I have the new Thirsty Merc albumn to guide the two of us up. N8 is a big fan too, so that is a good start (his claim that they rate higher than Powderfinger is a gutsy call. It will take a few more listens to topple that musical giant).

When we hit the freeway, we lose any serious amount of traffic. That too is a good start. When we hit the Peats Ridge Exit, we loose the opportunity to see a car in front of us pretty much all the way to the house. That is a freakin awesome start!

N8 tells me that he was a little apprehensive at the thought of eating at the Kulnura truck stop. I tell him that I understand. It has a look about it that says “two week old pies, battling under heat lamps sold here!”. Reality is a different matter. Come about 6:20ish, we were both sitting at a picnic table tucking into one of those burgers that looks like it came straight from the picture on the wall. Frilly lettuce, well placed onions, good quality meat. Everything that McDonalds might claim to be but fails to deliver. We actually spend 5 or so minutes discussing the merits of the hamburger, and hamburgers in general.

Just two guys, out on a road trip, chatting about nothiing and everything. But one’s getting married. Soon this might all end…

(Sounds doom-laden doesn’t it. “Soon this might all end”. I chose to use these words to create a little tension in the story, but I know that the news is good. I know that the end I am talking about isn’t the end of the feature, but the end of the previews, which means that the movie is just beginning)

24 hours later. Was it really only 24 hours? We really did fit in a bit! A couple of drinks, made use of the pool table, a long, but still unfinished game of “Risk”, big breakfast, wine tasting, epic pub-lunch, Todd’s departure for a party & then a depressing (yet hope inducing) Rugby match on the TV.

Yes, only 24 hours later. Joel & M@, awesome guys as they are, are showing their potential for being nerds as they work out the percentage of probability for winning with every possible roll that you could have in a game of “Risk”. N8 and I are out on the balcony. He didn’t bring his guitar, but we still have the whisky and cigar that make this an official occason (Anyway, The Merc do the job just fine in the background). We talk about life, we talk about our faith, and of course, we talk about love.

(Is there anyway you can talk about the movements of love and not sound cliche? Maybe we spend so much time thinking about it that the concept as a whole carrys that taint? Well who said that originality had the monopoly on truth anyway?)

With N8 and Amy it is about growth. You can see two cool people who are going to make an awesome couple. I know I might loose some of the freedoms I have to catch up with him that I have now, but I gain so much more in seeing a friend be where he wants to be & with who he wants to be. Anyway, when was this ever about me? Seeing two people who are so happy to be together can’t help but make those around them happy too!

Saturday night comes to an end, Sunday rolls around. M@ sneaks away early and quietly. Breakfast, barbecued and brilliant. More vineyards to visit, an appointment with some classy chocolate & then a smooth drive back to the real world.
N8 said that the weekend will be one of his great wedding-time memories. I think I’ll remember it too. Watching a guy who is not quite married, but no longer single. I am almost as excited as him for Sept.10 to roll around! Like I said before, the preview is over, I’m ready for the movie to begin!

And I suspect this one has a very happy ending!

Postscript: This post was made possible by the awesome food at the Kulnura Onestop, and by Di Robertson (nee Ritchie), who pointed me toward Thirsty Merc Go and check out this vid of theirs here!