My sister Olivia got married this weekend. Her new husband Brian is a solid dude and I’m glad the two of them are going for the long haul.

Ava and I decided to drive down to Sacramento for the occasion, since flying basically just sucks anymore. I took Friday off and we cruised down I-5, arriving in Sacramento about ten minutes before the big post-rehearsal dinner at Spataro. We adjourned to the hotel bar, and stumbled upstairs at some very late hour.

Saturday we wandered down K Street, hung over, and did a little shopping. Then the wedding: a small church, full of guests, strewn with leaves. The tone was very serious, until the end: my mother hired a local high school marching band to do the ‘Love Actually’ musical surprise, with a big thumping snare drum and a tuba. It was fun, if a little chaotic. We all took a stretch Hummer back to the hotel for the reception.

Sunday we kidnapped my sister Jeanine, dropped the convertible top, and set off northward. It was sunny and pleasant until about ten miles from the Oregon border, when it got cold. The California / Oregon border may be a mapmaker’s straight-line fancy, but there is a genuine ecological boundary there too.

Jeanine is between jobs and rounds of schooling at the moment, so she’s going to hang out with us for a while and explore Seattle. It’s all rather ad hoc – we have no idea how long she’s going to stay or how she’ll be getting back to Sacramento when she goes. But, whatever, it’s fun to have her around!