A wedding, a waterfall, and one weird road trip

When I created my summer bucket list a couple weeks ago, I had full intentions of taking an epic road trip - the kind with your feet on the dashboard, your dream guy in the driver's seat, an ice-cold Dr. Pepper in the cup holder, windows down, and music blasting. This weekend, most of that occurred when Wheat and I set out for New York to attend a couple friends' wedding. I had no idea how fast, furious, frustrating, and fun it would be, but I'm so glad we bit the bullet and decided to do the 18-hour round-trip trek by car, instead of by plane.

We set out after work on Friday night, drove five hours, made a pit stop at Cane's for dinner, and settled in for the night at a hotel in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb outside of Cleveland. The next morning, we knew we had four more hours to go to get to Churchville, where the wedding was held, so we planned accordingly - left in plenty of time, stopped for lunch, and picked up doughnuts after my first trip to Krispy Kreme.

Side note: Why can't they have Krispy Kreme stores around here? I was instantly enthralled by the mini-doughnut factory. I practically shrieked watching the guy scoop the batter and push the doughnuts into the fryer oil. I may or may not have taken video of the doughnuts moving along the conveyor belt and under the constant stream of glaze. They were making strawberry junior doughnuts and the cashier became my new best friend when she offered us samples hot off the belt. I was quickly converted, put on the paper hat, and promptly bought a dozen for the trip. I regret nothing.

When we arrived in Tonawanda (a town outside of Niagara Falls), we went to check in to our hotel - still good on time for the wedding. However, the guy at the front desk claimed that we didn't have a reservation for that night, despite our email confirmation from Orbitz, and then informed us that every hotel in the area was full due to the Rolling Stones concert. Mick, you brought me such joy, then such pain. (Yes, Wheat called Orbitz to complain. No, they didn't help us. They gave us a $50 voucher for future trips and left us out to dry. We think the hotel threw out our $80 reservation when they realized they could charge $230 per room for the weekend festivities.)

After a momentary panic attack, we got ready for the wedding in a public restroom and drove the rest of the way to Churchville. The bride and groom, Erica and Dave, were two friends we made in Indy while she suffered through grad school with us. We were thrilled to share their special day with them. The wedding was absolutely gorgeous - it looked like something straight from a wedding magazine. The ceremony and reception were held in Erica's parents' backyard and I was blown away with how incredible everything looked. After parking in a field nearby and taking a hayride over to the ceremony site (how cute is that?!), we checked out the gorgeous decorations and settled in. With drinks in-hand, we staked out a spot on the hay bales for the ceremony.

The weather could not have been more perfect, the personal vows made me cry were beautiful, and Erica looked like a million bucks in her wedding dress. Dinner was delicious, the live band was great, and we loved catching up with Erica and Dave (however briefly) while also meeting some of their loved ones. As always, it was far too short, but we wish them an entire lifetime of happiness and hopefully some visits to Charlottesville in the future!

We spent most of the cocktail hour on the phone trying to find a hotel and, sure enough, there were no vacancies within 90 miles. I had already bought tickets for the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls for the next day, so we didn't want to drive too far beyond it or I'd have to eat the cost of the tickets. We seriously contemplated sleeping in the car before I did what I always do when trouble strikes - call my dad. Halfway through the reception, he called to let us know that a hotel in Buffalo had a couple vacancies, but wouldn't let us make a reservation - the rooms were first-come, first-serve. So, we sadly packed it in early, made the hour drive back to Buffalo, and tracked down the hotel...if you can call it that.

It was certainly better than nothing, but Wheat paid $50 more than he was supposed to at our original hotel for a room with no air conditioning, a recliner chair with stains on it, cigarette burns on the comforter and sheets, and a lamp with no lamp shade. It also looked like it hadn't been properly cleaned in months, but we were relieved to find something in the area. We did our best to laugh it off and called it an early night.

The next morning, we woke up early and headed to Niagara Falls for some quick fun before the drive home. Wheat had never been to the falls before (and my previous experience wasn't the best, either), so it was fun to explore with him. We didn't have much time, so we scoped out the incredible view from above before heading down to the Niagara River for the Maid of the Mist boat ride. We put on our attractive blue ponchos, channeled our inner Jim and Pam, staked out a spot on the railing of the top deck, and got absolutely soaked by the mist from the falls. It was exactly the stress release that we needed after the chaos the day before.

After the ride, we climbed up a little higher to admire the falls from a different angle and enjoyed a beautiful rainbow in the mist. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my passport, so the Canadian view was out of the question, but we absolutely loved the American side and vowed to return someday. With one last look at the falls, we packed up and made our way back to Indy. We made one quick stop at the Mansfield Reformatory because I've always wanted to see it (it's where they filmed The Shawshank Redemption), but there was a concert going on, so I only got a rainy glimpse from the road.



I think that just calls for another, hopefully less stressful, road trip in the future...

Am I the only one that enjoys road trips? Have you ever had travel plans fall through at the last minute?