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Shaun's Big Gay Rugby Weekend
Jul. 23rd, 2023 11:59 pmFRIDAY
I woke up about 6:30 to pee, went back to sleep, and rose for the day about 9:30. I had breakfast and puttered around until Gary got up about 10:30. By 11 I was shopping for the trip, returning home about noon. I scrambled to pack up the car and grab a shower, and left the house about 1:30.
I stopped just before the turn from route 9 toward Granite Falls for lunch at Chipotle, and arrived at camp about three. A few folks I know from the Chorus are in the site next door. I got checked in and parked the car, and had a nice chat with Shaun before returning to my site (3A, which we'd used before), pitching the tent and assembling the camp bed. I took frequent breaks, and met Ty who is sharing the site with me. This is Ty's first campout, and I had to inform him of the need to lock up the food between meals so the bears don't destroy the campsite to eat it.
After the tent was up, about 5:30, I was super sweaty and headed to the beach for a dip in the river. I had a nice chat with a fellow named Anthony wearing a T-shirt reading "APP/UH/LATCH/UH'. He's from the corner where Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee meet. I also saw a couple wading in the river, who I met formally later this evening: Mike and Nick.
When I returned to the parking area on my way to the site, I saw Griff and we exchanged greetings. I dropped off my beach towel and chair by my tent and grabbed dinner from the bear locker. I didn't much feel like setting up the grill for cooking, so I ate a whole pound of potato salad with a little turkey jerky and trail mix for dessert. After dinner I sat with Ty briefly and let him know about the Meet and Greet over at Seed and Supply, and when he expressed interest in joining SMC I sent him a link. Then I went over to site 4 next door and schmoozed with Carter and Tyler from the chorus, and met another fellow chorine, and Brian and Paul who were sharing the site. Paul has a pleasant accent which I couldn't quite place, perhaps Aussie or Kiwi.
Around ten to nine I disposed of the dinner trash, put away the remaining food, peed, and hopped into Ty's massive luxury SUV (he's a real estate agent) for the short drive to the upper campground to park it for the night and visit Seed and Supply. I introduced Ty to some folks I knew, including Shaun (the birthday boy), Brendan, and Nathan. When I went to introduce Griff, he was chatting with Mike and Nick who I'd seen at the river. I chatted with a tall fellow named Alex with a tattoo outline of Ohio on his upper arm. He's from Cleveland and went to Marquette so I mentioned our trip. Then we met extra-cute cubs Adam and Joel. Adam and Ty immediately hit it off, and spent much of the evening together on and off. Later we met Josh (Brendan's partner), Steve from Edmonds (who wants to join the Fireplace Bears), and Mike and Gary who were at Friends and Family weekend last year. Toward the end of the evening (more like one AM) Shaun told me he'd decided to audition for SMC as well, so I made a mental note to send him the link as well.
When the party wound down, Ty, Adam, and I went from there to Adam's tent in Site 2 with the rest of the rugby club. Adam went to chill out in his tent, and we sat up with some of the folks at the firepit (which had no fire) singing quietly with a guitar player. Ty hung out with Adam briefly in the tent before we stumbled back to our site around 2:30.
SATURDAY
I woke up about quarter to five, shivering badly and needing to pee. I didn't bother with clothes and watered the bushes in front of the tent, then retrieved one of my blankets to cover the top of my sleeping bag and went back to sleep. I rose for the day about eight, used the porta-potty (line 1 and line 2), and returned to camp to start my day: I sent Shaun the chorus link, let Gary know things are going well and to expect a delivery today, and updated my journal.
Next I fixed breakfast (bacon, eggs, and Aussie Bites) and had some of Ty's breakfast casserole of rice and sauce with Korean barbecue meat. He had some bacon and Aussie bites.
After breakfast was put away, just after 11, Ty and I headed to the river (I decided to skip Muumuus and Mimosas since I'd had enough to drink last night). The water was quite cold, more so than yesterday evening after the sun had warmed it a bit. A couple of dudes were skinny dipping with us. I told Ty, "Nice view, and the mountains are pretty, too." #dadjokes We all took turns soaking in the river and drying in the sun. Early on, we saw the Cairn Terrier who had been at the river yesterday and found out his name is Blazer. I told his keepers about Brandy. A very furry, tan dude named Chris brought us some spray sunscreen when I mentioned how pink I was getting. He and his partner had just been to Croatia and hired a boat to take them to a bunch of gay beaches. The chorus folks from site 4 were there too. We met a fellow named Aaron with long, stringy, graying hair. We also had a nice chat with Steve, the manager of the place during the week, and with Andrew from the Fireplace and Anthony from Appalachia.
About quarter after two I left Ty with Chris and returned to camp for a quick lunch. After lunch I was extremely tired and went to sleep about 3:30 until 5:30. I noticed I'd gotten very sunburned as well. Just before seven I grilled the bratwurst and offered some to Ty, but it was underdone so Ty pan-fried it to go in his casserole. Adam stopped by about quarter after seven on his way to Truth or Bare (a strip game show produced by Brendan). Ty finished preparing his dinner just after that. I applied sunscreen lotion to ease the sunburn and donned the Quake Rugby T-shirt I bought from Griff.
We left for Truth or Bare around eight, deciding to leave our chairs at the river overnight. Ty got an orange wristband and I got a blue one. Bill and a few other folks were seated at the back and I grabbed the last available chair. The show centered around the two teams with the wristbands, with challenges worthy of Let's Make A Deal crossed with Fear Factor.
After the show we all went to Trader Dic's for the after party, where i had a nice conversation with Bill and sent my mashup to the DJ to play. Afterwards I followed the stragglers to Seed and Supply for the after-after party around two AM. I hung out there until after three and then headed back to camp. I set an alarm for 9 AM and went to sleep.
SUNDAY
I woke up about seven with a desperate need to pee and a sour stomach. I felt like I was going to hurl, but the feeling passed once I lay down again. I slept fitfully due to leg aches, nausea, and severe nasal congestion. I turned off the alarm and stayed in bed for about a half hour more, then hit the porta-potty. I decided not to fix breakfast because I feared I wouldn't keep it down. Ty gave me a banana, and that and some vitamin water sufficed.
I moved very slowly to pack up my clothes, CPAP machine, and bedding. About 11:30 I headed to the beach to reclaim my chair, so I would have somewhere to sit after dismantling the camp bed. I sat in the chair and listened to the river for a few moments before packing it up. Ty met me at the little creek that separates the woods from the beach. I set up the chair by my tent and went to pee, and ran into Adam and Joel as they were leaving. I sat and journaled until 12:30 before resuming striking camp.
I left at two and arrived home just after three to find Gary in bed, so I joined him for a much-needed nap. Around seven we finally got up and Gary helped me unpack the car.
I woke up about 6:30 to pee, went back to sleep, and rose for the day about 9:30. I had breakfast and puttered around until Gary got up about 10:30. By 11 I was shopping for the trip, returning home about noon. I scrambled to pack up the car and grab a shower, and left the house about 1:30.
I stopped just before the turn from route 9 toward Granite Falls for lunch at Chipotle, and arrived at camp about three. A few folks I know from the Chorus are in the site next door. I got checked in and parked the car, and had a nice chat with Shaun before returning to my site (3A, which we'd used before), pitching the tent and assembling the camp bed. I took frequent breaks, and met Ty who is sharing the site with me. This is Ty's first campout, and I had to inform him of the need to lock up the food between meals so the bears don't destroy the campsite to eat it.
After the tent was up, about 5:30, I was super sweaty and headed to the beach for a dip in the river. I had a nice chat with a fellow named Anthony wearing a T-shirt reading "APP/UH/LATCH/UH'. He's from the corner where Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee meet. I also saw a couple wading in the river, who I met formally later this evening: Mike and Nick.
When I returned to the parking area on my way to the site, I saw Griff and we exchanged greetings. I dropped off my beach towel and chair by my tent and grabbed dinner from the bear locker. I didn't much feel like setting up the grill for cooking, so I ate a whole pound of potato salad with a little turkey jerky and trail mix for dessert. After dinner I sat with Ty briefly and let him know about the Meet and Greet over at Seed and Supply, and when he expressed interest in joining SMC I sent him a link. Then I went over to site 4 next door and schmoozed with Carter and Tyler from the chorus, and met another fellow chorine, and Brian and Paul who were sharing the site. Paul has a pleasant accent which I couldn't quite place, perhaps Aussie or Kiwi.
Around ten to nine I disposed of the dinner trash, put away the remaining food, peed, and hopped into Ty's massive luxury SUV (he's a real estate agent) for the short drive to the upper campground to park it for the night and visit Seed and Supply. I introduced Ty to some folks I knew, including Shaun (the birthday boy), Brendan, and Nathan. When I went to introduce Griff, he was chatting with Mike and Nick who I'd seen at the river. I chatted with a tall fellow named Alex with a tattoo outline of Ohio on his upper arm. He's from Cleveland and went to Marquette so I mentioned our trip. Then we met extra-cute cubs Adam and Joel. Adam and Ty immediately hit it off, and spent much of the evening together on and off. Later we met Josh (Brendan's partner), Steve from Edmonds (who wants to join the Fireplace Bears), and Mike and Gary who were at Friends and Family weekend last year. Toward the end of the evening (more like one AM) Shaun told me he'd decided to audition for SMC as well, so I made a mental note to send him the link as well.
When the party wound down, Ty, Adam, and I went from there to Adam's tent in Site 2 with the rest of the rugby club. Adam went to chill out in his tent, and we sat up with some of the folks at the firepit (which had no fire) singing quietly with a guitar player. Ty hung out with Adam briefly in the tent before we stumbled back to our site around 2:30.
SATURDAY
I woke up about quarter to five, shivering badly and needing to pee. I didn't bother with clothes and watered the bushes in front of the tent, then retrieved one of my blankets to cover the top of my sleeping bag and went back to sleep. I rose for the day about eight, used the porta-potty (line 1 and line 2), and returned to camp to start my day: I sent Shaun the chorus link, let Gary know things are going well and to expect a delivery today, and updated my journal.
Next I fixed breakfast (bacon, eggs, and Aussie Bites) and had some of Ty's breakfast casserole of rice and sauce with Korean barbecue meat. He had some bacon and Aussie bites.
After breakfast was put away, just after 11, Ty and I headed to the river (I decided to skip Muumuus and Mimosas since I'd had enough to drink last night). The water was quite cold, more so than yesterday evening after the sun had warmed it a bit. A couple of dudes were skinny dipping with us. I told Ty, "Nice view, and the mountains are pretty, too." #dadjokes We all took turns soaking in the river and drying in the sun. Early on, we saw the Cairn Terrier who had been at the river yesterday and found out his name is Blazer. I told his keepers about Brandy. A very furry, tan dude named Chris brought us some spray sunscreen when I mentioned how pink I was getting. He and his partner had just been to Croatia and hired a boat to take them to a bunch of gay beaches. The chorus folks from site 4 were there too. We met a fellow named Aaron with long, stringy, graying hair. We also had a nice chat with Steve, the manager of the place during the week, and with Andrew from the Fireplace and Anthony from Appalachia.
About quarter after two I left Ty with Chris and returned to camp for a quick lunch. After lunch I was extremely tired and went to sleep about 3:30 until 5:30. I noticed I'd gotten very sunburned as well. Just before seven I grilled the bratwurst and offered some to Ty, but it was underdone so Ty pan-fried it to go in his casserole. Adam stopped by about quarter after seven on his way to Truth or Bare (a strip game show produced by Brendan). Ty finished preparing his dinner just after that. I applied sunscreen lotion to ease the sunburn and donned the Quake Rugby T-shirt I bought from Griff.
We left for Truth or Bare around eight, deciding to leave our chairs at the river overnight. Ty got an orange wristband and I got a blue one. Bill and a few other folks were seated at the back and I grabbed the last available chair. The show centered around the two teams with the wristbands, with challenges worthy of Let's Make A Deal crossed with Fear Factor.
After the show we all went to Trader Dic's for the after party, where i had a nice conversation with Bill and sent my mashup to the DJ to play. Afterwards I followed the stragglers to Seed and Supply for the after-after party around two AM. I hung out there until after three and then headed back to camp. I set an alarm for 9 AM and went to sleep.
SUNDAY
I woke up about seven with a desperate need to pee and a sour stomach. I felt like I was going to hurl, but the feeling passed once I lay down again. I slept fitfully due to leg aches, nausea, and severe nasal congestion. I turned off the alarm and stayed in bed for about a half hour more, then hit the porta-potty. I decided not to fix breakfast because I feared I wouldn't keep it down. Ty gave me a banana, and that and some vitamin water sufficed.
I moved very slowly to pack up my clothes, CPAP machine, and bedding. About 11:30 I headed to the beach to reclaim my chair, so I would have somewhere to sit after dismantling the camp bed. I sat in the chair and listened to the river for a few moments before packing it up. Ty met me at the little creek that separates the woods from the beach. I set up the chair by my tent and went to pee, and ran into Adam and Joel as they were leaving. I sat and journaled until 12:30 before resuming striking camp.
I left at two and arrived home just after three to find Gary in bed, so I joined him for a much-needed nap. Around seven we finally got up and Gary helped me unpack the car.