On Wisconsin!/Take Me Back To Chicago

[eggwards]

Finishing up my recent trip to Bears in the Woods...


Ed (suominorgebear) and I woke up - probably a little earlier than I would have thought. We showered up, got dressed and went out to see the others at the breakfast table. I have to tell you that I like the Monopoly cereal - it's Cinnamon Toast Crunch with marshmallow pieces. Other people commented on the connections between Lucky Charms and Roger (aadroma). Much more was made of the cereal Harmony, which Chad's (glbear99) hubby Rob had eaten most of. Harmony is billed as a cereal for women. Many jokes went around the table about it. most of us building on a new Lifetime/General Mills collaboration Not Without My Harmony staring Meredith Baxter-Birney, Valerie Bertinelli, Pam Dawber, and with special guest star, Lindsey Wagner. You know that this would be the most blurred movie ever (see the Cybil Shepard effect).

We got packed and got ready to leave the cabin. Everyone gathered outside the cabin for a picture taking session and we slowly worked on getting the cars loaded. No one really wanted to leave. We decided that the Bears in the Woods After-Party would be at Culver's in Baraboo (mm, butterburgers). Lee (tironsshadow) left with Nick (uberdaddybear) and Matt (polomex) and Don (hylandr) came with us, so we could drop him off at the Madison airport. In the car I was providing music from the iPod, and I think Roger mentioned that Baraboo sounded lie Xanadu. A quick spin of the iPod wheel, and suddenly we were all singing with Olivia. We pulled into the parking lot of Culver's in John's (blithwulf) Bear and leather flagged car singing out loud - much to the chagrin of the other BitW attendees that were getting out of their cars.

We got out food, there was a large crowd at the restaurant, mostly proper, church-going Wisconsin citizens who were surprised to have their town invaded by bears. (Given that the city of Wisconsin Dells has a gay resort, it might not be such a big deal there). Some of us sat inside, others outside. Those of us inside spoke for a while, and even managed a chorus of Mana-Manah (from the Muppet Show) led by Joe (joezer).

Since don didn't have to be at the airport for a while, we sat and talked for a bit. I felt really drowsy. It wasn't a good sleep weekend for me (and I was apparently getting a cold that I still have. We drove down to Madison, which doesn't exactly seem to mark where their airport is very well, and dropped Don off. We then decided to drive through Madison, seeing the lake, the statehouse and the University of Wisconsin. Nice town. Finally, we had to get back to Illinois and toll road hell.

Once we got to Chicago, we needed to go to Matt's (vianegativa) house to drop Roger off to his boyfriend Carl (nytemarewulf). Now the thing about Chicago is that it can be very easy to find a street (say Lake, or North) since they go on for miles. Unfortunately, they go on for miles. If you're not sure where the cross-street is, you can go for miles only to realize you're going the wrong way. John was trying to figure it out, but he had Roger, who has no sense of direction, and I, who could tell direction and all, I just don't know the streets. It takes over an hour and a half and three toll plazas to find Matt's house in Lombard.

It was good to see Matt again, and meet his boyfriends. also Joe (lthrbear), Sean (mooch) and Colin (kubshadow) were there. we sat down to watch Psycho Beach Party which was good for a few laughs. Colin sat in front of me and i managed to give him a back massage for most of the movie. When we left, John and i hadn't had dinner, so joined by Carl and roger, we went of tho the diner, where I ate poorly. Then back to John's house for the night.

I wanted to see the downtown skyline one more time, so after a couple of errand runs for John, we went downtown for lunch...and if we could, try to meet up with Colin at his college. Apparently there's like 15 colleges in downtown Chicago. We parked close to Columbia and started to head for a diner that Colin frequents. Lo and behold, there he was...we didn't even call. we went for lunch, and then walked around Grant park, heading for the lake. We spoke about Colin's Queer Studies class, and apparently we hold a few different opinions. I took the position that Gay culture doesn't have much to do with the underlying homosexuality, while he thinks that sexuality is more fluid, and choices can be made. I also told him about closets, and hatred and intolerance. Colin was able to come out in high school, and had a relatively untroubled time announcing and being gay. I told him it wasn't so for most people, especially those who don't live in a city like Chicago. A very, very interesting discussion.

We left having to get me to the airport, and I said my goodbyes to John, hoping to see him again...sometime. Perhaps at Fiesta if there's no other opportunity. I was sad once again that the whole thing was over, and it was time to return to my more hum-drum life. The flight was uneventful, and crowded.

Thanks to Nick and Matt for hosting, I hope the tradition continues next year. I'd love to come back.

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[alphaschnitz.livejournal.com]

...ost of us building on a new Lifetime/General Mills collaboration Not Without My Harmony staring Meredith Baxter-Birney, Valerie Bertinelli, Pam Dawber, and with special guest star, Lindsey Wagner. You know that this would be the most blurred movie ever (see the Cybil Shepard effect).

The Burning Harmony starring Farrah Fawcett...