I was in Milwaukee last weekend for my friend Nicole’s wedding. I met her when I lived in Austin. I drove up on Friday and attended the rehearsal dinner, where I mostly talked to Julieta and Nate. They’re married and used to work with Nicole. I had met them a few other times at events hosted by Nicole. We realized we were staying just 5 minutes from each other, so we ended up carpooling all weekend.

I rented an Airbnb with my friend Tuby, who was supposed to fly in from Austin late on Friday night. However, there were storms in Austin, so they departed late and she got stuck in Atlanta. Luckily, she was able to get on an early morning flight on Saturday and arrived in time for the wedding.

The wedding Mass was in the Basilica of St Josaphat. When we walked in, Tuby said that it looked like they were getting married in Vienna and she was very right. The basilica is beautiful, but they don’t have a heating system so we were all freezing, even though we had our coats on. I kept thinking about how cold Nicole and her bridesmaids had to be since they weren’t wearing coats. After Mass, we had a few hours before the reception, so Tuby and I had lunch with Julieta, Nate, and Sneha, Tuby’s friend who used to live in Austin.

The reception was very different than the reception at Isabella’s wedding last month. Dinner was very good, but when the dancing started, the latinas didn’t know what to do. They had a live band that mostly played slower songs that required partners to dance to. Dylan, who we met at our table, saved the day (or the night) by stepping in to lead a few dances.

On Sunday, after Mass and breakfast, I began my 3 day journey to Yellowstone. First stop, Okoboji, Iowa.