Headed over a few mountain passes to Vail, Colorado for my niece's wedding to a pretty neat guy, I might say. Daughter #1 and her boyfriend met us there, so it was just me, Jon, Daughter #2 and....
a big 6 point bull elk rack.
Uh-huh, an elk. My brother's rack I talked about HERE, that traveled with us from Wyoming to South Dakota into Nebraska, back into Wyoming and then down the Rockies to SW Colorado, a few years ago.
This weekend it traveled again, at the request of our niece., to help decorate a patch of forest for her rehearsal dinner.
Towards Lizard Head Pass we went, slowly through the town of Rico, where word is the judge is a mean "son of a gun".
We skirted past Telluride, made our way up and over the Dallas Divide...
where we lucked out with the construction that warned of the possibilities of 30 minute delays.
where we found my family setting up...
and then when the party was ready to start, out came the flannel, it's a Colorado thing.
As is elk, which not only was part of the decoration, it was part of the meal. Shot by my brother in Wyoming and prepared by my mother and sister, echoing twenty five years ago.For my wedding, nestled below Longs Peak and Estes Park, elk grazed outside the church windows and we had elk stroganoff..
Cast iron skillets, Le Creuset and red checkered table clothes has also always been a part of my family. As is putting all we have into cooking and food....
And how wonderful it is to be blessed with like minded souls who know the importance of a feast for the eyes as well as the palette.
Beautiful food brings beautiful fellowship and weddings bring together those who do not always get to feast together...
to visit and play together...
With the cool evening air, the fires are a gathering place, to talk and avoid the embers as the wind changes direction.
And as the sun sets, the fires provide light, with Coleman lanterns situated here and there...
A harsh flash of a camera, capturing and disrupting the flow of the evening...
The images from the firelight much more interesting and kind in the dark of the night...
Wedding's merge people and families. Feasting brings people together and in my family, it seems that more often than not, that happens in the mountain. Like I said it is a Colorado thing, although now that I think about it, was there green chilies?
