Day 12 -- Happy Birthday?

AUGUST 22nd -- MY 20TH BIRTHDAY!

WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN:

• Get up at 6 AM
• Finish cleaning and last-minute packing
• Get on the road by 9 AM
• Be home to BV by 3 in the afternoon
• Relax and start unpacking
• Take pictures with the family at 6
• Reception/Open House in the ballroom at 7
• Go home and sleep in our own bed

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED:

• Got up at 8 AM
• Had way more laundry to do than realized (required laundry. had to wash all the towels and dry and fold them for the next people who would use the beach house.)
• Found it entirely impossible to get all the sand off of the hardwood floor
• Ate cake for breakfast
• Got on the road at 11:30 AM
• Hurricane hit, flooding the roads
• Two hours into our six-hour drive the truck broke down
• Somehow made it to the conveniently placed gas station out in the middle of nowhere
• Called AAA
• Waited an hour for a tow truck
• MEANWHILE : Nice young redneck named Bob inspects our engine and all of the trucks inner workings. He has no idea what's wrong with it, but suggests his friend Donny as a mechanic to fix it
• MEANWHILE, BACK ON THE RANCH: The Bellamy and Cluff clans are circling the wagons. They call rental car companies, cab companies, airports, train stations, the national guard...
• No luck
• Got picked up by the tow truck. His GPS couldn't even find the street where this elusive Donny lived
• Found it eventually
• He was closed on Saturdays, but took it anyway
• Aunt Kit called to tell me that her brother just happened to live in the town where we were stranded. So this uncle once removed that I had never met was coming to get us
• He came to get us in his big yellow truck (the plan was that he would take us halfway. Then Buck and Whitni Watkins, who were conveniently in Roanoke at the time, would meet and take us the home stretch)
• Rode about three hours
• Got pulled over by a cop for going about 84 MPH
• Cop let us off when he heard our story ("These kids are on their way to their wedding reception, officer. They've had a rough day.")
• Five miles down the road, the truck stopped working. No, I'm not kidding
• Pulled into a gas station
• Buck and Whitni drove the extra miles out to come rescue us
• We left "Uncle Ben" there, where he occupied himself with the beautiful Virginia scenery and a camera, until that same cop happened upon him half an hour later. The cop was amused, and they passed the three hours in friendly conversation while Ben waited for Aunt Kit's husband Scotty to come get him
• MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH: The band that played at the reception was receiving updates of our status from my mom, and announcing them to the crowd
• Rode with Buck and Whitni for a few hours
• Were forced to go excruciatingly slowly on the mountain road into town
• Hit EVERY SINGLE RED LIGHT when we actually got into town
• Had to go to the apartment and shower and put on makeup
• Rushed to campus and got changed into our dress and tuxedo in record time
• Were announced and entered to standing ovation and a drumroll, a full hour and a half late to our two hour reception

Later, Buck and Whitni got their own warm welcome and were hailed as those who "rescued the bride and groom!" We mixed and mingled sort of like a blender, exchanging the most minimum of pleasantries before moving on with a "thankyouforcomingandhopetoseeyouagainsoon."

Crazy, crazy day. But, as Brayden kept reminding me while I was having hysterics about how many things were going wrong, "But just think of all the STORIES!" It does make a great story. Weirdest birthday I've ever had.

**PICTURES TO COME! CHECK BACK IN A DAY OR SO!**