Indian Wells, California --- the Wedding, part one

Miramonte Resort and Spa, Indian Wells, CA

Roger here...  Other than the birth of our daughters and granddaughter, Dianne and I have just experienced the most joyous days of our marriage.  The next few posts will only give you a taste of the joy.  

For Dianne and me, these posts are similar to a diary.  They are important to us.  We attended numerous events over the four days of this destination wedding.

Wednesday --- Packing...   Let's start at the beginning.  We had been staying at the Emerald Desert RV Resort in Palm Desert, California with our dogs.  On Wednesday night we packed everything we intended to take to the Miramonte Resort in nearby Indian Wells.  

Don't you think we need to take our own coffee maker?  Ok, throw it on the pile.

Thursday morning --- The Move...  We took the dogs to the Barkingham Pet Hotel and Spa in the morning.  At 11:00 a.m. we picked up our daughter, Amanda, and our granddaughter, Kaia, at the Palm Springs Airport, ate lunch at a crowded In and Out Burger (a California tradition) and checked into our villa at the Miramonte Resort.  We left the girls at the villa to take showers while Dianne and I  drove back to the motorhome to load the pile of luggage into the car. We  arrived back at our villa just in time for Dianne and the girls to meet the bridesmaids and received Mehindi henna tattoos.

Thursday afternoon --- Mehindi

At 2:00 p.m. the bridesmaids (including Amanda), Kaia and Dianne went to Robyn's room for sessions with a Mehindi artist.  

Robyn's Ankle

Mehindi is an ancient Indian process in which an artist uses a henna paste to paint designs on ladies' hands, lower arms, and ankles.  The initial designs are black. The black paste hardens then after a few hours falls off.  A reddish-brown tattoo remains for up to two weeks.  All my girls, including Dianne, loved this.

Dianne's Hands and Arms

Amanda's Hand and Wrist

Kaia's Hands and Wrists

Robyn's Hand and Arm

While my three roommates were receiving their henna tattoos, I began to unpack and immediately discovered that I did not have much prep space in the bathroom for myself :-).  Oh well, a small price to pay.

Dianne, Amanda, and Kaia's space

This was my space.  I should be thankful that I had toothbrush and toothpaste space.  (Actually, they all used my toothpaste, so it really was not all mine.)

The resort was luxurious, as was our villa (despite my allotted bathroom space).  We had separate bedrooms, one with a living area.

We made good use of our private patio area during our four-night stay.  It was fun greeting our friends and Atul and Robyn's family and friends as they passed by.

Swimming Pool Cabanas in the Background

Thursday Evening --- Rehearsal Dinner...  The Rehearsal Dinner took place on a second floor terrace overlooking the pool and mountains.  

We had already met many of Atul's family as well as members of the wedding party.  The picture below is special to me --- to my right, Atul's father (Dr. Singh); on the far right, the father of Atul's brother-in-law, Clarence (a treasured member of the family who will be a life-long friend).

This is a photo of one of Atul's two sisters (Mimi) and Atul's beautiful niece (Simran).  They are both delightful people. 

I deeply regret that we did not get photos of several important people.  Atul's younger sister, (Rashmi), Rashmi's fiancé (Finn), Simran's brother (Inesh),  Mimi's husband (Scott).  I guess we were too busy enjoying our new family.

This is a photo of maid-of-honor (Linda), groomsman (Vikas), Atul and Robyn.  Drat!  We did not get pictures of best man (Ken) or groomsman (Lee).  Nor, did we get pictures of bridesmaids Abby or Amanda (our other daughter).  Later.  

We cannot end this post without a picture of the bride and groom.

The next post will cover the Friday-night Mehindi (Welcome) Party for all the guests, and the morning preparations for the two wedding ceremonies.

Pet Picture of the Day... 

Northern View (from the entrance gate)

It is nice that most RV parks now have enclosed dog parks for the canine guests.  Some are OK.  Some are nice.  Some are outstanding.

The dog park at the Emerald Desert RV Resort in Palm Desert, California sets a new standard (at least for us).  Lots of green grass for Bandido and Tequila and me to chase balls and each other and sniff (not me) the scents of previous visitors.  Outstanding.

Southern View