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Seb and Sara's wedding 1

In the midst of all these myriad preparations for a Round the World trip my son, Sebastian, married his long term girlfriend Sara.

I have to confess to being a little nervous about their preparations as they only had three weeks to pull it off.

However, the whole day unfolded flawlessly and it was a joyous and loving occasion for everyone who attended.

It took place in a Redwood Grove outside Occidental in Northern California and the weather gods were smiling, it was 70 degrees on January the 29th.

We all stayed in Sebastopol the night before and set off from the hotel at about 10.00 am. The drive proved challenging as we seem to have forgotten how to read maps these days, too much reliance on technology which works fine when one can receive a signal, but when the signal fades…then what. However all was well and we didn’t let the side down by arriving late. We were met in the parking lot by a well dressed “greeter” who gave us directions to the Grove and as we walked through the Redwoods we could feel our nerves dissipate.

Sebastian's Superman cloak.

Sebastian and Sara’s helpers (aka The Crew) had prepared the Grove magnificently. There were artifacts from each of their childhoods spread around for all to see, I was amused to see Seb’s Superman cloak from when he was five.

Sara arrived through the woods on the arm of her Father and she really looked radiant. Those big eyes were like beacons of delight, and the Ceremony began.

The Ceremony

I could wax on endlessly about the candle moment, the Water moment, the smoke moment and the after party but it will suffice to know that the whole event was wonderful, I enjoyed every moment and will treasure the memory for the rest of my life.

Thanks to Seb and Sara and now I have a plane to catch !

This is how I will look. Say Hi if you see me.

Nerve wracking visit to the Office that issues visas for India today wondering if I had filled all the paperwork in correctly.

Just completing the form online was stressful, have I got it all right.

Where was my passport issued ? I don’t know and my passport doesn’t tell me. Panic. So made it up, London, though I now recollect it was renewed in LA.

Its $76.00 for US citizens $77.00 for Green Card holders. Huh.

Go to the passport photo shop “What size would you like your passport photos UK or US” WHAT ? Staff settled on UK size. Well OK, but will it work?

Oh look, PO Box number on Driver’s License, that won’t do. Off to DMV where the line was out the door. 1st day of New Year. Fortunately knowledgeable lady knew exactly what to do and gave me a copy of my DMV record which showed Residence as well as mailing address. Will it work ?

Go to Bank for required money order, showed relevant page to teller on iPad. “But it says $76.00 sir” I know I know but I have a Green Card so it is $77.00. More panic, have I got it right?

So bravely head for San Francisco with Mapquest directions to 965 Mission in hand. Fabulously brilliant day on the Bay, gorgeous views from Bridge. Up and over Divisidero, left at Geary and head down town. Then. Mistake.

Decided that I wanted to be on Market, so parked and set off to look for #965. Large hole where #965 should have been, then realized my panic induced error. I AM ON THE WRONG STREET.

Fortunately it is only a block over to Mission and I entered office 10 minutes before my appointment time, joined queue, papers blessed by Receptionist, Money Order accepted by cashier, Visa will be Fedex’d in 5 working days. That’s it. I did it. Haha.

On the way out of the office I met a chatty couple who had overheard me talking about my itinerary and asked when I would be in Goa. Seems they will be there a month before me. They were called Mr and Mrs Raver and I didn’t bat an eyelid !

So happy with my success that I stopped by the Bridge at Vista Point and joined all the smiling tourists.