Ashley and Gabe's Wedding

I'd been in Alaska for two weeks. So obviously I was feeling the need to get out of the state.

First we headed to New Mexico. Lea's friends Ashley and Gabe were getting married in Santa Fe. Ashley was Lea's roommate up here a few years back. She and Gabe met while working for the Alaska Public Radio Network. They now live in Chicago and work for the public radio station there.

Lea and I flew to Albuquerque. There we rented a car and drove through the desert and cloudburst rain storms to Santa Fe. Santa Fe is gorgeous. Amazing.

We met up with Bill and Jeannette (more Alaska folk who now live in DC) and went for Mexican food. While eating our fantastic meal, we realized we were seated next to Sam Elliott. After our meal (he was done, too) I said hi and told him we were big fans. I even got him to say, "The Dude abides." He was a real gentleman -- very friendly and seemed truly interested in talking to us. Post lunch we wandered the downtown area. It's cute, but heavy on art dealers and tourist shops. Kind of like downtown Carmel.

After that we headed to the rehearsal dinner. There we caught up with friends and I finally got to meet Ashley, Gabe and their wonderful 9 month old son Ezra.

The next day was the wedding. The site was out at the Audubon Society: an old mansion with gardens and trails. It was gorgeous. The weather was mixed, with thunderstorms threatening. The wedding site was on a grass lawn. (Bill Richardson was present. We spotted the security detail first and then had to suss out who the bigwig was.) Just as the ceremony began, the sun came out. The ceremony was presided over by Gabe's dad, who is a Rabbi. It was wonderful -- truly heartfelt with wisdom and humor.

The meal afterwards was great. And just as everyone got under the tent, the heavens opened up. It rained and hailed. But the wedding went on undeterred.

Lea and I headed back to the motel to get some rest. That night we met up with the other guests downtown for pizza and drinks.

Unfortunately we didn't get to stay around Santa Fe the next day. We had to fly out for California. But Santa Fe was fantastic, and I'd love to go back.


PICTURES: http://picasaweb.google.com/jack.r.mckenna/TripToNMAndCA