This is a story about true love and sunburn, wildfires and cowboys, Rocky Mountains and Philadelphia cheesesteaks -- not necessarily in that order. But let’s start with true love, and by that I mean the “inconceivable” Princess Bride “as you wish” storybook kind that never happens in real life unless it really does. And when it does, you know it when you see it. And I saw it over the weekend in a place called Pagosa Springs, Colorado, where Steve Levy married Pam Hamilton in an American Indian style wedding ceremony beneath the trees on a mountainside surrounded by friends and family, including their six children (four of hers, two of his), who inspired the name of the newlywed’s ranch, Six Peaks.

You probably know Steve Levy from his 30-plus year career as a TV news reporter and anchor in Philadelphia . I, unfortunately, know him as a friend, which means that I have heard the same jokes for 30-plus years, as have Levy friends like Tampa achorman Bob Hite and former Eagles linebacker Frank Lemaster, who flew from Florida and Pennsylvania to attend the wedding, not because they are his friends as much as because they really really like his new wife. Steve and Pam (who he calls Pinky and she loves him in spite of this nickname) live in a part of Colorado that is so remote, that after you land in Denver it’s six hours away by car -- if you’re lucky. If you’re not lucky, like my travelling companion Tom Kubovsak and I were due to wildfires that closed the only mountain pass leading to Pagosa Springs, what should have been a mere Philadelphia to Pittsburgh drive from the Denver airport turned into a Philadelphia to Chicago distance drive during a 250 miles detour through northern New Mexico. It was during this 10 hour road trip that I discovered the microwave intensity of mile-high Colorado sunshine which burned my arms and face to a fetching shade of painful crimson.

Upon arriving in downtown Pagosa Springs, I discovered a tent on the side of the main road with a sign in front that said Philadelphia Cheesesteak Co. As you might imagine, I was suspicious of its authenticity, considering there was no “please speak English” sign out front, not to mention that I had already been warned about another local restaurant featuring a ‘’Philadelphia cheesesteak’ on a hamburger bun topped with Philadelphia brand cream cheese. But when I stepped into the tent to unmask the imposter, I discovered the real deal. Stacked on the floor were shipping boxes of Amoroso rolls. The owner, Joe Saedlo, grew up in Eastwick, and he orders all his ingredients from meat to peppers to rolls from the Italian Market in Philadelphia. He and his girlfriend, Cindi Nelson, have been operating the Philadelphia Cheesesteak Co. in Pagosa Springs for the past two summers. The only difference is that Joe uses a better cut of meat that Jim’s, Geno’s, Pat’s, Abner’s and other first name homegrown cheesesteak parlors .

As friends and viewers of Steve Levy have known for years, he sure talks funny for a boy from South Philly. He must have been frightened by a cowboy in his youth because he has spoken with a western twang as long as I’ve known him. Well, now he must be happier than a pig in ravioli because he is surrounded by the real deal. One of his wedding guests was a rodeo rider with the name -- I kid you not -- Buck Frisbee. Most of the other guests arrived by car and airplane and not horseback. But however they arrived, the wedding guests came away with the feeling that they had witnessed something sacred and special. True love between two good people. Even if one of them happens to be, you know, a dope.