after arriving in Steamboat, was Girl's Night Out. The next morning there was a group hike, followed by a trip to the Hot Springs in the evening. Saturday was the group mountain bike ride, followed by a barbeque complete with slide show of pictures of Amy and Matt throughout their lives. I've now traveled enough with Amy (and her mom) that I even made a few of the pictures. Amidst all the activities, Tom even managed to squeeze in some fishing.

Amy's husband Matt is from England. I'd never met him until this weekend, but had heard all about him, starting shortly after they had first started dating. I was traveling with Amy in Australia and New Zealand and we spent many hours trying to find pay phones so that she could call England.

Wedding day started off (in true Amy fashion) with a 5k or 10k run, and oh yeah, it was at 10,000 ft. of altitude. For some unknown reason, the fact that I hadn't really run since Ironman Switzerland, July 2008 and that I live at sea level didn't dissuade me. Spurred on by Tom, also not dissuaded even after a summer of kidney surgery, we both signed up for the 5k. We may be crazy, but not crazy enough to do the 10k. Much to our astonishment, we both ran more of the race than we thought, and despite getting beaten soundly by a couple of kids who couldn't have been over 10 yrs. old, we finished in a respectable 27 minutes. Not bad for a couple of sea-bees who hadn't trained. Our lungs were ready to explode, but that was just a minor annoyance. :-)

Later that afternoon the wedding ceremony and reception took place. It was a gorgeous outdoor setting, we got a few brief sprinkles, but that just meant a pretty rainbow at the end of the ceremony. My favorite part, aside from the singing of John Denver's "Annie's Song" (I love John Denver), was when Amy & Matt's cycling friends formed an arch of bike wheels (similar to what service men do with swords at military weddings) for Amy and Matt to walk under at the end of the ceremony. This is apparently an old English cycling tradition.

Amy, my friend who makes it her personal mission to test out the Mexican food in every country she visits (she has quite a long list) arranged for a buffet Mexican food at the reception. Easily the best food I've ever had at a wedding. You just can't go wrong with guacamole!!

The highlight of the evening was when Matt gave a 40+ minute speech. In addition to thanking every one who had traveled from near and far, often at great expense, and thanking his family and friends in England for understanding his move the U.S., he offered endless jokes, often at his new brother-in-law's expense and had the whole room laughing. It was priceless.

After the festivities were over, we drove to Boulder to see my good friend Janeen, taking the scenic route through Rocky Mountain National Park. The scenery was stunning, and I got my first ever glimpse of elk.