2012 Thus Far...Weddings

By Julia

2012 did not disappoint in the wedding department!  We enjoyed celebrations of friends old and new in barns, under tents, in cocktail dresses and in saris.  Here are some photo highlights:

Megan & Daniel

June 16, 2012

Megan and I became friends last year after being set up through our moms, who are friends in New Jersey.   Megan and Daniel got hitched on a gorgeous day at Bliss Farm in Moretown, VT.  I managed to insinuate myself into the DIY wedding by helping with the wedding flowers, which came from a local farm.  Megan and Daniel won the "Closest to Home" wedding award for this year!  Their trophy was a porcelain gravy boat. 

Megan and Daniel toast on a hilltop overlooking the Green Mountains

Megan and her Middlebury acapella girls sing a tune

"This barn wedding feels familiar somehow..."

Erica & James

August 25, 2012

Erica and James celebrated their union at Erica's family home in Potsdam, New York.  Erica is one of Tom's oldest friends.  I was sad to miss this wonderful sunflower party!  The following pictures were taken by our friends, Donald and Sara.

All LaFountain weddings feature a tractor ride!

Tom toasts the happy couple

Erica and James take a spin

Wonderful, rustic outdoor seating

Guests released paper lanterns at dusk - so pretty!

Elizabeth & David

September 1, 2012

Elizabeth is one of Tom's friends from Colby, and it was wonderful to finally meet so many of Tom's college friends in one place!  Elizabeth and David's celebration was a picture-perfect New England wedding: from the white chapel where they exchanged vows to the country club reception setting.

Elizabeth & David

Elizabeth and the Colby ladies (of which Tom is an honorary)

What a shot!

Dhruv & Stephanie

September 15, 2012

 If you had told me in 2010 that I would finally get to attend my elusive Indian wedding (see India: No Weddings, No Whitewater) in Oklahoma City, I might have balked.  But this is where my dear Kamp Kohut friend Dhruv chose to wed Stephanie.  This self-described HinJew celebration had it all: Saris!  Chuppahs!  Bangles! An awesome Michael Jackson cover band!  My camp friends and I had so much fun we had to request a late checkout from our hotel on Sunday...

The setting: The Oklahoma History Center

Stephanie (center) wore a white gown for the ceremony and an Indian lengha for the reception

Dhruv and his sister, Nayantara

Our lobster mascot reenacts Sunday morning...

Resurrecting W&W

By Julia

 After the wedding (see last post), Tom and I decided to let Weddings and Whitewater fade into a fond memory - a keepsake from our trip.  I originally thought that since we were back from our trip and married, I wouldn't have anything to blog about.  Well, rather, I wouldn't have anything to blog about that other people would want to read.

  But after a very eventful year, I realized that I still want to share pictures and stories in a forum more intimate than Facebook.  There is a tool for every type of sharing these days, and I miss writing about our goings-on and reflecting upon what has transpired.  

 I've also learned that I'm a terrible record keeper.  I've purchased beautiful diaries only to loose interest after a few pages.  I've actually taken to tearing out the few diary entries and repurposing the journal into a medium for my many and endless lists.  Grocery, to-do, to-make-Tom-do etc.  The blogs I've kept, however, give a little extra incentive to sit down and write since I know people (most likely my parents and sisters) will be checking in for updates.  My mom recently dug out a journal from when my sister was a newborn.  We laughed at her insights and perspectives at the time and it reminded me of how important it is to keep a written record of our lives.  It allows us to laugh at our ignorance as we grow older and wizened! 

 So with renewed zeal for blogging and a year's worth of undocumented witty insights, I'm delighted to announce the resurrection of Weddings and Whitewater*!

*Now with more weddings than ever before!

  

A VERMONT WEDDING

By Julia & Tom
Stowe, Vermont

 The day finally came, and it was perfect - Friends, family, good vibes, amazing weather and a kick-ass band!  Here are a few pictures in case you couldn't be there with us:

The Girls

The Boys

The ceremony was held under an arbor my dad made, over looking the Green Mountains of Vermont

Picnic-Style Cocktail Hour

Thank you to all our friends and family who attended.  And for those of you who we met along the way, you were there with us in spirit!

Favorites Around the World

By Julia
Stowe, VT

  I have been planning this post since we've returned, but the tiny hiccup of planning a wedding has prevented me from remembering to do so.  But now with only a few days to spare before the Big Day, I am now finding this blog post a convenient distraction from "moving tables" or "cross-checking meal selections".

  And now, without further ado,

Tom and Julia's Official Trip Superlatives:

Favorite Small Villages/Towns
Julia

1. Luang Prabang, Laos

2. Goreme, Turkey

3. Little Corn Island, Nicaragua

Honorable Mention: Hoi An, Vietnam
Tom:

1. Goreme, Turkey

2. Luang Prabang, Laos

3. Wanaka, New Zealand

Goreme, Turkey

Favorite Cities
Julia:

1. London, UK

2. Granada, Nicaragua

3. Hanoi, Vietnam
Honorable Mention: Wellington, NZ

Tom:

1. London, UK

2. Hanoi, Vietnam

3. Istanbul, Turkey

London, UK

Favorite Region
Julia:

1.  Lepcha Villages/Sikkim, India

2.  Isla de Ometempe, Nicaragua

3.  Aegean Coast, Turkey

Tom:

1.  Aegean Coast, Turkey

2.  Greater Darjeeling Area, India

3.  Little Corn Island, Nicaragua

Lepcha Village Visits, Darjeeling, India

Favorite Tourist Attractions

Julia:
1.  Taj Mahal, India

2.  Waterfall/Bear Rescue Center outside Luang Prabang

3.  Bhaktapur, Nepal
Tom:

1.  Taj Mahal, Agra, India

2.  Blue Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey

3.  Choko Dhani, Jaipur, India

Favorite Cultural Activities

Julia:
1. School Visits; Lepcha Villages, India

2. Thai Cooking Class; Chiang Mai, Thailand

3. Yoga Ashram; Rishikesh, India

Honorable Mention: Fishing with Locals; Nong Kiau, Laos

Tom:

1. School Visits; Lepcha Villages, India

2. Indian Classical Music Performance; Rishikesh, India

3. National Ballet and Orchestra; Hanoi, Vietnam

Cooking School in Thailand

Best Meals

Julia:
1. Red Curry with Giant Prawn; Morning Glory Restaurant, Hoi An, Vietnam

2. Crayfish Dinner, Bernie and Anne’s House, Wanaka, New Zealand

3. Lobster Tails; Bridget’s Café, Little Corn Island, Nicaragua

Honorable Mention: Every meal in Thailand

Tom:

1. Thai Cooking School Meal; Chiang Mai, Thailand

2. Spiral Pastry with tomato sauce; Goreme, Turkey

3. Chicken Amok; Les Orientalistes, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Beef salad with sticky rice in Vietnam

Best Non-Alcoholic Drinks

Julia:
1. Pineapple-Coconut Smoothie; Ethos Café, Bangkok, Thailand

2. Chai Tea; Everywhere in India and Nepal

3. Fresh Coffee, Jinotega, Nicaragua

Honorable Mention: Apple Tea in Turkey

Tom:

1. Mixed Berry Smoothie; Chiang Mai, Thailand

2. Mango-Mint Smoothie; Pai, Thailand

3. Pineapple-Coconut Smoothie; Ethos Café, Bangkok, Thailand

Best Alcoholic Drinks

Julia:
1. Rippon Winery Special Reserve Pinot Noir

2. Invercargill Brewery Wasp Pilsner
3. Dead Man Brewery Blonde Ale
Tom:

1. Monteith’s Summer Ale

2. Invercargill Brewery’s Black Ale

3. Freehouse’s Wit Beer

Beer and New Zealand, they go together well!

Favorite Hotels

Julia:
1. Miss Anne’s, Hoi An, Vietnam

2. Casa Iguana, Little Corn Island, Nicaragua

3. Lazy Cow, Murchinson, New Zealand

Honorable Mention: Krishna Palace, Jaipur, India AND Casa Blanco, Montazuma, Costa Rica

Tom:

1. Taksiyarhis Pansiyon, Ayvalik Turkey

2. Casa Iguana, Little Corn Island, Nicaragua

3. Miss Anne’s Place, Hoi An, Vietnam

Ah, Ayvalik

Best Hikes

Julia:
1. Annapurna Base Camp Trek (8 days), Nepal

2. Routeburn Track (1 day), New Zealand

3. Heaphy Track (5 days), New Zealand

Tom:

1. Anapurna Base Camp, Nepal

2. Copo Blanco, Costa Rica

3. Heaphy Trek, New Zealand

Annapurna Base Camp, Nepal

Favorite Outdoor Activities (non-hiking)

Julia:
1. Scuba Diving; Little Corn Island, Nicaragua

2. Mountain Biking; Goreme, Turkey

3. Rafting the Paquare River, Costa Rica

Tom:

1. Rafting the Bota Kosi River, Nepal

2. Scuba Diving, Little Corn Islands

3. Mountain Biking, Goreme, Turkey

Snorkeling Little Corn Island

Best Natural Attractions

Julia:
1. The Himalayas!

2. Waterfalls and Rainforest of Montazuma, Costa Rica

3. Karsts, Laos and Vietnam

Tom:

1. The Himilayas, Nepal

2. Milford Sound, New Zealand

3. Fairy Chimneys, Goreme Turkey

Milford Sound, New Zealand

Favorite Human-Altered Landscapes

Julia:
1. Mushroom Houses of Cappadocia, Turkey

2. Tea Plantations of Darjeeling, India

3. Rice Paddies of Pokhara, Nepal

Favorite Days

Julia:
1. Thanksgiving, Luang Prabang, Laos

2. Staying on the Vineyard in Bozcaada, Turkey

3. Motorbiking with Suzanne in Jinotega, Turkey

Tom:

1. Fun Day in Luang Prabang, Laos

2. Julia’s Birthday celebration, Little Corn Island, Nicaragaua

3. Touring Bozgada with Emere and friends

Bozcaada, Turkey

Favorite Transport:

Julia
1. Quantas Flight NZ - LA

2. Slow Boat, Mekong River, Laos

3.  Bicycles in Luang Prabang, Laos

Tom:

1. Motorbiking on Koh Chang, Thailand

2. Royal Nepal Airlines, Kathmandu to Bangkok

3. Bicycle Rickshaw, Varanasi, India

Mekong slow boat, Laos

Memorable Characters

Julia:
1.  Bernie
2.  Nerd Cruise crew
3.  Rob and Silvia (who just had a baby!)
Tom:
1. Bernie

2. Steve

3. Anup

oh, Bernie!

Our Internet Stalker and Other Blog Friends

By Julia
Stowe, Vermont

  I will be the first to admit there are few things more self-indulgent than keeping a blog.  But we live in the age of the digital fishbowl, and Tom and I figured the most non-intrusive way of keeping people updated on our travels would be this blog.  I'm so happy we decided to put in the effort - In addition to having a written record of our feelings, experiences and reflections, we have recently realized there was another perk to the blog: inspiring others.

High Tea in Jaipur with Insta-Friends Emily and Josh

  I have a friend from college named Jason who started researching an extended trip around the time Tom and I left for Central America (a year ago last week!).  He used me and some other friends as travel resources and ended up traveling throughout Southeast Asia and New Zealand in the fall and early part of 2011.  We ended up getting together for drinks and an excellent drag show in Bangkok!

Not sure what I was going for in this picture, but it's the only one I have of Jason and me

  I have another friend from college, Dan, who had a great career in marketing and was living in New York.  A few months ago I got an e-mail from him telling me he was quitting his job and planned to travel in Southeast Asia for 2 months this summer.  I gave him a few tips and before I knew it I got an email from Thailand.  He's currently getting his SCUBA certification on the island of Koh Tao.  He too is blogging: http://seasabbatical.blogspot.com/

  Over the past few weeks of wedding-related travel, we've had many friends and friends of friends let us know they were following us on our travels.  They'd list their favorite pictures from the blog or retell one of our stories.  It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know our pictures and tales were appreciated.  In one particularly heart-warming instance, my friend Adam's mother Karen explained at his wedding that she was not only reading our blog, but reading it aloud to her elderly mother, with whom she speaks on the phone every night.  "It was like being able to read a story to her," she told us.

  We were able to meet Adam's grandmother at the wedding, and we felt like mini-celebrities as Karen whispered who we were into her mother's ear and her eyes lit up.  She beamed as she shook our hands.

    Our most delightful blog-related encounter was also our most unusual.  We received a few e-mails from strangers throughout the trip, most of whom were related to a friend or relative.  The very last day of our trip, however, we got an e-mail from a complete stranger from Washington D.C..  The author of the e-mail, Emily, explained that she had found our blog and had started following us.  She was quitting her Hill Staffer job and planning her own RTW trip.  She said she used our blog for information and inspiration.  She told us, "Thanks to your advice, I will take lots of pictures when my hair looks good and not skip Turkey, among many other things of course!"


  The universe soon brought Emily, who kept apologizing for "internet stalking" us,  to Vermont, and we decided to grab a beer together in Burlington.  Tom, Emily and I got along fabulously from the very moment we met on the steps of the Vermont Pub and Brewery.  "Where are you staying?" I asked.  Emily explained she was staying in a motel in South Burlington.  "Um, you should probably come up to Stowe tomorrow and stay with us."  After a little convincing from Tom about getting used to accepting the kindness of strangers while traveling, Emily agreed to join us in Stowe the next day.   The three (well...four including Sylvester) spent a spectacular summer day playing by the creek, enjoying dinner on the porch, and watching the darkness fall over the mountains in front of a campfire in the backyard.  Read Emily's alternate account of the meeting here: http://shenanighans.blogspot.com/2011/06/community-of-travelers.html

Me, Tom, Emily and Sylvester (This is not a very flattering blog post for me, but oh well)

   So in addition to all the friends we made while traveling, we made a few just by blogging!  I can't wait to follow Emily's adventures through our old stomping grounds, and feel grateful the Internet Gods brought such a cool girl into our lives.   We wish her an incredible trip abroad!


  Who knew blogging could create and strengthen ties to our family and friends?  Here we thought we would just be using the blog to tell our story, and instead the blog helped create the story itself.

A Hometown Wedding

By Tom
Stowe, Vermont

This weekend, Julia and I headed home for the wedding of one of my closest childhood friends, Pascale, to her husband Thomas.  It was not only a fun, lively, and beautiful wedding weekend, but it was also a chance to see good friends from growing up that I haven't seen in years.

Thomas is German and his father, a Lutheran Minister, performed the ceremony in English and German.  Pascale is half Dutch and many of her family members were visiting from Holland, so there were a plethora of languages spoken throughout the celebrations.

The LaFountain family put a tremendous amount of work into completely revamping the family barn for the reception, all the way down to re-siding and repainting the entire barn, inside and out.  Though there were so many things to like about this wedding, one of Julia and my personal favorites was the 'get-away car'.  Pascale's brother Nick brought their tractor into town to the chapel, pulling a wagon behind it.  Nick drove them away from the wedding on the tractor, with a couple of Pascale's cousins (from a family of 5 brothers who all play string music professionally) strumming bluegrass on banjo and fiddle in the trailer with them.  A grand time was had by all in Potsdam.

Pascale takes a quiet moment to gather herself before walking down the aisle

An exciting moment for Pascale's father Roger

Cousin Theo, one of the talented Marks brothers, plays banjo in back of the tractor

The happy newly-weds leaving the ceremony

Pascale and Thomas arrive at the reception

The new American Gothic

Erica, sister to the bride, with her boyfriend James 

Erica blows bubbles at the bride and groom

One of the younger wedding attendees, dressed to the nines

Pascale and Thomas looking out from the second floor of the barn