[This is Part 9 in the multi-part epic describing the wedding I attended at the beginning of August 2002. Previous episodes: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8]

Saturday, August 3, 2002. The Longview Luxury Suite, as the sky grew dark. People piled into the minivan, C3PO. Destination: the church where the wedding was to occur. From there, the groomsmen would go to the bachelor party.

Just as I stepped into the minivan to take a seat, my cell phone rang. I stepped back outside so I could answer it without interrupting everybody else's conversation. On the other end, I thought I heard bouncing, but only faintly. I tried talking to him, but couldn't get a clear response, and then lost the signal, so I tried calling him back. The minivan was about to leave, so I re-entered my seat.

It was only when I was back in the van that I realized that bouncing was in the seat directly behind me as his cell phone rang. What the...?

To the great amusement of the other passengers of the vehicle, I asked bouncing why he had called me. He denied having done so, but it was clear my phone had rang, and the caller id had shown him as the source. My theory: He accidentally pushed the autodial while his phone was in his pocket. Aside from the highly unlikely possibility that there was a major anomaly by our cell phone providers, it is the only reasonable explanation.

At the church, we moved various tables, pianos, and other furniture around so that all would be ready for the events on the following day. At one point, I theorized to scottgalvin.com that after this was all over, we should all watch Four Weddings and a Funeral. A most amusing thought, given the circumstances.

After the tables had been put in place, the floors cleaned, the stage arranged, and all items in position, we were cleared to leave.

The question as to which vehicle we would use was uncertain. Initially, the plan had been to take Yanthor's rental vehicle, but there was no way everyone was going to fit in that car. We were given clearance to use C3PO, and all the groomsmen, plus all the other guys who were more or less officially involved in the event, managed to squeeze in. Jaeger drove, I rode shotgun, and everone else... squeezed.

Let's see if I can remember the entire roster. I'm sure I'll forget somebody, but I think it went as follows: Jaeger, Bitscape, Humblik, scottgalvin.com, Nemo, bouncing, Captain Logan, Yanthor.

Though Jaeger drove, I was navigating, since I was the one who theoretically knew what we were doing. "Turn left here.... Turn right here.... Go.... THAT way."

I attempted to give directions based on what I remembered from the conversation with $bridesmaids[2], but after a few minutes of wandering around Longviwe, across the bridge, on the right/left/wherever, it became clear that I had absolutely no idea where anything was. Doh.

scottgalvin.com whipped out his cell phone and attempted to the location of a Longview bowling alley from information. He got something resembling instructions, which we attempted to follow.

More wandering ensured. At this point, I was kicking myself, thinking, I really, REALLY should have gotten those directions written down.

But then, somebody spotted something out the window, and said, "There! A bowling alley!" It didn't correspond to the address scottgalvin.com had received, nor was it in anything resembling the location I had gotten directions to. But sure enough. There was a bowling alley.

We circled around, parked in the parking lot, and entered. The person at the counter informed us that they would be running a special rock-n-roll glow in the dark bowling beginning a little later in the evening. (23:00?) This seemed like a good deal, but in the mean time, we had a few minutes to kill.

One of the other ideas for the evening which had been theorized earlier had been to watch the Worst Scifi Series Ever. Either Jaeger or Captain Logan (or both?) had thought of this as a possible activity, and having a few minutes to kill presented the perfect opportunity.

The group returned to the Longview Luxury Suite. We only had a key to the groomsmen's quarters, so we couldn't enter the main house. But we managed to find a suitable tv and VCR there, Captain Logan retrieved the movie, and everyone gathered 'round to view the classic epic series. Not a traditional bachelor party by any stretch of the imagination, but everyone in attendance was enjoying it, and that was what counted.

After the movies, it was back to the bowling alley!

When we arrived, rock n roll bowling was already in progress. Upon approaching the counter, and confirming the prices, I mentally added up how much the total bill would be for the group, and compared it to the mental image of my bank balance. Yes, I could afford it. Though it hadn't been part of the plan, paying it all on one ticket would greatly simplify and expedite things, so I decided to act in my official capacity as best man, and cover the tab.

Having said this, I was then shocked to find out that they didn't accept Visa. (So much for all those silly commercials about being "everywhere you want to be.") I certainly didn't have that much cash on me. But no worries. They were able to direct me to an ATM right outside across the parking lot. Foreign ATM fees. Bah. This would be worth it. It was Jaeger's bachelor party. A once in a lifetime event.

The ever-merry scottgalvin.com accompanied me to the ATM, where I successfully made a withdrawl. By the time we got back, everyone else was putting on shoes, choosing balls, and getting set for the game. I paid the amount due, quickly changed shoes, and searched with Yanthor for the perfect bowling ball.

The games began in short order. There were widely varying degrees of skill between people in our group. Humblik was by far the most consistently high scorer. He had been getting a lot of practice back home. I hadn't completely lost my touch, and managed to do fairly respectively, though I don't remember the exact scores.

I think we managed to get through about 2 and a half games before the time ran out. The bowling itself was fun, though I could have done without the annoying adolescents a couple lanes over who kept trying to trash talk us. (Our solution: Ignore the idiots.)

At random intervals, the house would announce that if such-and-such lane managed to meet such-and-such challenge, they would get a free game. No one in our group ever won these; I don't think we were necessarily paying that much attention to it anyway. At any rate, we managed to roll a bunch of balls, knock down lots of pins, and cheered each other on whenever somebody got a strike or spare. It was bowling.

After the bowling concluded, scottgalvin.com managed to convince the attendants to give him the microphone and announced his congratulations to the groom over the bowling alley's sound system.

After bowling, we returned to the Longview Luxury Suite, where the main house had been opened up. We went into the kitchen and got some midnight snacks consisting of english muffins and butter. There were lots of english muffins in the fridge.

Shortly after eating, everyone dispersed to their sleeping quarters. The following day, the central event whose existence had given occassion to the entire gathering was scheduled to occur.

Before going to bed, I asked Jaeger if it would be possible to gain access to the garage at the Stone Estate before the photography session in the morning. A plan for a "theme" had begun to form in my head. We just needed to get the hardware to do it.

For once, I managed to fall straight to sleep, and slept until dawn, only waking up once to unlock the door through which the rediculously obese feline could enter. The night came and went in a flash.

[Coming: Part 10 -- Pre-ceremony Arrangements.]