YOUR AD HERE »

Vail Daily column: Hitched without a hitch

Richard Carnes
My View

The two-week wedding/honeymoon began with a jackknifed trailer on Interstate 70 preventing all eastbound traffic — including my firstborn and his fiancee — from making the first leg of their first flight to the island.

Yet everything worked out fine in the end.

The distance from San Juan International to the far west beaches of Rincon is about the same from Vail to the Denver airport, but with the second-world highway system and third-world drivers it takes twice the time.



With speed limits posted in mph and distances posted in kilometers, I thought perhaps we had entered a fourth-world hellhole, but everything worked out fine in the end.

The two mountain families (our now-daughter is from a wonderful clan over in Silverthorne), combined with a former family from Puerto Rico (they’re still from Puerto Rico, but you know what I mean) to attack the world-renowned surf beach with all the gusto of a massive powder day in Blue Sky Basin.

Support Local Journalism



In spite of the combined experience of more than 30 skiers and snowboarders on surfboards equaling a single 5-year-old never-ever on the Beaver Creek carpet, no bones were broken, no ACLs were blown and only a few egos bruised.

Ice cold beer and boat drinks helped everything work out fine in the end.

The wedding day began with the first clouds of the week. Hourly updates constantly reminded all that the single highest chance for rain was timed perfectly with the exact planned start of the wedding ceremony.

Yet in spite of having little ol’ me perform the official ceremonial duties, no lightning bolts suddenly appeared, a few perfectly placed clouds blocked the sun’s rays so sunglasses weren’t needed and not a drop fell on the beach.

Sure, one of the five video cameras had a lithium hissy fit and decided not to work at the last minute, but with the other four, a local professional photographer, and a Happy Valley cinematographer, everything worked out fine in the end.

The bride and groom had family and bestest friends in the world at their side the entire time, their two hearts joining in the great unifier — love — that will allow them to write the remaining chapters of their personal story together as one.

In sync with the ceremony which I was highly honored to craft, laughs came at all the correct moments and tears flowed exactly when they were supposed to.

I proved any buffoon can officiate a wedding with good enough planning, but I suppose that is beside the point.

Out of the routine of ordinary life the extraordinary happened, and the young newlyweds seemed only too aware that being the right partner is just as important as marrying the right person.

They both chose wisely.

I have always measured trips as the sadder the departure the happier the time spent, and I have never witnessed a sadder group as we all left this past Sunday.

So no matter what went wrong it all went right, and the Colorado high country has released another couple out to change the world.

Everything worked out fine in the end, and with good fortune and proper planning, it always will.

Richard Carnes, of Edwards, writes weekly. He can be reached at poor@vail.net.

Write a column!

What’s on your mind? Share your insights with the rest of the community. What’s going well, not so well? Send your submission to ValleyVoices@vaildaily.com. By submitting a column, you are granting permission for the Daily to publish it on the paper’s website. Email Ed Stoner at estoner@vaildaily.com for more information.


Support Local Journalism