Woke up at 3 a.m. for my 6 a.m. flight to OAK airport. Picked up Lyft at 4:15. Flight was fine, arriving in Seattle around 8:30 or so. Caught a 10 a.m. flight into Kelowna, arriving around 11:15. Chris and Elizabeth picked me up at the Kelowna airport. We also picked up mom’s bag that somehow didn’t arrive with her the night before.
At Uncle Bob’s I saw Bobby and Lisa for the first time in many years. It was a somber but necessary occasion. Having so many Pettys in attendance lifted Uncle Bob’s spirits. I’ve always really liked Uncle Bob. He’s naturally witty and a down-to-earth nice man. Kim, Chris Jr. and I had a great talk about our family and the dynamics involved when introducing someone new to the Petty clan. It can be a tough crowd. We’re good at sizing people up, accessing positives and negatives. Our red flag detectors are spot on most of the time. When someone is a good person and good for our family members, we’re fully accepting.
Bob, Bobby and Lisa presented a touching memorial for Alice. She had an aggressive form of dementia the last few years of her life, which made it hard on the family.
It’s a good thing Bob did not go on the cruise. That would have been a disaster.
We stayed at the house for a few hours, then headed back to our hotel for dinner. We ate at Montana’s BBQ & Bar, near our hotel. My ribs were delicious.
We talked about Alice & Bob, the cruise, and other family stuff. It was a great evening with lots of laughter.
Our club doubles tournament was today from 8-noon.I played with Heather Colon, a very
good female player who's usually reliable on the right hand side.We had a chance to make the playoffs but just
couldn’t close out our last game.We
played Carlos and Roger, who were on when they played us. Tyrone and Ramon ended up winning the tournament, beating Freddy and
Mike Lippett in a close game to 15.
Another fairly quiet day at work. I slept well last night, but still feel wiped out from the weekend. Maybe with so much adrenalin flowing through my body it takes a while to balance everything out. Tomorrow I have a doubles tournament to play in, then I fly back to B.C. for Auntie Alice’s funeral.
My first day back at work.I was still very fatigued.Luckily, there wasn’t all that much to do.I was grateful.
I received my new E-Force gear today and the new Take Over racquet. I received two 170g racquets this year and they really feel nice! I love the new designs and bags. Very cool!
After work, I came home to Alice’s and went to bed early.
A full day of rest in SF. We slept, did laundry, looked at pictures. I didn’t do much more than that today. I was able to relieve the entire weekend in my mind, which I did a couple of times. It struck me how little I saw my sister Jill and how preoccupied she was with her drink package and slot machines. I could have used her help on Sunday and would have enjoyed more time with her over the course of the weekend. That bothered me, especially since I was already a sister down. Everything else was a perfect dream. The weekend really went so beautifully!
I really felt the lack of sleep this morning. I woke up at 5, packed things up, had a little breakfast, then took our bags to the Wheelhouse Bar where our bus party planned to meet. We had 65 passengers going from the San Pedro cruise port to LAX. At exactly 7:50, we left the ship and made our way to the buses lined up near the terminal. Our bus was waiting for us. They were afraid they'd need more seats, so they asked for another small bus. We managed to fit everyone on the bus with all their luggage (barely), and away we went.
So, there's a story that happened on the bus. Alice and I sat at the very front of the bus. Dorian, Richard, Cappy, Glenn, and a few other folks were way in the back. I went back there to hand out a few final decks of playing cards, as well as making sure everything was all right with everyone. A few minutes into the ride, I smelled something unpleasant. It didn't last too long, but it was annoying. I gave D a call.
“D, everything all right back there?” I asked.
“No, Mike,” he said. “It’s not. It’s not good back here. Not good at all.”
“How come? What’s going on?”
“Oh, man,” D said, “you would not believe this shit.”
“Tell me, D, what's going on.”
“Man, one of your childhood friends made the executive decision to go to the bathroom on the bus. But the thing is the toilet ain’t flushing, Mike. The toilet ain’t flushing.”
“Oh, no.”
“We dying back here, Mike. We dying back here.”
I turned to the bus driver. “Alberto, the toilet isn’t working. It’s not flushing.”
“Yes, is, flushing” Alberto insisted. “Is working.”
“D, Alberto says the toilet’s working. You got a bunch of engineers back there. The toilet’s operational. You need to designate a back-of-the-bus master flusher to remedy this situation now!”
“Mike, Mike, Mike,” D said, “ain’t nobody going in there, man. Ain’t nobody going in there but the friend of yours who started this shit in the first place. He musta spent about 20 minutes trying to get the toilet to flush, man, but it’s a no-go situation. Seriously, Mike, we dying back here.”
“D, I think I may have a solution,” I said. “Alice brought some VIPpooh drops for the Grand Suite because she knew the poker players would use the toilet. The drops are supposed to neutralize any and all situations. Do you need the VIPpooh drops?”
“Come on, man, what you think? Bring us the damn VIP drops ASAP!”
I looked in a bag for the VIP drops, but realized where they were. “My bad, D. The VIP drops are packed in a carry-on bag down in storage. Sorry, D, I can’t get to the drops.”
“Mike, Mike, Mike, I’m beginning to think you don’t fully appreciate the severity of this situation we’re dealing with back here. This is no joke. As a matter of fact, I would say this is about as serious a situation as any I’ve ever encountered in such a confined space with no windows going down, you feel me? I’m not saying this has ruined the cruise, but come on, man, this is having a profound negative impact on the quality of our ride to the airport.”
“That’s why you need a master flusher to flush away the situation.”
“Mike, ain’t nobody and I mean nobody going in there. We’re almost at the airport so we’re just gonna tough it out and hope a few weeks aren’t being chipped away from our time on earth. Seriously, Mike, what kinda childhood friend handle their business on a bus anyway? I mean, come on, man. Come on. This shit ain’t right, Mike. It ain’t right!”
Throughout the entire conversation, I was laughing so hard I was crying. Alice asked me what was wrong and when I told her said said, "That is not funny, Hagan. Someone could be hurt." I was too tired and delirious to care. Everytime I think of our bus ride to LAX, I'll think of my conversation with Dorian. That was too funny.
Finally, we made it to LAX. The bus stopped at terminal 1, International terminal and terminal 7. Our flight was with United, but because Alice had purchased some super budget tickets that didn't include bags, we had to pay something like $350 for baggage. I didn't care. All I wanted was sleep. Our bags were taken away and we waited 45 minutes for our flight. Once in SFO, we collected our bags, hailed Uber, and came home. It was nice to be back. It was sunny and beautiful and all our luggage was sprawled out on the floor in the living room. Austin picked up some Vietnamese sandwiches. I looked at pictures and slept the rest of the day.
The weekend weekend was officially over. I had the rest of my life to reflect on this amazing, incredible weekend. I never forget the amazing wedding of my sweet Alice Wu!
Up at 6:30 for pickle ball at 7 on top of the ship with Susan, Jay, Tiger, Glenn, Mugs and Uncle Steve. It wasn’t too windy in the morning and the sun was out. The only issue was the wet court which was slippery. Nearly everyone slipped and fell at least once. Paddle ball ran from 7-8:30. We played games to 7, then rotated in. It was fun!
Part of our wedding cruise package included breakfast for two in our suite. Alice ate with her family, so Miles shared breakfast with me. We had all kinds of delicious food: fresh fruit, an egg dish and bacon, bagel, cream cheese and smoked salmon, and champagne. Breakfast arrived at 9. Alice and her family arrived around 9:30. She ate half a bagel with cream cheese.
Ross and Sydney stopped by.
There was still plenty of wedding cake so people had slices. The cribbage tournament got under way around noon. Kara helped me run it, but I wasn’t as organized as I would have liked. I was feeling tired and felt the need to push on throughout the day, conversing with my family and friends, knowing the day would pass any by tomorrow everyone would be on their way again.
That’s the strange thing about your own wedding…you’re at the center and know everyone in your party, but there’s too little time to fully embrace the entirety of the moment. It’s just too massive, too overwhelming, so what you’re left with is a sort of randomized series of interactions with whoever may be near you at any given time.
I played one game of crib and lost against John by one point. Ouch! I tried to keep the tournament going, but there were too many distractions throughout the afternoon. By dinner, with the tournament still going, it was hard to wrap it up. John never played Neal, who he’d been waiting to play all afternoon. It was a bit of a bust, unfortunately. I had too many distractions and couldn't keep the thing going. I also really needed was a nap, but that was out of the question.
Dinner was low key and quiet. About 20 or so guests ate at specialty restaurants or some over venue. Cappy and Melissa ate alone, so I sat with them during dinner. It was so nice catching up with them. Cappy had a nice bottle of wine that we enjoyed.
I was chatting so much I ran out of time to order dessert and my baked Alaska. Alice and I needed to go to the photo department to pick up our photographs and review our wedding video. It was stunning how good it was. Erick, the editor, did such a masterful job. I was so impressed.
We spent nearly an hour at the photo department. It took longer than I'd anticipated. Unfortunately, our room was locked, so people who swung by didn't bother to return. We arrived around 9 and had a small crowd gather until 11 or so. Alice went to Skywalkers to dance and called me to join her. I went up around 11:30 after chatting with the Young, Steve and Matt, and a few other people. We danced at Skywalkers for 30 minutes, then came back to our suite around midnight. I cleaned up a bit and started packing. I had no energy left by 1 a.m., and went to sleep for a few hours, prepared to get up early to pack things up and meet everyone at the Wheelhouse bar by 7:45 a.m.
Wow, what a day, one of the most satisfying ever , as well as one of the more stressful, especially before the big event.
The day began early at 5:30 a.m. I'd only slept a few hours but I had so much on my mind that staying in bed wouldn't have been productive. I really needed to meet the wedding coordinator and touch base on how everything would play out. I was told she wouldn't be available until 8:30 a.m. so I went to Horizon Court for breakfast. No one was there, but after breakfast I ran into Neil Bason. We spent a good 45 minutes together, walking around the ship, checking out his suite on the Sun Deck (very nice!). was great having some one-on-one time with him. We saw Murry a little later, then Rossana. We hung out at the atrium, sipping coffees, until it was time for me to meet with my wedding coordinator Beryl.
We sat on a bench in front of the Princess Theater and went over all the logistics. I wanted to make sure there would be enough staff to take care of drinks and food. She assured me there would be. We scheduled a rehearsal for 1 p.m., which seemed a bit late but there were no other alternatives. I had CDs of all the music and a thumb drive of the slideshow I'd put together Wednesday and Thursday for the production team.
After meeting with Beryl, I met with the photo/video department: Chito, Erick, Ben, Chelsea. I told them I wanted all their resources and let them decide what shots to best use. I had a list of groups I wanted to get, but didn't have time to print it out, unfortunately.
When I was done with the photo department, I met with Carlos the matre d at Canaletto Dining. We spent 40 minutes going over every table seating, making sure everything is in their proper seat. Once that was taken care of, I returned to the Grand Suite. By then it was lunch.
I ate with the the Youngs but we didn't have a lot of time. Time was flying by. Time was against me today. I ordered a burger and fries, but only had a few minutes to eat. was beginning to feel tired and fatigued, but the adrenaline was still going.
At 1, Alice, the Youngs and I met Chris and Elizabath, Kevin and Elaine and Mathew for our rehearsal. It took about fifteen minutes for everyone to get together. Meanwhile, the entire space was being transformed for the reception. It was like being backstage in a show. There was all sorts of activity. I was calm, but also a little stressed. I could have used my sister Jill to help me think straight. I really could have used Gwen before the reception. She would have helped me get through all the details. Beryl was as helpful as she could be, but she seemed very passive and wasn't able to take charge of the rehearsal and get things going swiftly.
We were running out of time again. We didn't finish making decisions until 1:45, 45 minutes before the the reception started. We took a couple of great pictures during rehearsal, then went to our suite with the videographers and photographers.
Thankfully, Mathew was with me to get dressed. He tied an Oxford knot for me, put my suspenders on, and clipped on my cuff links.
At around 2, we headed to Skywalkers. I could hear the music playing, Chicago's Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is, so we had about ten minutes before we'd make our grand entrance using the automatic ramp.
Halfway through George Harrison's What is Life, Kevin and Elaine hit the ramp. followed by me and Alice. Our grand entrance went off well.
Seeing all my family and friends together was a highlight. 93 of my favorite people in the world were in one room at one time. It was a moment I’ll never forget. I’d mentioned to my racquetball friends that this was my wedding and my funeral, my one big party in life to celebrate all that had been given to me. Everything else that came after this moment was bonus gravy. This was the ultimate achievement for me, to have survived 50 years and maintain so many wonderful friendships in celebration of the union of me and Alice. It was such a joyous, happy, thrilling occasion.
By design, the ceremony was short and sweet with few if any lines for me and Alice to say. Uncle Chris penned an elegant, fitting two-minute message that went over well (with a couple quality laughs!) Dorian concluded the ceremony with a wonderful blessing. It was everything I could have asked for, touching, memorable, fun. Alice was happy.
It hadn’t really occurred to me that Jill wouldn’t be around to help out, knowing all that was involved, especially before the reception/ceremony. Luckily, it all went off well enough so that no one noticed the little things that didn’t get done. Only I noticed. We ended up leaving Skywalkers around 4:20 or so, after we collected as many group pictures as possible. We missed getting a group picture of everyone and a few other pictures with specific people. I wish I’d printed out my list of photos. Oh, well.
From 4:25 to 5:15, we returned to our suite and prepared for dinner. Alice changed into her red dress. We then prepared the tables for guests, using confetti and the wife cakes Elaine picked up Friday night.
Dinner was wonderful. The chefs made a special pasta dish especially for us (it was Italian night on the ship). I still had a lot of energy and visited each of our 16 tables. The tables seatings were now correct. Elaine was a big help in decorating all the tables. I also handed out the wine lists for the evening. The wine was flowing tonight.
Kevin made a magnificent best man speech. Unfortunately, without a microphone it was difficult to hear him. I left me seat and stood in front of him near the wedding cake. It was satisfying hearing a speech of such depth from someone who has known me since the age of 11.
The cake was fantastic. Everyone raved about it. It was so fresh, so good, and so beautiful. It was also very large, much larger than we needed. We ate about half the cake! I wish I had room for another slice!
After cake, our photographers asked us to follow them outside for some great sunset pictures and pictures around the ship. Alice didn't want to leave the dining room, but we went anyway. I'm glad we did. The pictures we took outside were amazing, and the sunset was really beautiful. Our photographers were so outstanding. We really lucked out with all of them.
After our photographs were taken, we went back to our suite, where I remained the rest of the night. People came in and out and the party went on until 2:30 or so. I lasted until 1:30, then went to bed. I was so wiped out that I couldn't stay up anymore. Poker players continued playing in the dining room while Alice and I slept. I didn't hear them at all.
What an amazing day! So full, so stressful, so glorious and happy, so satisfying, and so much fun!
The big day Alice and I have been waiting for all these months has finally arrived. We woke up early and had coffee and pastries at the Starbuck’s downstairs. Alice went back up to the room while I headed to Shoppers Drugmart to get a few supplies for the weekend.
I came back to the room, showered, then met Alice and Austin at breakfast inside the lobby for fifteen minutes or so before packing up and retrieving a bellboy for our many bags. Austin and I took a taxi to Canada Place while Alice waited for her parents who were about 20 minutes behind us. We arrived at Canada Place at 11:30. Our bags were taken to the Grand Suite while we waited for the Youngs, who had flown in from San Francisco (Lisa/Richard/Sophie/Miles) and LA (Ari) early this morning.
I’d been anticipating the moment when the Young family and I boarded the Golden Princess. Their limo arrived around 11:45 or so and after many joyous greetings, we made our way to check-in. Miles and Sophie were very tired from such an early flight. They were dragging, but also excited. Because Alice and I are now Platinum members, we went into the express lines to turn in our paperwork and collect our cabin keys. After check-in, we headed back through the maze of security checks, customs checks, and finally onboard check-in.
Our immediate destination was Baja deck to our cabin. We took the elevator to deck 11 and walked down the hallway to the double doors of the Grand Suite. Sophie took a video of our entrance into our weekend party room!
After inspecting our rooms, we headed up to Horizon Court for lunch. We loaded our buffet trays and hung out at a large table near one of the entrances. Rossana joined us, then Alice. Pam and Mike Davis soon ran into us, friends of mine from WSU (Pam and I went to Copenhagen together). Throughout lunch I was in nonstop chat mode.
Once the wedding favors were done, we stayed in the room and chatted with people who came in until it was time for the muster drill. Alice and I made sure Ada and Charles were in the proper location. We then headed over to the Vista Lounge and sat with Neal, Karin, Kara, Ryan, Mathew, Rathna, Tristan, Nicole and Hailey. I talked with Nicole and Mathew while Alice talked with Neal and Karin.
Steve and Amanda were one row up from us. Susan and Jay were next to them. Kathryn and Tom were nearby. Everywhere I turned, there were friends and family. It was something!
After the muster drill, we returned to the Grand Suite. I needed time to prepare for our welcome reception at the Wheelhouse bar, but it was impossible to do anything beyond simply going with the flow of the moment and connecting with everyone. I wanted to speak with the Canaletto dining room to make sure the seating arrangements were good, but there was no time left to meet. I changed into another outfit and left the room with Alice a little after 5. We arrived at the Wheelhouse Bar at 5:10. The party was already in full gear with a band playing and everything drinking. The bar was packed with guests! I’m guessing around 60-70 guests were already there. It was amazing walking in and seeing so many familiar faces. The moment I walked into the bar I was overwhelmed by the presence of so many people from my entire life history. It was a moment I’ll never forget. From that moment on, I was in total chat/conversational mode and everything was on auto-pilot. All I could do was be the guest and talk and greet and meet everyone who was there. It was an amazing moment!
Around 5:40, I headed over to the Canaletto Dining room. Alice left a little earlier. When I walked into the room, Alice was with the maitre d complaining about her parents’ seating assignment. The maitre d saw me and said, “Where have you been? Everyone has been looking for you!” I apologized for not speaking with him earlier in the day (no time to do so), and said we’d straighten out whatever seating assignments weren’t right tomorrow.
Alice’s parents were supposed to sit with Bill, Vicki, Florence and Howie, but were only sitting with Austin and Nathan. The 8-top was divided into two 4-tops.
Other than that, everything else seemed fine.
I quickly distributed Saturday night’s wine list to our guests, then sat down for dinner. I was bouncing around from table to table and really didn’t get to hang out and enjoy dinner the way I usually do.
Time sped by.
The largest table was the Petty table with Jill/Tom/Lori/John and all the Pettys including mom. Donna, Nelson, and Wendy were at a table with Steve, Matt, mom and Karen.
Dinner was lively and fun. I sat with Alice, Austin and Nathan, but only for a short time. I also sat with Donna and Wendy and told a few stories of the good old days in Port Alberni.
Dad and Sue sat with Mugs, Mary, Emerson and Charlotte, so they were good.
After dinner, we assembled at the Grand Suite for some Trivial Pursuit. For some reason, I lost the game pieces. I have no idea where they were (I still can’t find them). I had only a few minutes to get things ready. Kevin was a huge help in running the Trivial Pursuit game. I was already feeling somewhat overwhelmed. The bar was fully stocked and people were collecting their gift bags. The game lasted an hour or so with the January-June birthdays winning the game by one pie. They won a 2-lb box of See’s Candy.
After the Trivial Pursuit game came a poker tournament for $10 entry fee…50% for 1st, 30% for 2nd, 20% for 3rd.
At 1 a.m. or so, Uncle Chris came in and asked that we move to another venue as Alice was ready to go to sleep. We moved the game to the Wheelhouse bar, which ended up being a perfectly fine place to play poker. The bar closed around 12:45. We played until 1:30 or so. I was very lucky and ended up winning with so many trips it was ridiculous. Groom luck.
Up at 4 a.m. to catch our 5:20 Lyft to SFO. I went in one car while Alice and her parents went in another. I had the Fatboy Junior Cargo Duffel with me and three other huge bags. We managed to check everything in, with the Fatboy costing an extra $200 because it was so wide and long. It was a relief getting all the wedding favors on board.
Our flight to Vancouver was quiet and easy. The limo picking up the Youngs tomorrow also picked us up and took us to our hotel. Alice found rooms through Hotwire after we realized our original airbnb plans wouldn't work. Our room was at the Sheraton Wall Centre in downtown Vancouver. Ada and Charles were at the Rosedale on Robson Suite Hotel. Both hotels were very nice. We checked in around noon, brought our bags to our room, then headed to Chinatown for lunch, where we met up with Al Hunter and his wife Rae.
Alice was trying to remember the restaurant we went to with Chris a few years ago, but the restaurant she found was unrelated. It was fine nonetheless. We walked up a flight of stairs to a business lunch spot and took a booth in the back. Al and Rae met us a few minutes later. They’d been in Vancouver all week, going to restaurants, golfing, and enjoying a week of beautiful weather. The night before, they went to Tojo’s, their favorite sushi restaurant that had been recommended to them by Chris. At $170 per person, Tojos is pricey, but Al considers it the best sushi he’s ever had.
We ordered several dishes (noodle, soup, pork ribs, rice) and talked about tomorrow’s cruise. Al and Rae's week in Vancouver had been spectacular and the cruise was a fitting way to wrap up such a wonderful vacation.
After lunch, we returned to our hotel, then checked Ada and Charles into their hotel on Robson Street before coming back to the Wall Centre for a short nap. Unfortunately, the sunny weather had changed to clouds and an increased chance of rain. We missed the sun by a day.
While resting before dinner, a knock came at our door. An attendant brought in a bottle of wine and chocolate covered strawberries for us, courtesy of Ozzy, the Sheraton manager who checked us in. She’d worked at Royal Wedding Events prior to her current job and was happy and excited for us. It was such a kind and thoughtful gesture! We saved the wine for the cruise and I ate a few of the strawberries…so good!
Dinner was at Alice’s cousin Loretta and her husband Stanley’s house in North Vancouver, about 30 minutes or so away from our hotel. We had a full spread awaiting us, including a suckling pig, delicious salads, and a mango cake.
It was an enjoyable evening. Elaine, Wayman, Nathan, Bill and Vicky were there. We ate, told stories, and prepared wedding favors – wife cakes that Elaine had picked up for Alice.
We stayed until 10:15, then took a cab back to the hotel. Austin took the late-night flight into Vancouver and made it to the hotel around midnight. Alice had a plate of food ready for him.
I fell asleep around 12:30 and slept the rest of the night.
Work was quiet today, thankfully! I had to put together the Trivial Pursuit game that I'll throw Saturday evening on the ship. With that done and the PowerPoint done, I should be all finished. I stayed up until 11 finishing the slideshow. We have so many bags, like the well-to-do from another era. Bags, bags, and more bags.
Sad news yesterday that Kent Rosenblum died this week. And Neal Fowler's father, who had suffered from Alzheimer's Disease the past few years.
I had to give a presentation at noon, so most of the morning was spent preparing for that. It was busy in the afternoon, but I was able to complete a few tasks. Three days until the cruise begins and so much left to do! I came home and went non-stop until 11.
Racquetball in the morning with Ari, three games to 15. Work was quiet (luckily), so I was able to spend all day working on cruise stuff. Came home and continued working.
Woke up at 5:25 and drove home to pack clothes and pick up my backpack with the thumb drive for all my labels. It took about three hours to pack, shower, and head back to SF. Alice was still asleep when I arrived, but woke up soon after. We went to Peet's and Noah's for breakfast, then came back and set to work on another solid day of wedding favors. We didn't finish until 8 p.m. So glad the assembly is behind me! I have to say, they look great!
All 66 of these fit in two big bags, my PartyPoker suitcase (fully expanded) and the new Fat Boy Jr. 40" Cargo duffle.
I then printed out all the wine list menus for Saturday and Sunday, all receipts that will be attached to the bag on the ship, and then cleaned up. Bed by 10:15. Exhausted.
