Wow! I'm just now getting around to putting up the Lazy Bear trip update. I left town on the 11th and headed to Seattle. On the 12th I took a test at Bates College in Tacoma for a list that 8 fire departments will draw from, let's just hope they are hiring! With that done I began to prepare for my Lazy Bear trip. I would be driving down there with J.D. in my car and Steve and his buddy Andrew, who was visiting from England, in Steve's Explorer. After prepping the car for the trip (155,000 miles and running like a top) we headed out Tuesday night after J.D. got off work. We made it a short first leg, stopping at my farmer buddy Steve's house in Canby. He welcomed us with a long soak in the hot tub. After another soak in the hot tub the next morning we headed south again. A sunny 7 or so hours later we were in Redding CA. We found a hotel for the night and continued the next morning. We arrived in Guerneville that afternoon at Fife's resort, the headquarters for Lazy Bear. We checked in and set up our campsite. We had a nice site under the trees, and we put up our 10'x20' Costo tent. The sites on either side of us were occupied by friends from Seattle and San Francisco. This was my first Lazy Bear and I didn't know what to expect. I was certainly not disappointed with the 4 days that followed. We purchased our 'Bear Tags' that helped raise over $110,000 that weekend. The also got us 50 cent beers at the pool every day! I've never spent so much time in the sun, and with my shirt off the whole time no less. Friday night we walked down to club FAB for 'Stink', a parody of the traditional Saturday night dance called 'Sweat'. Great music was spun while we danced below projected images from that days pool party and 'Lady Bear Parade' (go Martin!). Saturday found us once again at the pool for more beer and dancing. That evening, instead of going to 'Sweat' for $20, Martin set up his turntables (they had a power cord to their campsite) and Bundy set up his CDJ's. Add some powered speakers and some Christmas lights strung over head, and instant dance floor. We moved our bodies to the beats till the Fire Marshall showed up and pulled the plug! So we headed off to the bonfire for a couple hours. Sunday was the one of the biggest days for the pool party, with lots of locals from San Francisco and Sacramento showing up. More dancing, more beer and more bears! That evening was 'Foam' at club FAB. If you've never been to a 'Foam' dance, it's worth the experience. Check your clothes after stripping to your shorts and then lather yourself with baby oil (the foam will dry you out otherwise) and hit the dance floor. Two large machines spewed foam on the crowd while we danced. We left around midnight to get over to the bonfire to hear Martin spin at the Bunkhouse. Damn he can spin the vinyl! After dancing for a couple hours I headed to the tent to catch some shut eye. Monday we slowly got in gear and packed our stuff for the trip home. We drove down to San Francisco to spend the night. We hung out at the Lonestar with a large group who had been at Lazy Bear, a great way to wind down the trip. The next day, after breakfast in the Castro (Thanks to MikeNetExtreme who ever you are, for letting us piggy back on your wireless network to check mail with my laptop) we headed north. We couldn't leave California without hitting In N Out Burger for lunch. We made it to the Bear Mountain campground near Lake Shasta before dark. We set up our tent in the 106 degree heat, yuck!, and then headed into Redding for a movie and some food, anything to get away from the heat! The next morning we hid from the heat using our AC, till we crossed into Oregon, where it was cool(er) and breezy. We spent another night at Steve's in Canby, where Rick and Andrew made us an incredible dinner spread before we dropped into the hot tub. The following day we packed Steve into my car and made the last leg of the trip to Seattle. Andrew stayed behind to do some windsurfing in the Dalles, know world wide for it's windsurfing. I spent a couple relaxing days in Seattle before heading home to Spokane. The most memorable thing about Lazy Bear will be all the new friends I made. Bob, Andy, Martin, Jason, Todd, Kyle, David, Kyros, Marco, Jason and Marciano, and many more! Plus I got to party with many of my friends from near and far. Trust me, Lazy Bear 2004 is not to be missed next year. See you there!
Wanna see pictures? Well then click on the picture below to see my photo gallery.