The Long Way to Wine

This weekend I had a plan. I was getting me some wine. Not just any wine. As much as I could drink from all sorts of different vendors. A sampling. A comparison. A tasting. Un dégustation, quoi. A damn good time. The Keystone Jazz & Wine Festival was going on, and I was going to be a part of.

So I recruited my future sister-in-law, and my good friend D from college, to go with me.

The morning went something like this:

D: I can't wait to see you, it's been so long! Sorry to make you drive all the way down south of Denver to pick me up.

me: No worries, it's totally worth it!

...20 minutes later...

me: I'm going to be a little late. I just came back home, I forgot my cell phone, and while I contemplated trying to go a day without it and live like the olden days all cell phone-less, I quickly realized it's my lifeblood and that really wouldn't work.

D: I understand. Those WERE dark days....

...30 minutes later...

me: HI! It's so good to see you, finally! What have you been up to?

D: Great! After I finished hanging off the bottoms of helicopters in Antarctica, and a quick trip through southeast Asia, I spent a couple months in a cabin under several feet of snow in Mammoth building fires to keep warm with a cute boy. What have you been up to?

me: Uh. I painted a wall in my house?

D: Wow, that's awesome. I've never painted a wall.

me: Well, it IS pretty complicated. What with all the taping and stuff.

D: Fascinating.

(Do you see why she's my friend?)

Future sister-in-law: I'm on a bus. I'll meet you for lunch?

Pizza: Good.

Us: Finally on our way up to the mountains.

Rain: I want to make your life as miserable as possible.

Tupac: Californiaaaa... knows how to part-ay....

Future sister-in-law: Can you really see out the windshield?

me: Kinda.

Rain: Lets up as soon as we arrive.

Temperature: Colder than you thought, suckas.

me: I fear you not. I will warm myself up with copious amounts of wine.

Ticket booth: Managed by the slowest fucking people EVER.

Wine: Once we finally get to it, very tasty.

Do you know that there's a wine called Little Black Dress? It's decent. And it's fun to drink, just for the label.

Words of wisdom for the day: If you go to a wine festival, and there are long lines in front of Every Single Booth except the wine from Texas, there is a reason.

Future sister-in-law: Tee hee. Maybe tipsy?

me: Definitely.

D: Should we shoot the next one?

me: Definitely.

Future sister-in-law: I think I will buy some artwork. Because it's pretty.

me: Me, too!

somewhere in the recesses of my brain: What are you doing? You have no money!

Wine: Suffocates that recessed part of brain.

Wine: Buy the artwork, it's pretty.

me: obliging.

I now own two very pretty photographs of trees and hills in Virginia. Uh. I'll need to get creative and find a place for those. Somewhere. Since they really don't match anything else in my house.

Festival: over.

us: back on the road.

We went and had dinner, and then saw Step Up, which was basically Save the Last Dance II, except the black guy was white. That's really the only difference. But since I loved the first one, I much appreciated the second one. Definitely go see it. Or better yet, rent it. There will be less chance of angsty pre-teens feeling the need to comment on every scene, making every other pre-teen in the audience giggle nervously, only egging on original young prick. I felt Very Old. And also: like I wanted to kick some adolescent ass.

Sunday I woke up, not hung over. BRILLIANT! I drank obscene amounts of wine, but felt no repercussions! OH! Drinking mid-day at wine festivals is the ONLY way to go, from here on out. I decree it to be so.