Another Weekend, Another Dave Matthews Show

On Friday afternoon my wife picked me up at work and we drove towards Hartford for a later than usual show at the "venue formerly known as the Meadows." Luckily on the way there we encountered some crazy thunderstorms north of the city. The further south we drove the darker it got before the rain started pouring out of the sky. A little known fact about me is that I love thunderstorms as long as I am in the safety and security of a car. Anyway I used the video camera on my phone to try and catch some of the lightning and I succeeded.

Connecticut Thunderstorm Video (Requires Quicktime)

Eventually the rain subsided and we made it safely to Hartford. The show was pretty good, but nothing that really stands out against the rest of the shows. The band did play Sleep To Dream Her for the first time in over three years, which was pretty cool. Besides that there weren't any other real stand outs from the show.

Afterwards we drove down to the Riebe's for the night. The next day we went to KettleTown State Park, where we had a nice picnic and did some kayaking. The water was kind of nasty in the little cove we were in and there was a done of goose poo all over the place. However, after getting in the kayak and paddling around the corner and out into the open lake I was able to find a nice spot to go swimming and boy did it feel good. I will say though the condition of the water in the lake made me appreciate Long Pond that much more. We stayed at the Riebe's again on Saturday night and came back to Somerville on Sunday morning just in time to catch the latest Pirate movie at Assembly Square. The movie was okay, but nothing to write home about, I am sure I will end up seeing the third installment next summer though. After the movie I slept for about two hours and then upon waking up decided we should go to Newbury for a hike at the Old Town Hill.

We made it to the Old Town Hill at about 6PM and quickly realized we needed bug spray, but didn't have any. We quickly made our way through the trail system with our arms flailing like crazy people to keep the bugs off of us. We didn't see much, but it was nice to be outside in the unusually cool air, the calm before the heat wave. We capped off the trip to the north with a visit to my mom's house to get Red Sox tickets for Monday's game against the Indians.

Oh yeah I almost forgot, before we went back home we went to dinner at Skip's. For those of you not in the know, Skip's is a local classic, it is an old school restaurant that is only open in the summer. They serve greasy burgers, but their trademark is the Curly Q fries which are to die for. We ran into my old friend Bonnie at Skip's and I introduced her to my wife, which seemed to surprise her. Of course we made a quick stop at Hodgie's before leaving town.

Somerville Rain Storm

Somerville Rain Photos
Here is a random album with photos from a deluge we experienced in front of our house on Friday afternoon. It rained so fast the sewers just couldn't keep up.

Rest of the Honeymoon

We made it back safely from the honeymoon and without further avail here are the photos.
St. John's and Terra Nova National Park
Trinity East and Skerwink Trail
Western Brook Pond (Fjord)
The Tablelands in Gros Morne National Park
Bay of Fundy

Now for the written details of the rest of our amazing tour of Newfoundland. First of all I need to clear up the pronounciation of the word Newfoundland. The locals pronounce it like New - foond - Land, with a stress on the word land. When I first got there I wouldn't give the land part its full glory and instead say it as if it was missing an a (lnd), sort of like how we say New England like New Englnd. So if you run into me and I stress the land part of Newfoundland I am just trying to spread it the way the locals say it.

So when I last left off we were in St. John's and preparing for our journey into the most rural parts of the island. The next morning we woke up and drove up to Terra Nova National Park for some hiking. As soon as we got on the Trans-Canada Highway we noticed that my car was not behaving correctly and it would make a weird noise if I turned towards the right. We dealt with the noise all the way up to the park. Once there we walked on a nice trail along the coast with some amazing views. Unfortunately, I heard some guy talking about black bears, so the entire time we were super concerned that about bears. Apparently they aren't a big deal, but it didn't stop me from making extra noise while I walked. We got back to the car and the noise was worse than ever. I was starting to get nervous, luckily we did have a couple days of staying in the same time so we figured that would work out okay. We continued to deal with the noise and stopped at the first garage we saw. I got out of the car and walked up to these two guys standing in the door and told them about the noise. They quickly replied in a very rough British-Irish accent, "We're not the mechanic we are just a couple of stand-ups, we will get him for you." I think they literally just stand up all day. They got the mechanic and he put the car up on the lift and quickly found the problem, one of the wheels had loosened up. We lowered the car and tightened the lug nuts and the problem was solved. I thanked the mechanic and despite his offer for it to be free because it was our honeymoon, I still gave him some money.

Very much relieved we drove another hour or so to our destination of Trinity East and the Fisher's Loft Inn. Jennifer had found this place a while ago and couldn't wait to stay there. Apparently it was the place the cast of the Shipping News stayed at including Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore and Dame Judi Dench.

Oh boy I am out of time for now. I will update more later. Enjoy the photos.
Keeg

Back In Beantown

Here is a quick entry to say two things: we are back in town and we got the official wedding photos.

Click on the link below. You will have to register your name and email first and then on the next screen enter the event code 4866. Once through that annoyance you can view and buy the photos.
The Official Wedding Photos (Event Code 4866)

Quick Honeymoon Update

Here is a photo of Jennifer and I at the Easternmost point in all of North America.

More photos that were originally at the bottom of this, but I figured people might miss them.

Nova Scotia Part One
14 Hour Ferry Ride to Newfoundland
Puffins, Whales and Gulls
Cape Spear (Easternmost point in North America)

I only have a minute since, well, it is my honeymoon and I shouldn't be on the computer. However I had to upload some photos, mostly so I don't have to do it later. Right now I am sitting in our room in St. John's, Newfoundland. The inn we are staying in tonight is unbelievable it looks like an old mansion from the movies. The lobby is enormous with all sorts of fancy looking things. The room itself is nice although the toilet isn't really separated from the rest of the room by a door, so its kind of weird. I guess we are married so all that shouldn't matter. There is also a giant jacuzzi tub, but it is too hot to use. Enough about right now, since it is one of the more boring parts of the trip so far. I will instead start at the beginning.

Saturday morning we drove up to Portland and got on the CAT for a six hour ferry ride to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The trip over was great, the boat had tons of things to do and before we knew it we docked in Yarmouth. The first thing we did was test out all of our satellite technologies, Sirius and GPS, and both worked perfectly. I have to hand it to the satellite radio industry, they have something great. I can be driving in a completely different country and still have the same channel line up as I had at home. Even in the most rural areas where there aren't any radio stations, I know that if I want to listen to 90's music I can turn to channel 9, The Pulse, or if I want some acoustic music just turn to channel 30, The Coffee House. Enough promotion of satellite radio for now. We drove about an hour to hour bed and breakfast for the night and the GPS nailed the location.

We woke up in the morning, had breakfast and started our long trip across Nova Scotia. We stopped at a couple scenic spots along the way and even got to walk in the Bay of Fundy, although we won't see it at low tide until next week. We also went to a winery to help break the trip up. After seven hours of driving we arrived at our next B&B, in North Sydney, the home of the ferry to Newfoundland. We had an okay dinner at a local restaurant, where I ordered spaghetti and they gave me a plate that seemed to be filled with an entire box of spaghetti.

Monday morning we woke up early (4AM) and went to the ferry. We departed from North Sydney at 6AM, and thankfully were given a cabin so we had a home base and a couple bunks to sleep in should we get tired. I had been nervous about the 14 hour trip to Newfoundland, but it seemed to fly by. The weather outside was so nice we just spent most of the day on deck reading and laying in the sun. Finally, at about 8:30 Newfoundland time, 7:00 Eastern time, we arrived in Newfoundland. Our first views of the place were breath taking. The mountains seemed to have formed right out of the ocean. We were actually greeted by a Bald Eagle that flew across the bay. It was amazing.

Once ashore we had to drive about 45 minutes to the next B&B. Unfortunately the fastest way there involved driving down a dirt road for about 15 miles. It was brutal. At one point a moose was blocking the road and we had to wait about five minutes before he ran off. We did make it to the B&B, where we passed out after a long long day at sea.

Now this morning we had our breakfast and then drove to Bay Bulls for a puffin and whale watch. It started raining before the trip, but as soon as we were out on the water it cleared right up. First we saw a huge colony of puffins, birds were flying all over the place. The puffins are fun to watch when they are in the water, because sometimes they can barely get off the water and often times crash back into the water. After seeing all of the birds we set out for some nearby whales. We saw a couple dolphins and a humpback whale, but they quickly took off for more interesting things. There was another boat within a few clicks, so we went over and saw that they had a whale swimming right next to it. We spent about forty five minutes watching the whale swim around our boat. You can see from the photos that he was really close and I got some fantastic shots.

After the whale watch we went out to Cape Spear, the Easternmost point in North America. It was a beautiful spot that we could have spent many hours at, but since we were getting hungry we drove in to St. John's. After checking in we went to a yummy dinner and walked around the downtown area for a bit. After a few hours we wandered back to the room and I logged on the internet for a little while to update this journal.

Tomorrow we are going to Terra Nova National Park for hiking and then ending up in Trinity where we will be spending two nights (finally a chance to rest). Then we will drive across to Gros Morne National Park and stay there for a night, I am really looking forward to that place. The next day we catch an overnight ferry back to Nova Scotia, where we will spend a night. Finally, we return to the states on Monday night in Bar Harbor where we will stay with the Riebe's for a night. An action packed week ahead. Hopefully I will get another chance to upload.

The Honeymoon Begins

Last night Jennifer and I kicked off our honeymoon with a Dave Matthews Band show at Fenway Park. We arrived at the park around 5:30 and made our way to the third row seats I received from the Warehouse. The seats were unbelievable. We were on the field about halfway between where Manny Ramirez and Coco Crisp position themselves. The show was pretty great although the setlist was a bit strange and quiet for a stadium show.

I have decided that they should ban all electronic devices from shows including cell phones, blackberrys and cameras. At least 25% of the people there seem to care less about the show and more about calling their friend from the show or taking eight million mobile phone photos. One guy in front of us was such a tool and he kept snapping shots of everything and constantly looking at the crow with a complete disregard for the show on stage. He was driving me crazy. The only other major event was when some girl behind us passed out from drinking so much and then refused to get treated. She was a real mess.

Afterwards we met up with Andy and Amy at Game On before catching the T back home. Conveniently the red line is doing bus replacement between Park Street and Kendall Square which tacked on an addition 15-20 minutes to our ride home. Oh well, it was a great show on a beautiful night and was the perfect way to start off our honeymoon.

So in two short hours we pack the car and drive up to Portland to catch the CAT to Nova Scotia where we will be spending the night. After that its off to Newfoundland for about five days before returning to Nova Scotia and then finally returning to the states in Bar Harbor. I'll try to keep you all posted when I get a chance.

TTFN
Keeg

Wedding Photos

I will hopefully update a personal account of the wedding day on here shortly. However in the meantime I wanted to provide links to all of the photos either I have taken, or other people have sent me. I will be adding links as I get them, so if you have some photos upload them to kodakgallery or shutterfly and send me a link.

The Official Wedding Photos (Event Code 4866)

My Photos

Rich Sweet's Photos

Lan Le's Photos

My Dad's Photos

Carol Riebe's Wedding Photos

Carol Riebe's Wedding Rehearsal Photos

Carol Riebe's Rehearsal Dinner Photos

Carol Riebe's Morning at Salem Willows Photos

Melissa Riebe's Wedding Photos

Britt's Photos

Disposable Camera Photos

Sibley's Wedding Photos

Cara's Photos

Edgar's Photos

Ben's Photos

The Night Before

You may be wondering why on this night before on of the biggest days of my life I am making an entry in my LiveJournal. Well there are many reasons, including the fact that I need to capture and record this moment to remember always and because my bride, due to some old tradition is not allowed to spend the night with me. Today was truly an emotional roller coaster. I woke up this morning and was frustrated because I had failed miserably at writing vows the night before. Luckily at somepoint between 6 and 7 I had a breakthrough and it all came together. It actually came together a little too well and the next thing I knew tears were streaming down my face. It had been quite a while since I had last cried, probably over a year, and I couldn't control myself. After working so hard in the logical world of computers over the last few weeks, my emotional side finally got its turn to speak and apparently it had a lot to say. For the next few minutes I just held Jen and let it all out. I finally gained my composure and sat down to finish the rest of the vows and was finally ready to print it.

After coming back from the gym I hopped in the car and went to pick up my tuxedo in Amesbury. The tux fit perfectly and I dropped it off at my mother's house. I washed the car because it is going to be in the lime light tomorrow and also helped Zack fix his BMX bike. On the drive home my emotions began to get the best of me and I was on the verge of tears again. I did make it home without shedding one, and ate a nice big sandwich, which really helped calm my nerves.

We finally set off for the hotel Jen and all of her relatives are staying in tonight. Upon arriving I was whisked away on a Magical Mystery Tour of relatives rooms. We wandered the halls of nearly every floor to meet an uncle from here and a cousin from there. It was crazy. A little later than I hoped we left for the rehearsal and when we got there most of the people were already there. We quickly walked through the ceremony and jetted for our dinner at Hard Cover.

There was a bit of an issue with tables at first, but it was quickly resolved and we all sat down for a nice dinner. It was great to see everyone and it seemed like a good time was had by all. I actually got up and played the guitar for everybody and felt I did fairly well. I did get a little teary in the middle of one of the songs, but managed to pull through and finish. After I performed Brendan showed the slideshow he put together and I lost it. Some of the photos just brought crocodile tears to my eyes. It was really hard seeing photos of me with people who have passed on. Hopefully I have taken things from them and their legacy lives on today through me. So basically I was a mess through most of it, but I think its good to let out that raw emotion. It helps make you feel human.

Things wrapped up after the slideshow, so Jennifer and I had to part ways until 1PM tomorrow, when she will emerge from the farm house and my eyes will fall upon my beautiful bride. Its all very exciting and a bit nervewracking, although I do blame most of the nervousness on things that are beyond my control, like the cake, the DJ or the weather. I want all of these things to go smoothly and without flaw. Certainly everything will work out and people will walk away with some story to tell, whether it be the wedding where they saw the heaviest down pour of rain ever or the wedding where the bride and groom were so lost in their new found marriage that they looked as if they didn't have a care in the world. I am hoping for the second one, but either way it will certainly be a memorable wedding for me.

May the rain come, but only after we are finished with the ceremony.

Yours truly,
Keegan (The Groom)