The Four Graveyards and a Wedding Road Trip: Didn’t we come up here for a wedding?

Y’all. THE ENTIRE REASON FOR THIS AMAZEBALLS ROAD TRIP.

Ten or eleven years ago, Sharon and I went to the Florida Fiber-In for the first time. Everyone was really friendly, but we didn’t really feel there were too many people our age there. That is, until we saw Beth. Sharon was in a class when I saw Beth across the table, and it turns out both Beth and I were thinking… “are you my people?”. And we were, and so was Sharon, and now both Beth and Sharon – West Virginia girls – are immortalized on my arm with a double-rhubarb tattoo.

So when Beth sent us invitations to her and Jeromy’s wedding, which was going to be in their native West Virginia, not far from where Sharon grew up… we were crushed that we couldn’t go. Our menfolk would have to get time off work… we’d all have to kennel our dogs… it was just… complicated. Until. Until! We were all having dinner together (were there drinks? maaaaaaaaaaaybe) and I looked over at Sharon and said something like, “hey, just think about this, but… what if we left the guys at home with our dogs and you and I road tripped up to Beth’s wedding?!”.

That spark of an idea turned into this amazing, kick-ass road trip adventure.

We had such a wonderful time – we had a wonderful time at the wedding, which had everything from a stunning natural setting to heartfelt stories about how the bride and groom met AS CHILDREN, y’all! Jeromy knew from the moment he saw Beth when they were kids, that she was the one! To Hazel the ring-bearing dog barking at the exact appropriate moment to speak now or forever hold her peace. We like to think she was saying she’d cut the first person who said anything… Hazel’s very protective. We had a wonderful time at the reception, which was at the most haunted hotel in Morgantown, and even though we only knew each other we wound up sitting at the perfect table with friendly, hilarious folks (I mean, who could expect less, from Beth and Jeromy’s friends and family) and pretty much every person we talked to was like, “oh! you’re those girls who drove up from Florida!”.

I’m still glad that Sharon is the kind of friend who fuck yea, will drop everything and take a road trip with me, and I’m still humbled that Beth thinks so much of us that she’d invite us up to be there for her in this moment of beautiful love.

I’m not crying! You’re crying!