Somewhere on a desert highway

Maupin is a very small town. So small that I had to call every hotel/lodge to reserve every single room that I could. 3 were already booked for next summer and I was worried that there might not be enough for our guests and then FH reminded me that there is a lot of camping and, well, not everyone is going to come even though it's going to be the best wedding ever.

Maupin has a total of 45 rooms for hire each night plus probably another 50 tent sites and a dozen RV hook-ups (charming) and I have them all held until we decide where we are getting hitched.

Besides the 4 hotels/lodges there are about 5 restaurants/places to eat. 2 Fly shops. 1 coffee shop. 1 church. 1 school. A fish hatchery. And a lot of rafting companies.

And we love it. We have embarked on some of our most fun fishing and rafting adventures from Maupin. It's in a river canyon but on the high desert, so it's very dry. It's kind of a ranch town or used to be long ago.

The Imperial River Company and Lodge is where we would have our wedding. They do pretty much everything (food, liquor, tables, chairs, etc.) so it's a big commitment once we choose them. The only package that we have even considered. And no, it's not cheap, although I am sure it's worth it. They raise their own cows and sheep for meat on their nearby ranch and the lodge was recently redone. They have been great to work with so far and they say they can accomodate my menu wishes and special wine order, which was making this decision easier until we started wavering over the money. It's a recession for god's sake. Who can afford a wedding?

Back to the vision: riverside wedding, bails of hay to sit on, old time piano music