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Last night we took a trip to West Seattle to attend a concert by Puget Soundworks entitled "Menagerie." We left the house just after four in the VUE; Gary drove to Northgate. We just missed the train that was in the station when we arrived. A second train came about ten minutes later and was almost immediately followed by another. We boarded the second train along with a bunch of Kraken fans, but they mostly piled into the forward cars and our rear most car remained relatively empty. At Roosevelt a youngish and rather short and cute dude with a stubbly beard boarded with a case of wine. He wore a hooded winter coat, gray sweatpants, socks, and sandals. He smelled a little spicy, not nearly as bad as the dude on the previous train. Also two sk8r dudes sat the other side of Gary and left at UW. Wine dude left ahead of us at Westlake and dropped a few things on the platform, but the wine was all he could handle and he left the rest behind. I had some difficulty ascending to street level because the one working escalator was full of Kraken fans and no other elevators or up escalators were in working order. Outside the station one of a team of black street preachers appeared to be spoiling for a fight with every white passerby. Gary and I agreed it's better to mind your own goddamned business.

We walked the block and a half to the Elephant and Castle pub in the basement of a local hotel. There were several football games on the many TVs around the dining room and bar. Gary ordered a diet cola and bangers and mash; I had a Seattle Cider and the Double Standard cheeseburger and chips (i.e. fries). While Gary waited for the bill, I used the restroom which was much the worse for wear: both urinals were wrapped in trash bags and the open stall had a wet floor. We made our way to the bus stop at 3rd and Pike, noting that most of the businesses on the block are closed and boarded up. The 120 bus arrived and it was a RapidRide vehicle, with all-door payment and slightly nicer seats. As we exited the newly refurbished West Seattle Bridge, I noticed a neighborhood sign that read, "Welcome to Delridge: The Bridge Is Back!" Two stops later we reached our destination.

We entered the building which had clearly been built as an elementary school and was still owned and operated by the school district. We walked to the end of a long corridor, got checked in and proceeded to the theater space just beyond. Gary chose seats just in front of the video cameras in the back. They seemed adequate if a bit cramped at first. I noticed that most of the men, including all of my friends from SMC, no longer sang with the chorus and there were only five discernable men's names on the roster: two tenors and three bass/baritones. The show featured music about animals, mainly birds at first. The singers all wore masks and that resulted in some difficulty understanding the lyrics. Surprisingly the harmonies worked despite the unbalanced assignment of vocal parts. By the end of the first act, however, my left knee was in agony from insufficient legroom, and during intermission I made a beeline to a seat in the more spacious row behind us; Gary chose to remain in his original seat. As a result I enjoyed the second act much more than the first. After the show Gary was trying to assist a father with two children, one of whom had lost a $20 bill under a seat. As we made our exit through the crowded lobby, I got to say hi to Rhonda Juliano, who founded Diverse Harmony here before moving to Cincinnati; her presence was a pleasant surprise.

We walked to the bus stop out front and caught the 120, which this time was a regular articulated bus instead of a RapidRide, back to downtown Seattle opposite Benaroya Hall. We descended into the station and I noticed that there was no accessible path from the street to the northbound platform: the street elevator to the Seneca Street mezzanine, the interior elevator to the platform from the University Street mezzanine and the parallel escalator were all out of service. This is really inexcusable and Sound Transit is lucky they don't already have an ADA lawsuit. A homeless dude was seated on the broken escalator and was acting strangely when the train arrived, so Gary insisted we board the second car to avoid him. We sat behind a young father and his small son of about four or five. The boy was bouncing around and his dad tried in vain to make him sit down for more than a few seconds at a time. Also, the map showing which station we were at, and the recorded announcements linked to the map, were at first inoperative and later wildly incorrect, having reset to the south end of the line at Angle Lake while we were at UW or Brooklyn.

When we arrived at Northgate and got underway on the freeway, Gary was more than usually stressed about traffic and the $20 bill incident. But we managed to get home in one piece nonetheless.

SUNDAY

I woke up just after three with a nasty case of the trots. I went back to bed, rolled over on the four AM alarm, and got up only when it became necessary to run for the bathroom again. While I was in there I took my morning meds and glucose test, and a shower after I was done; meanwhile Gary was up folding our dirty laundry for packing. He went to get his shower and I packed the dirty laundry, leather gear, and boots in my large bag, and got my CPAP bag situated.

We decided to take a Lyft to the airport instead of the bus so we had time to relax, checking out of the hotel around 6:30 AM. Our driver, Henry, played Herbie Hancock in the car, and knew all the little tricks to get around the massive traffic jams that build up around the departure doors. We tagged our bags and dropped them off at the First Class check-in desk, where the lady informed us about the Alaska Lounge to the left just past security. The checkpoint was rather of a zoo with lots of diverging lanes first for ID check and again for bag check and personal scan. I needed a table to get recombobulated but there wasn't one in the checkpoint area so I used a nearby bench where apparently others had the same idea, as there were several bins already there. As I was finishing up, Gary returned all the bins to the checkpoint and got a thank you.

We checked in to the Alaska Lounge and settled in at a counter along the windows, giving a nice view of the aircraft parked at gate D16 as well as the E concourse across the way. There was a light breakfast buffet and a coffee and soda bar, from which I selected yogurt, fresh fruit, cold cuts, a blueberry muffin, and a glass of Coke.

About ten to nine we left the lounge and proceeded to the nearby gate, D3. We didn't have to wait long to board. The chief flight attendant, Bryan, was a cute bearish dude (though clean shaven) with a stubbly haircut and a bubbly personality. He had to bounce back and forth between first class and main cabin during the safety briefing while the other flight attendant (a petite lady named Toni) worked the intercom. To do this he needed to borrow my headrest to store the seat belt demonstrator temporarily. Just after takeoff I nodded off while the flight attendants were strapped in. Shortly afterwards Bryan served us ginger ale, offering two cans at once (I accepted and Gary declined), confirmed our breakfast order of cinnamon apple yogurt, and apologized for the catering service omitting the granola. We got some nice pictures of Crater Lake, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Rainier; as Gary had his phone turned off, I handed mine to him.

When we arrived at Paine Field, we parked in the outdoor gate again, and the moment we got outside the smoke and ash in the air was oppressive. We grabbed our bags and I requested a Lyft home. We put on masks to try to filter out the smoke while we waited outside. Our driver was a nice-looking white-haired gentleman named John.

When we got home I ditched my flying clothes and texted Colleen, and we watched football until about three PM, when Gary went upstairs to bed and I fell asleep in his chair (mine was in direct sunlight and too hot to sit in) and decided to join him.

MONDAY

I woke up about twenty after midnight to find Gary was out playing. I texted him an hour later, had breakfast in lieu of dinner, finished journaling and went back to sleep, however briefly, before starting the work day.

SATURDAY

Woke up about 5:30 needing to pee, then went back to bed but didn't really sleep. Got up again about quarter to seven to sit on the toilet. Gary woke up while I was in there so I decided to stay up for the day. I took my morning meds and glucose test, then vacated the bathroom for Gary. When he was done I took a shower and Gary purchased tickets for the zoo.

We left the room and walked around the block to the All-star Cafe, which had no seating but there were counters along the windows where people could stand and eat. I had the California Carnivore with bacon, and Gary had a sausage omelet. A cute cubby dude named Alex had the order in front of ours; as he and the older ladies he was with left the Cafe, an older gentleman was walking a small dog out front. I woofed to Gary indicating Alex and he responded, "Dog's not bad either."

We walked up Ninth Street, crossed Market, and descended to the Muni platform one level below (BART is another level below that). There were a lot of anti-seafood ads from PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals). We caught the M train to West Portal, then transferred to the L bus (replacing the streetcar) which dropped us off a short block from the zoo entrance and Ocean Beach. Since we had plenty of time before our reservation at 10:30, we walked over to Ocean Beach and sat on a rock overlooking the ocean. There were quite a few surfers in wetsuits and people walking dogs. It was cloudy so no sunbathers were visible.

At ten after ten we walked to the zoo entrance and waited outside. A little girl in a pink coat looked at me and said hi. Gary guessed she took me for Santa Claus. We wandered around the zoo for about two and a half hours. When we got to the mandrill exhibit, a father told his child, "These are mandrills. Their faces look like their butts and their butts look like their faces." We had lunch at the Station Cafe of pizza which we shared and a pretzel for Gary. From there we visited the bears and wolves. The grizzlies were sleeping as were the wolves, but the black bears were active. As we left the bear exhibits I noticed a tall and lean father with a thick red beard and ink on both arms pushing a stroller. I told Gary, "Grizzly bear, black bear, stroller bear." We decided to skip the Australia exhibit for the sake of time. Instead we caught the L bus to West Portal Station and the train to Van Ness, and walked down 11th Street to the Bearrison Street Fair.

I purchased VIP wristbands and we explored the fair, ending up at the Eagle for the first time. We sat inside by the stage and met a simply huge bear in a ripped plaid shirt, fur stole, and Daisy Dukes. He complimented me on my choice of a plaid jacket that matched his shirt. I finished my can of cider and needed to pee so I used the trough urinal off the patio, which had a strategically placed mirror. Gary still had much of his soda left, so I suggested we hang out on the patio and had another cider, this time on draft. When we finished our drinks we walked to the VIP tent at the other end of Harrison Street, stopping by the south end entertainment stage on the way, where a shirtless bear in a Lucha Libre hood was on stage with a serious drag queen and a couple of instrumentalists. I also noticed a dude in a black T-shirt and cap; the T-shirt read "Eat butt, not carbs".

When we arrived at the VIP tent, a slight young dude ushered us in and we quickly found a table to sit at. There was a nice young bear with a split ring in his nose seated a few tables away. I liked his ink and his general appearance, so on the way back from purchasing an Elysian Space Dust IPA, I complimented him on his ink and introduced myself. His name is Matt and he's local. We sat and chilled out until four when the Lone Star Saloon opened. In the meantime I took a tour of the Bear Wood, led by Ranger Dave. There were tree stumps fashioned from brown curtains which served as glory holes, and a rental truck served as the Bear Cave. A Sister arrived and ascended the ramp to the Bear Cave, and a tall young dude with an orange hankie around his neck and otherwise in black leather head to toe addressed Ranger Dave with "I need to take a piss." When I left Ranger Dave was happy to oblige. I took the opportunity to have a pee (in the porta-potty) and then greeted a nice dude wearing a Diesel cap. He introduced himself as Gonzalo and his friends as Vaughn and Jeff. They had been in Seattle this past May.

As 4 PM approached we headed for the Lone Star. We greeted Charlie at the bar, ordered drinks, and grabbed seats on the corner of the back patio. I caught up on my journal and Gary checked the score of the Mariners game. It was scoreless in the bottom of the ninth. I recognized Killer Bob on the other side of the back bench and, after using the trough urinal and buying another cider at the bar, I said hi to Bob and we got into a conversation. The cute red bear next to him joined in and, when I asked to take the seat behind him on the bench, Bob moved over and we started chatting with him; he introduced himself as Sean. Another fellow who had been playing with Bob as we started our conversation with Sean joined us, gave Gary a big hug, and introduced himself as Jesús. Gary informed me later that Jesús was Sean's husband. Sean was stunned by my description of Bear Woods and opined he would be willing to volunteer to service the bears. We had a nice chat and I sent Sean a friend request on Facebook.

About five o'clock we said our farewells and returned to the hotel on foot. I took off my clothes starting with my sweaty boots and socks, and put on my ampersand pride (D&D) T-shirt and nylon shorts. We recharged phones and tracked the Mariners game which was still scoreless in the 14th inning at 6 PM.

About 6:30 we left the hotel to go to City Lights Bookstore. I'd left my phone on the charger upstairs so Gary waited in the lobby while I retrieved it. I rode the elevator with a couple who were also staying on our floor. He wore a tattered denim vest in tie-dye colors and she wore a delicate tie-dyed dress. I complimented them on the clothes and he said he bought his in Hawaii and she in Marin County, CA. I returned downstairs and we detoured onto the bus island en route to Civic Center Station. We caught the train two stops to Montgomery Station, then walked a couple blocks and around a corner to catch the 8 bus. The bus was much less crowded than I'd seen on previous trips.

On exiting from the bus I stepped hard into the street on my bad left knee. After a few painful steps it stopped bothering me and we made it to City Lights and up and down stairs with little difficulty. The trouble started when we sat down to dinner at a seafood restaurant up the hill from the bookstore, where I had to keep stretching my leg under the table. We were seated down a short flight of stairs directly in front of the kitchen. The food was excellent and the waiter was very good-looking, with short, dark hair and matching beard and a fireplug build. After dinner it took quite a while for Gary to get the bill, until he went back upstairs to remind the waiter. Once the bill was settled, we walked across the street for ice cream sandwiches at The Baked Bear. We then caught the 12 bus to Embarcadero Station and surfaced at Civic Center Station on UN Plaza. Gary noticed City Hall was lit up in pink and blue for a special occasion so we walked a bit further than we needed to get the pictures. But I ended up stepping off another curb hard and this time my knee would not be denied another minute. This frustrated Gary.

We returned to the room and made plans for the morning, then fell asleep prematurely. I got up about 11:30 to properly prepare for bed and finish the day's journaling, then went to sleep.

FRIDAY

I woke up just after six to use the bathroom and returned to bed an hour later. When the alarm went off at eight, I noticed Gary was still sound asleep so I rolled over and got up about twenty after. We were dressed and out the door by 9:30. As we left the room the Housekeeping crew were waiting outside the door for us. We rode the elevator with a cute young bear with curly black hair and matching beard, wearing a Death Row Records hoodie.

As we passed a homeless campsite on the sidewalk, we had to use the bus island to avoid running into a little clump of people either trading in drugs or injecting them (I didn't get close enough to tell). A couple of dudes walking a dog in front of us were nearly run over by a bicyclist before crossing to the island. As we passed the camp I noticed someone asleep with a white Lab sitting on guard duty next to them.

When we reached the Local Diner, we had to wait to order while the cashier, a cute little Hispanic dude with a high-pitched voice, dealt with some unruly guests. A tall dude with stringy hair was harassing a woman who was just leaving, calling her a bitch, because she was sitting in the window or some such thing. He turned his ire on the cashier, whom he loudly invited to suck his dick. I didn't quite catch his response but I gathered from the tone that he was selective about whose dick he sucks. 🍆😊 The cashier returned to the register, asked us to wait a moment, sent a colleague from the kitchen to bounce the stringy-haired asshole from the premises, and opined he would have liked to slap his face but we all agreed it wouldn't be worth it. We ordered breakfast: corned-beef hash with scrambled eggs for me, a cheese omelet for Gary, both with hash browns, sourdough toast, and coffee. As he took our order he addressed us with pleasantries like "dear" which made it obvious he's family, but he takes no shit from anyone. We took a table near the window and though another waiter served us our food, the cashier came by to top off our coffee and we all had a good laugh. We made sure to wish him a good day as we left.

We descended into Civic Center Station to top off our Clipper cards and find out whether the elevator to the street was working (it was not, but there were escalators that were, thankfully). We walked to Mission and 7th to catch a bus to the new Salesforce Transit Center. As we waited, a car stopped by looking for someone who had requested a Lyft or Uber. We indicated we weren't his intended passengers and he started to leave, when a dude in a Giants cap and walking with a cane arrived and got into the car. Right after that, the 14 bus arrived. I noticed an ad for Presidio Tunnel Tops toward the back of the bus. I later discovered it's a new feature in Presidio National Park, created by burying a major highway and building a park above (hence the name).

We arrived at the Transit Center which spans two long blocks horizontally and two stories vertically. We went upstairs to catch the F bus to UC Berkeley. The driver was on break and seated in the passenger compartment toward the front. He was kind of cute in his uniform shirt and AC Transit wooly cap, with a stubbly mustache and beard. We crossed the Bay Bridge which was the reason we wanted to take the bus instead of BART. The view was nice even though shrouded in fog. As we exited the freeway, a tall and thin dude asked where to exit for IKEA which we had passed along the way. A few stops after he left, a couple of transit employees boarded and chatted briefly with the driver. At the next stop two people in wheelchairs were waiting at the stop, but only one (a young lady with a veil on her head) boarded. Gary suggested we move to the back of the bus to be out of the way. I managed to snag the seat over the rear wheel and put my feet up. The bus filled up considerably once we reached downtown Berkeley and emptied out on campus.

We left the bus at Greek Theater and walked the short distance to Sather Tower, where a carillon was finishing playing music as we approached. I tried to get a picture outside the tower but the sun was behind it, so I decided to wait until we reached the other side. We entered the tower (also known as the Campanile), paid for admission, and were whisked to the top on an elevator operated by a young lady, likely a student. We got some pictures of and with the bells, as well as stunning views of the Berkeley hills and less stunning (because of fog) views of the bay, bridge, and downtown Oakland. After we descended, we walked behind the tower for better pictures from ground level, then headed for Sather Gate looking for a place to eat lunch. We stopped by the performing arts center on the way, and noticed a fire alarm going off in the building behind us as we sat on the plaza. We crossed the street at the edge of campus and saw a fire truck responding to the alarm.

We ducked into a narrow alleyway which served as a shopping mall and had lunch at a Poke Bar in the mall. After lunch we stopped by the Walgreens around the corner for supplies, then followed the signs to a public restroom in a mall in line with and across the street from the mall with the Poke Bar. We returned through the latter mall and caught the 51B bus to the BART station. As we entered the fare zone the turnstiles flipped open at the exact same time, prompting me to sing a quote from "Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers: "Simultaneous release..." 😊 We waited about ten minutes for the Millbrae train across the bay. When we arrived at Civic Center Station we exited in the middle to use the street-level escalators to UN Plaza. The encampment on the sidewalk on Eighth Street was drawing a crowd so we crossed the street and approached the hotel from Mission. On the way a scruffy dude walking a dog complimented me on my Joe Thornton "Still Got It" T-shirt as we passed on the sidewalk. We got back to the room about three and settled in to recharge both our phones and ourselves.

Around 6:30 we walked around the block for dinner at a pizza place Kenneth and Thomas recommended last weekend, Sunset Squares. On the way we encountered rather of a crowd of street people, so we made sure to walk with purpose. The restaurant had mobile ordering, so I ordered a meat lover's pizza, a cider for me, and a strawberry lemonade for Gary. We watched the Dodgers at Padres game on one big screen while the Celtics at Raptors game played on the adjacent screen. A big young bear in a red shirt came over to chat with the table of people to my right. In front of the TV sets there was a counter with DJ equipment set up: two turntables, a musical keyboard, and several mixing boxes.

We decided to return to the hotel by a different route, heading north to Market Street. The campers on our side of Eighth Street had mostly dispersed so we walked around on the bus island. We changed clothes and left the hotel to catch the bus to the Lone Star Saloon. On the way out we crossed paths with four huge young bears in the lobby, with a mutual understanding as we passed. We caught the 27 bus at 8th and Mission. Some dude was speaking into an earpiece ranting about a phone number in Washington DC, but he caught the 19 bus before ours.

We made it to the Lone Star in fairly short order, sat at the bar and had a nice chat with Charlie behind the bar, whom we'd met after West Side Story on Ice in 2019. After a couple of ciders and a trip to the bathroom we went out to the patio. I introduced myself to the nice-looking dude to my right and his name is Matt. I then introduced him to Gary and we had a nice chat, touching on race relations with respect to the police. He's from Wichita, Kansas and he's also married to a black dude. His husband is frequently stopped by the police, handcuffed, and then released without charge. Shortly after that an older bear with an unusual haircut and a long white beard sat next to me puffing on a cigar. He introduced himself as Eddie and his husband as Key-Dog (actually Kei-dog as his name is Keith). I introduced Gary to them and we had a nice conversation. They live in Auburn and commute to Seattle via Star Lake. Throughout the evening a hot young dude with no shirt and impressive ink across his arms and chest served Jello shots and vodka-soaked gummy bears, as this was Cubcake night. I bought a Jello shot and a cup of gummy bears from him. I was feeling a little overdressed and stripped off the T-shirt I was wearing, re-donning my suspenders and bar vest. Keith started playing roughly with my chest and nipples, which was fun but got old fast. So to distract him I started playing lightly with his nipples through his T-shirt, much as I do with Gary's. Yep, he's definitely wired for sound there. We played around a bit longer, with Ed and Gary looking on, until Ed suggested they leave to go to the Eagle and Gary suggested we head back to the hotel.

We caught the 9 bus on 11th Street after seeing Ed and Keith passing on their way to the Eagle. A big young bear in a red hoodie was bopping along to music and seemed to be in a good mood so I smiled and half-saluted on the way off the bus; he smiled back. We returned to the room about eleven and prepared for bed about twenty to midnight.

THURSDAY

We got a Lyft from home to Paine Field about 1:30 PM, which was a little earlier than I was expecting and was likely due to mishearing the flight time as 3:15 rather than 3:50. Still, as I mentioned, it's always better to be early than late. We dropped off our checked bags and proceeded to the gate. I asked Gary if he wanted something to drink, and he said he would prefer ginger ale or diet cola if no ginger ale was available. It turned out the only place to get a soda was at the bar. I thought they only had glassware and thus required one to sit in the lounge area between the two gates, so we moved to a sunny table by the windows and I ordered drinks, which were served in plastic cups if you asked for them to go. They only had ginger beer which is a bit stronger than ginger ale, so I got a ginger beer and a diet cola and offered either to Gary; he chose the ginger beer. When we finished our drinks, Gary suggested we return to the gate area so we could get out of the sun. I ordered another round of drinks, only this time Gary took the diet cola and I had the ginger beer.

We were called to the podium because they'd moved our seats a row forward; my app didn't update so I showed it to the gate agent and she printed new boarding passes. Shortly afterwards we boarded the plane via an exterior ramp and a portable ramp like those we'd first seen in Long Beach. We got settled into our seats fairly quickly and no extenders were needed. We were served snacks and drinks before most of the rest of the plane, likely because the cart would have been in the way otherwise. I got up to pee while they were soliciting for credit cards and it took quite a while as it has been doing recently.

We landed at SFO after circling the bay to the south, then had to park on the tarmac and wait for our gate to open. Once we deplaned and used the restroom, we found our checked bags already on the carousel. We headed upstairs to the Airtrain station and caught the Blue Line to the BART station. As luck would have it, we were able to add fares to our Clipper cards instead of getting paper tickets. We then descended to the platform level and caught the BART Red Line to Civic Center via Millbrae.

When we arrived at Civic Center we were again confronted by a long flight of stairs with no elevator or escalator service to the street. There were many homeless people on the street, to the point where a security guard had to open the lobby door for us. We got checked in and unpacked, and decided to try the hotel bar for dinner. I wasn't sure they served a full meal but the bartender (a very cute Hispanic-looking dude with curly hair and nice ink peeking out of the sleeves of his black shirt) fetched us a menu. We ordered a bowl of mac and cheese to share and a cheeseburger each, and ginger beer and water to drink. Gary likes his burgers well-done and I like mine medium, so it took a bit longer for his to arrive. In the meantime, a party of four arrived and started bantering with the bartender about sports teams. They hailed from Boston and the conversation turned to whether Boston or New York fans were crazier. Gary chimed in based on his experience. Later the bartender confessed to being addicted to reality shows including Bachelor in Paradise and Love Island. The young lady sitting next to Gary knew one of the contestants on the latter show personally, and after a bout of Twenty Questions the bartender figured out who she was talking about. We kept up with the sports on ESPN on a nearby TV.

When we finished eating we returned to the room and turned on Grey's Anatomy. When that was done we turned on news and I got ready for bed.

SATURDAY

Woke up about quarter to seven to pee and didn't go back to sleep right away. Milo woke his parents up about quarter after. I reset the alarm for 8:30 and went back to bed. Hearing no one up and about when the alarm went off, I stayed in bed until Ella came skittering by about quarter to nine. I got up and had breakfast with Milo and Matt, said goodbye to Tristan as she left for the hairdresser, then chatted with Gary via text; he'd been up all night and was heading for bed, having finished the grocery shopping on the way home. Then I hopped in the shower and finished packing up.

We left about eleven and arrived at Colleen and Rab's around 11:30. Colleen was also at the hairdresser but Rab, Kate, Alyssa, Ryan, and Brynn were home. Matt wished his dad a happy birthday which I'd forgotten was today. I sat in the living room while Brynn finished her breakfast and then moved to the family room with everyone else after Matt left. Colleen came home with a very nice and discreet blonde hair color as opposed to trying to reproduce her natural ginger-brown color. Meanwhile Kate and Brynn baked a pineapple upside-down cake for Rab's birthday. Colleen and I fixed lunch of homemade soup and sandwiches for ourselves and she put on a tiny serving of soup for Milo (which he didn't eat). Sheila arrived around 1:30, and we had coffee and I had a piece of the cake. We chatted while Colleen rocked Milo to sleep.

About ten to three I went upstairs to change clothes and noticed my Ohio State ball cap was missing from atop my suitcase where I left it. It turned out that Brynn put it on as they left for soccer. Colleen, Sheila, and I left about ten after three for the airport. On the way Kate called Colleen and they arranged to meet at St. Ignatius to drop off the hat, because the airport was reporting only a 10-minute wait at security so we would have time.

We arrived at the airport by ten to four. I dropped off my bag and was through security by 4:45. Gary texted me just as I was ascending the escalator to concourse A. According to my boarding pass we were to begin boarding at five so I stopped by the newsstand and picked up a bag of trail mix to supplement the fruit and cheese plate I'd pre-ordered for dinner, as there wouldn't be time to eat in the terminal. I briefly sat next to a cute cub wearing a Portland Trailblazers cap, T-shirt, shorts, and sandals with socks. There was a parade of people needing to pre-board, mostly families with small children and strollers, and also a few wheelchairs and a fellow with a cane. Once they were on board I took my place in line for first class and was seated. My seat mate was a dude with a lighter build, an unusual haircut (bushy on top, reduced to stubble in back) and a five o'clock shadow. He stowed a bag for a petite Asian lady who looked of an age to be his mother. We pushed back from the gate right on time and took off to the west.

Once we reached 10 000 feet I fired up the in-flight entertainment and selected a reality show called "Mud, Sweat, and Beards" which featured a very mismatched couple of straight dudes with impressive beards who like to go off in the middle of nowhere with the clothes they're wearing and a few simple tools and live by their wits for a few days. The older of the two is white with a gray beard and the other is black with long braided hair. There are a few jokes calling into question how straight they really are, but it's all in good fun. I watched one full episode and started a second when dinner was served. I needn't have bothered with the trail mix, as unlike the previous meal in coach, the first-class meal came with a green salad with vinaigrette and a dinner roll with butter in addition to the fruit and cheese. As soon as I'd finished eating and the tray was taken away, I took the opportunity to use the lavatory for an incredibly long pee, then returned to my seat, journaled, and resumed watching the second episode. By the time we began our final descent and had to turn off the Wi-Fi, I got about halfway through the fourth and final episode on offer. The locations were Alaska, Louisiana, Iceland, and New Mexico. I got a few sunset pictures from the window. Our route was consistently further south than usual, crossing South Dakota, Wyoming, and southern Idaho rather than North Dakota and Montana.

When we parked at the gate, I was desperate to pee; fortunately the restroom was adjacent to the gate. We had to wait a while for baggage to arrive on the carousel but my bag was in the first dozen or so. I made my way to the train station and it wasn't long before a 3-car Born Free train arrived (the nickname comes from the two-tone signal that an announcement is forthcoming). I texted Gary to let him know when to arrive at Northgate Station to meet me. We waited a few minutes for the two baseball wild card games then in progress to finish and then headed home, arriving about nine.

FRIDAY

I didn't sleep well because of the coffee but I suppose it was good enough. I'd set an alarm for 7:30 but was up and about by quarter after seven because I needed to use the bathroom. Around eight I heard Tristan and Milo getting ready for breakfast and got to chatting with them briefly. As Tristan put on coffee I excused myself to take a shower, then Matt fixed us breakfast of scrambled eggs and English muffins. When I finished eating I hurried to get into dressy clothes for the ceremonies, and we left the house about ten after nine.

When we arrived at the church, Del was laid out in the "crying room" where parents with young children attend services. One of Del's granddaughters, Emily, spoke at length just before the Mass with a prepared reminiscence of Del's life, in which Mom played a prominent role. (After Mass, Colleen pointed out in conversation that they met in third grade at St. Mark's parish school, not as I'd thought at Western and Southern: in fact, Del never worked there because her cousin did.) During the Mass I found myself singing the hymns down the octave like Dad used to do.

Matt left after Mass and I stood outside the church with Colleen, Rab, and Brynn (who was home from school with a runny nose). There I was introduced to the parish priest and his brother who was significantly taller than he; both times I made the remark "I've learned never to introduce myself as Colleen's little brother." The motorcycle escort rider was a big bear with a white goatee. The funeral procession followed I-71 to I-275 rather than remaining on Montgomery Road the whole way, which made things interesting.

The committal service was held at the grave site which was unusual but appropriate for the nice weather. Del was buried beside her husband, who is buried beside Mom, and of course Mom beside Dad. So I found it a little surreal standing right by Mom's gravestone during the ceremony. Joe Jr.'s wife Joy was standing near me during the service and cleaned Mom's gravestone. There was another service for a veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart, with several bikers in colors and a uniformed honor guard, over the next hill, so we were directed out the side exit from the cemetery.

We headed to Del's house for the wake and lunch. As I was filling my plate I heard a woman's voice call "Mike!" I instinctively turned and said hello, only to find she was addressing her husband. I ended up sitting with them, as well as her brother and his wife: Mike and Christine and Charlie and Terry. Charlie and Christine are cousins to the family who live in Northern Ohio (Christine and Mike in Cleveland and Charlie and Terry in Sandusky). I had a chat with Bob and asked him where he was moving, and he said he was moving into a cabin on his brother Joe's property and going partially off the grid. I also asked if he was on Facebook and he said no, so I told him, "you're going to miss me posting my adventures with bears half my age". I got to chatting with Lynn's husband Dennis and later with their three sons, Brian, Nick, and Tim. Brian is a big ginger bear who resembles Ben from Home Town, while his two brothers are leaner, dark-haired, and practically twins. Joe's son (also Joe) is much taller than his father and has a thick curly ginger beard.

Around three we got back in the car and returned to Colleen and Rab's. About 7:30 we had LaRosa's thin crust meat lover's pizza with banana peppers for dinner. By nine we were on the road back to Matt's place. Milo was already asleep so the house was quiet. I changed clothes and prepared for bed, where I chatted with Gary and Zach and participated in an XL Bears group chat until my eyes got tired. I spoke with Gary briefly before going to sleep about quarter to midnight.

THURSDAY

I booked a last-minute trip to Cincinnati to attend the funeral services for my mom's best friend Adele, who we knew as "Aunt Del" growing up; she had passed peacefully of kidney failure at the age of 95. Gary and I woke up about 4 AM and were out of bed and preparing to go about 4:30. I was packed by 5, then took a COVID test, which was negative. Gary drove us to Everett Station and parked in the A lot, which was a pleasant surprise since when I last traveled at that hour, the lot would have filled up already. We boarded the 510 express bus around 5:40 and proceeded to Westlake Station without incident. There was no elevator service to the mezzanine so we ended up using the escalators there and the stairs to the platform. The train was a newer 4-car one and we had seats the whole way to Sea-Tac.

I checked my bag (it was small enough to carry on but I packed a large bottle of contact solution so it would not pass TSA), and a tall young dude scanned my tag and checked my ID while I was in line so all I had to do when I reached the counter was toss the bag on the conveyor. We both needed to use the bathroom, then we parted company at the entrance to checkpoint 5. After several minutes of no movement we in line were advised to use checkpoint 2 at the other end of the terminal. On the way a huge and super cute ginger bear who reminded me of Justin DeMers passed me, bearing the telltale CPAP bag and muttering about the ridiculousness of it all. Fortunately the line at checkpoint 2 was fast-moving as promised. I chose to pull my bin off the belt to make getting recombobulated easy. I made my way to the basement train station and caught the shuttle train to the other side of the terminal and quickly crossed the platform to the north loop to the N gates. Ginger bear was right in front of me and we shared a pole for the short trip. I noticed he wore a Colts T-shirt and athletic shorts. I ended up following him up the escalator and all the way to our adjacent gates: as expected, he was heading to Indianapolis. The Cincinnati flight did not show up on the gate screens but eventually the agent got on the PA system and confirmed the correct gate. I stopped by the grab and go line at Barbuza and got a sandwich and a Coke Zero. While I ate, I watched the parade of people deplane from the previous flight as our airplane had arrived late.

When I got on board I was the first to arrive in my row, so I was able to stow my things quickly. The bald gentleman in the window seat reminded me of Joel Davis although his mask may have had something to do with it. A petite blonde lady took the aisle seat. I was able to buckle in without an extension. Another cute bear, more brown-haired than ginger, passed by to sit behind me, and another bear with sparse, curly black hair and a stubbly beard sat in the aisle seat of the row in front of me. We took off into a low cloud bank which soon thinned out. When we reached cruising altitude the flight attendant handed me my fruit and cheese plate I'd pre-ordered. I went to put in my headset to listen to some music but I had forgotten the adapter. When the lady on the aisle got up to use the bathroom, I took the opportunity to follow. It seemed to take minutes on end to finish peeing. As I exited the lavatory, a mother and child were waiting and there wasn't room for me to get around the child, so I gave a little tap on the shoulder to indicate where to stand. The child raised their elbows as if to protect their head. I apologized and returned to my seat. When the flight attendants returned to serve drinks, a tween-age boy was standing behind them waiting for the cart to move out of the aisle so he could use the bathroom. Looks like he made it just in time.

When we landed in Cincinnati we used the center runway (18C) which flies over my old neighborhood. As usual it took a long time to deplane because I was in the far back of the aircraft. I texted Colleen to pick me up once I got my bag which was waiting for me on the carousel. Sheila was riding in the van with her. We stopped at Skyline Chili on Colerain Ave for an early dinner; I had a 3-way and a cheese coney. We went from there to Sheila's house for coffee and conversation.

A little after eight PM Colleen and I left so she could drop me off at Matt and Tristan's for the night, since Colleen had a full house with Kate's kids. Milo was still awake when we arrived and Ella was barking her head off; Matt said she's triggered by hats and beards. She calmed down and later hopped on the couch with me and accepted scritches. I had a nice chat with Matt and Tristan and we all went to bed about 11:30; I got undressed and talked with Gary on the phone before getting to sleep about midnight.

Drove to Northgate Station around eight AM for the all-day rehearsal. On the train I spotted a dude who reminded me of Danny Ray, the furry nudist. This guy had clothes on though: a grayscale patterned sweater, black jeans, white sneaks, and a light blue ball cap.

The first half of rehearsal went well. At lunch I hung out with David from the 2nd Tenor section and formerly Captain Smartypants, and we had ramen at Ooink. He's doing well. He wanted to go walking so we parted company at Molly Moon's ice cream. On the way a big youngish black dude who was busking for poetry readings outside the Elliott Bay Bookstore admired my Toto T-shirt. I had a scoop each of salted caramel and honey lavender which has become my go-to order there. The dude behind the counter asked if I'd had the salted caramel before, and was relieved to find out I had. Apparently some folks are surprised at how salty the salted caramel is.

I took my ice cream into the park to eat, and sat by the end of the basketball court facing the playfield. On the court a bunch of dudes played basketball to the tune of a rap that repeated the phrase "all day n****r" over and over. On the ballfield an older daddy with a salt-and-pepper goatee and 'stache, wearing a sawed-off T-shirt, rolled-up sweatpants, and a ball cap on backwards, played soccer with a girl in hot pink of perhaps eight, who I guessed was his daughter or granddaughter. A boy of perhaps twelve ran around in the distance with a football, dressed like dad (or grandpa). The rest of rehearsal went well and I met a cute ginger bear new to the first tenor section, named Eric.

After rehearsal I caught the 60 bus to the cobbler shop about a mile up Broadway from the church to drop off my Timberland boots for a sole repair. The dude who waited on me was cute, with a dark trim beard and wearing a white T-shirt. The repairs cost about $40 ($46 with tip).

From the cobbler's I headed to C.C. Attle's for the post-rehearsal party organized by Paul. There were at least three different events going on at the same time: our gathering, the WSLO community social, and a SEA-PAH puppy mosh and photo shoot. I had a nice chat with Wolver who was there for the latter two events, and another with Brooks from the chorus. Later I met with Jason from WSLO and let him know I'd given TJ his business card, and had a nice chat with Brian from Cincinnati. Later the Sisters arrived and I spoke with Michael aka "Bear Bait" who I met with the XL Bears and who is also in the Sisters. Returning to the chorus group, I met a fellow named Fidel who went to high school with David (Schönebär). I sent a picture to David on Facebook Messenger. Keith who used to sing with us in the second tenor section was all over Fidel and a few of us tried to protect him. This prompted Mitch to tell me he thinks I'm a safe dude to hang out with, which I appreciated very much. I grabbed some mac and cheese bites and egg rolls for dinner. Shortly before I left, EK from the Quake came in, and I introduced him to Mitch and Fidel; he in turn introduced me to his friends Hydro and Gray.

I hopped the streetcar to Pine Street and caught the 11 bus to Diesel. When i arrived the place was not terribly crowded, but definitely busy. I didn't see anyone I knew right away, and I figured most of the regulars were out of town for Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco. I pulled up a barstool at the back bar where I could see the bartenders. A hot bear Husky fan grabbed the barstool to watch the UW-Stanford game; UW was whomping Stanford 20-7. Soon afterward the back of the bar was full of big bears watching the game, and the bar as a whole was getting crowded, which can be fun. However, I decided to grab a cranberry and Red Bull and make my escape.

I caught the 2 downtown and the train to Northgate from University Street Station. The train was fairly full and I ended up sharing a seat with a cubby dude who worked for Horizon Airlines at Sea-Tac. Seats opened up at Capitol Hill. Then a ton of people boarded at UW as the football game we'd been watching had concluded (UW won 40-22). As usual, despite the crush load on the train, no one wanted to share the seat with me. I thought - but didn't say aloud, of course - "Hey, I don't bite, unless specifically requested." The destination sign froze at Brooklyn and did not announce the stop at Roosevelt, but it reset after that. I made it to Northgate around ten after eleven and headed directly home because I needed to pee like the proverbial racehorse.

MONDAY

I woke up to my 4:15 alarm. We were packed up, showered and dressed by 5:40 so we chilled out in the room until just after six once I got my Facebook post uploaded. We checked out of the hotel and walked along 7th Avenue to Penn Station, entering by the NJ Transit doors. A large family led by a cute young Hispanic dad, with many bags and at least one stroller, chose to take the escalator instead of the elevator, which left plenty of room for us and our bags. We made our way across the upper concourse level and down the escalators to the LIRR concourse level. From there we trekked across to the Moynihan Train Hall. We caught an elevator upstairs at Track 17, noticing someone sleeping on the floor by the next set of elevators, and purchased tickets for Jamaica Station. We found a Babylon train on track 19, which is not accessible from the Moynihan Train Hall level so we needed to return to the West End Concourse. An older lady was having difficulty using the elevator we'd ascended on so I suggested we use the next one, and so when we descended to the WEC level we came face to face with the sleeping dude, who was big, young, black, and not unattractive, with thick, spiky hair. I steered around him and we descended the stairs to Track 19 since there was no elevator. We sat in the last row of seats on the entire train. The conductor was also cute, with a dark brown, curly beard. When we arrived at Jamaica Station we had to walk the length of the platform to reach the escalators to the Airtrain station. There we refilled our Metro cards to pay the Airtrain fare, and made our way to Terminal 7.

At security a father with a small child was directed to leave the stroller with the TSO by the metal detector and the TSO had to interrupt our line to the scanner to stow the stroller temporarily. I was very sweaty and this triggered the scanner. I got recombobulated in fairly short order and we headed for the gate and breakfast. There was a long line for the one eatery open in the food court, so we sat at the wine bar across the way and had breakfast bagels with bacon, egg, and cheese. We stopped by the newsstand and picked up a newspaper, a soda, and some snacks, then waited at the gate in a couple of seats at the charging bar but unfortunately there was no power to the charger outlets. Just as our flight began boarding I got up to dispose of the trash and use the bathroom.

We were seated in the back row of the aircraft and had no difficulty buckling in. Our seat mate, a somewhat shorter and thinner dude with light brown hair and mustache, arrived immediately after us. A tallish dude ended up stuck standing behind us in the galley while a seat swapping situation was resolved at the front of the aircraft; he remarked that he was going to wait there until the music stopped. Just after takeoff, the flight attendant delivered our pre-ordered fruit and cheese plates. When she addressed me as Michael, our seat mate was surprised as that's his name too. I turned on Copland on my headset and alternately napped and journaled much of the flight. Then I put on Joe Jackson for the remainder of the flight. We had to go around on final approach because of traffic on the runway. By the time we made it off the plane, stopped by the bathroom, and caught the train to baggage claim, our bags had arrived and been taken off the belt. We caught the train to Northgate and I requested a Lyft from there home.

We arrived by three, slightly ahead of schedule. I called Colleen to let her know we got home OK, and returned a call from our broker asking for authorization to invest more of the cash already transferred from my overstuffed checking account, to which I gladly agreed. I watched TV with Gary till four, then prepared for rehearsal and left about 25 after, parking at South Everett because of the Monday Night Football game scheduled for five. I sat downstairs opposite the exit door to help with my bum knee. Dinner at FOB Poke Bowl was tasty as usual. Met a new Lower Bass, Travis, with multi-colored hair and a nice smile. After break I was fading fast and resolved to never schedule a cross-country flight and rehearsal the same day again; after all, we're not 22 anymore.

I caught the 49 bus down Pine to Westlake Station, and as I approached the train platform I realized I'd worn the wrong color shirt as I noticed the fans in Seahawks and Broncos gear leaving the northbound train from the stadium. When I got to the platform I noticed a cute cub across the way; the platform was otherwise nearly empty in both directions. On board the train I got into a conversation with a few Seahawks fans and quietly celebrated the win with them. Once again I sat downstairs on the bus back to South Everett. I drove home, grabbed a drink and some crackers, and promptly fell asleep in the recliner just after 11. An hour later I managed to get upstairs and into bed.

SUNDAY

I woke up just before seven to use the bathroom and went back to bed. I rolled over through my alarm at 8:30 and got up after Gary's went off at quarter to nine and he'd been in the bathroom. We picked Le Pain Quotidien, a Belgian bakery and restaurant just across 7th Avenue, for breakfast around ten. I had a ham and Gruyere omelet and Gary had the same ingredients in a quiche.

From there we walked the three long blocks to the High Line. It proved to be a mistake because my left leg and back were complaining bitterly by the time we arrived, and also a light but steady rain began to fall. Still, we made the most of our limited time there, walking from 30th Street to 23rd with some rest breaks and a stop at CVS for snacks. The walk back to 8th Avenue to the nearest subway station was miserable but we managed. We took the C train uptown to 59th Street in order to transfer to the 1 train with fewer steps. Waiting for the 1 train, I sat on a bench a few seats over from a cute cubby dude. He rose and stretched, and a black lady with two little girls arrived. One of the girls wanted to sit by me on the bench with her mother, but mom objected since we weren't wearing masks. Ironically, her own mask was hanging down well below her nose. I chose not to engage and motioned to Gary I was going to get up and walk down the platform. The 1 train was full but not crush loaded, and I managed to find a seat at the penultimate stop at Penn Station. The rain had picked up a bit while we were on the subway. We returned to the room to find it hadn't been serviced, so I stripped off my soaked T-shirt, dried off, and put on a polo shirt I intended to wear to the theater; I also switched from dress shoes to sneakers to help with the bad leg. That settled, we sat out on the patio under an umbrella to have our snacks, surf, and in my case catch up on my journal.

Around two we returned to the room to grab jackets and in my case a hat, then made our way to the Lyceum Theater for a 3 PM matinee performance of "A Strange Loop", the story of a fat gay black man writing a musical about a fat gay black man writing a musical.... The lead character was portrayed by a cute black full-grown cub. The part writing and casting was very impressive, including a low bass and a baritone who were each very clear in their respective ranges. The costumes and sets for the gospel scene were quite over-the-top but they definitely showed the lead actor to best advantage. The sex scene rather rattled Gary though.

As we left the theater, Gary needed to walk so we headed for Rockefeller Plaza to take pictures. While there, I chatted with Martin on Messenger and agreed to meet up at Ty's before heading around the corner for dinner. We caught an F train all the way to Greenwich Village along with a cute cub who reminded me of Tony Marcacci. Once I had bought drinks for Gary and me, we got into a conversation with Wayne and Mike from Cleveland. The five of us went from Ty's to the Cowgirl restaurant around the corner. On the way we found out Mike and Wayne know Red Fred and Steve from Rochester. I had a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw and Tater Tots, and a bowl of chili; Gary had mac and cheese with a salad. The conversation continued and it was fun getting to know Wayne and Mike. Wayne picked up the tab for dinner which was greatly appreciated.

We parted company at the restaurant and made our way to the 1 train at Christopher Street. While we waited to cross the street, a disheveled black dude crossed against traffic and narrowly avoided getting creamed by several cars. We caught the train back to the hotel, where once more I stripped off my wet clothes, ran the hair dryer all over myself, and put on dry clothes, then journaled the events of the day. I ended up going to sleep about 10:30 as the Sunday Night Football game ended. Gary stayed up till about 12:30.

SATURDAY

I set an alarm for 7:30 and we got up shortly afterwards. We had breakfast quickly and sat on the patio while I finished my coffee and we planned the day. We walked to Penn Station to catch the train to Times Square; as it happened, we caught a 3 train. As we navigated the lower concourse level to reach the subway, we passed a shirtless furry dude in gray sweatpants with longish frizzy hair and beard. When we reached Times Square, we transferred to the 7 train. As we boarded I noticed a big bear who reminded me of Justin DeMers seated in the same car with a lady companion. We changed to the 4 train at Grand Central Station, where a couple of construction cars were parked on the inner (express) track so all trains used the local. A cute cublet wearing an A's cap and a shirt advertising a fútbol team in Mexico boarded at a later stop. ¡Hola!

We arrived at Yankee Stadium, found the gate, and waited in line behind a family group: hot dad with brushy haircut and trimmed bushy salt-and-pepper beard, wearing a Bills T-shirt; grandpa with thin white hair; and two big boys with thick beards. We made our way to our seats. A hot black cop, with short hair and curly beard, was watching over the proceedings from the section to our right. Mike arrived a few minutes later and we watched the pre-game preparations. Kelli O'Hara, who was a guest artist on an SMC show, sang the National Anthem. The seats next to us were occupied by five young black dudes, most with braids. The row behind us was loud, and were there to party: one of the crew told another who wasn't sure about work the next day, "I'm holding you hostage". The Yankees scored an incredible six runs in the first inning, followed by one in the second, two in the seventh, and one in the eighth. The Rays answered with only one run in the third and two in the eighth. In the top of the fifth, an astonishingly quick double play occurred, with the first baseman catching the line drive and immediately stepping on the bag; the runner, who had taken a substantial leadoff, just stood there stunned with that "fuck me" expression on his face as it slowly dawned on him what had happened. Final score: Yankees 10, Rays 3. Aaron Judge did not score any home runs today as he counted down to tying Roger Maris' record.

From the stadium we took the D train (a Baseball Special) down the 8th Avenue line. Around 81st Street two very limber black dudes boarded the train with a boom box and a few electronic devices to drive it, and they breakdanced for two stops. They were good and they deserved all the applause they got. We left the train at 47th Street and 6th Avenue to buy theater tickets at TKTS. From there we took the C to Penn Station and left Mike on the LIRR concourse level under Moynihan Train Hall.

We caught an A train to Times Square and walked to the north end of the platform to exit at 44th Street, then a block west to 9th Avenue and two blocks north to the 9th Avenue Saloon. Martin was sitting in the back with Mike and Wayne (who were visiting from Cleveland), and a few other guys were making their exit as we arrived about 5:30. The five of us sat and talked for a bit, and I went to fetch us drinks: Coke for Gary and a rosé cider for me. The bartender was a cute, tall, bald bear who reminded me of the fellow who co-starred with Red Mike in the Bearnanarama music video. Mike and Wayne made it a theater weekend with a matinee and an evening show today, so they left for a disco nap about six. I ordered a couple more rounds of drinks and closed out my tab just before seven. About ten after, Martin left to walk the dog before heading to Dear Evan Hansen at eight. We accompanied Martin the block south to his street, made our way to the Times Square station on the 1 line, and took the train two stops south to the hotel. When we arrived at the room we stripped down and lay in bed relaxing and in my case drying off.

By nine I had substantially caught up with my journal and was ready for dinner. Gary mentioned he wasn't interested in going to Ty's to meet Martin after the show, but I felt comfortable enough to go by myself. We dressed and headed out for dinner about quarter after nine. We chose the Triple Crown Ale House, an Irish pub around the corner from the hotel. We ordered bangers and mash, and Gary had ginger ale while I had Magners cider.

After dinner we returned to the room, Gary sat up in bed and I sat in the chair and made arrangements to meet Martin at Ty's. I left about 11:30 and was there before midnight. I ordered a drink from the short bartender Gary and sat by the wall, enjoying the view (many cute pocket bears and a few bigger dudes) and the 80's music. When Martin arrived we had a nice chat and he pointed out the two bartenders: Gary who served me earlier and Julian who was a cute black cub. Later we met a big young bear named Rolando and had a nice chat with him as well.

We left together around two and picked up the 1 train uptown at Christopher Street. We sat opposite a very cute young dude with a very cute pug in tow. We joked with him about the perceived danger of riding the subway at 2 AM in Manhattan before he and his dog left at the next station. When we got to my stop there were still a couple people on the street but it was mostly quiet. I returned to the room and Gary was still up, reading something on his phone. We both prepared for bed and were done by quarter to three.

FRIDAY

Woke up about quarter after six to use the bathroom and ended up not going back to sleep. We showered, dressed, and were downstairs for breakfast just after eight. The breakfast room was very crowded but we managed to find seats. When we had finished eating, I took my coffee and we sat outside on the patio. While I finished my coffee I checked in on the Hertz app for the car we are renting for the day.

Next we headed for the 1 train to South Ferry, passing a cute cub wearing an audio headset with a mini boom mic. On the train we sat opposite a short and lean dude with a reddish-brown beard and ink on his arms, wearing a camouflage ball cap and a Carpenters' Union T-shirt and towing a small case with many stickers on it, which I guessed served as a toolbox. He stood up and left the train at 14th Street but immediately reboarded and remained standing until he left at Canal Street. (It's a little harder to "edit" a mosaic tile sign than a street sign. 😈) Later Gary noticed a family with a small child to our left across the aisle: the father was playing with the child standing on his knees and Gary noticed the child staring at us.

We left the train at South Ferry and hurried along the East River Greenway to Wall Street Pier 11. As we approached the pier I noticed one of the vessels was the Ferry Godmother. Gary purchased tickets and we boarded the Forget Me Knot to Rockaway via the Brooklyn Army Terminal. The boat trip was relaxing and I got some good pictures even through a dirty window. We arrived at the Rockaway Beach terminal and had to detour to the far side of Beach 108th Street to avoid construction. After a short two-block walk and a rest stop by the hockey rink (!), we made our way to the boardwalk (actually a nicely-paved berm). We had a nice stroll, took a pit stop at a brilliant yellow-green building and exited at Beach 105th Street, from where we continued to the shuttle train station. Gary spotted a cute cub with a long, pointed red beard driving the train going the opposite direction. Our driver was a nice-looking black dude, but we did get to see the cub when his train arrived at Broad Channel while we waited for the A train to Howard Beach Station.

At Howard Beach we hopped on the Airtrain to Federal Circle to pick up a rental car. The small SUV I reserved was not there and, in fact, there were no cars to be found in the Gold members' "choose your own adventure" lot. After a brief conversation with a nice young lady with a tablet, we were directed to a Chrysler Pacifica minivan. As we headed for the exit there was a blockage in the only open lane due to a tow truck getting wedged somehow. Eventually the young lady with the tablet directed traffic to the two lanes that showed up as closed but were actually open.

That settled, we hopped on the Belt Parkway and the Southern State Parkway to get to the Costco in Farmingdale to buy roses for the cemetery visits. As we navigated the lot and parked, we spotted a cute cub with a thick beard wrangling carts. While we were there we picked up some extra clothes we needed but forgot to pack, and had lunch of chicken bakes and sodas at the food court. While we ate, I noticed the same cute cubby cart wrangler coming in for a break. From there we drove to Walgreens in Amityville for a car charger and cables, as well as batteries for my glucometer and a bag big enough to carry all our other purchases.

Gary made arrangements for his brother Mike to meet us at Amityville Cemetery as he was just arriving from Ottawa. We found Gary's mother's and stepfather's final resting place, and waited for Mike to arrive before ceremonially placing roses. Mike then led us in prayer and a conversation began. I suggested we go sit in the van to continue the conversation in air-conditioned comfort (and get me off my sore knee). So Gary and Mike caught up on things and Gary gave Mike the rest of the roses, retaining one to place on his friend Kevin's grave. The plan was for me to drive to the latter location while Mike located their family plot elsewhere in the cemetery. Unfortunately the map we had for Kevin's plot was incomplete and the groundskeeper ended up assisting us in finding it. I ended up parked some distance away so I pulled a little closer and picked up Gary when he was done. From there we drove over to the family plot. Mike was nearby but was a bit lost. We got him to turn around and follow us, but as it happened we were almost there already. We placed roses on five family graves in the vases provided, and I took pictures for Gary.

When that was done we made arrangements to meet for an early dinner at Peter's Diner in Amityville by the railroad tracks. This was the diner we'd always visited on previous trips. As I'd remembered, the host was a very cute young dude with curly, dark hair and matching beard. I had a tuna salad plate with potato salad and coleslaw; Gary had a plate of fruit and cottage cheese; and Mike had a burger with fries. A couple of ladies as they were leaving engaged the host in conversation and I overheard him saying he is the son of the original proprietor, Peter (the ladies called him Pete). At the same time a large black dude fumbled with his phone charger in a power outlet alarmingly close to my head. The host directed him to a booth by the front door with a working outlet, and he gathered his things and moved there. We made arrangements to meet at our seats for the baseball game tomorrow and parted company so Mike could check into the hotel.

Our route back to the rental car facility was west on Route 27, so we were riding into the sunset on Sunrise Highway. This avoided congestion on the Southern State Parkway. We dropped off the car and ascended to the Airtrain station. On the train a nice lady stood up to allow me to take the priority seat, which was helpful as my left knee and hip were bothering me. A large dude to my left was conversing with a younger dude in Yankees gear. Gary was amused when the younger dude complained his mother-in-law had "broken up three marriages." I bought us tickets for the Airtrain and Long Island Railroad to return to Manhattan via Penn Station. The train was full and we squeezed into a row of three seats where a thin black dude was already seated. A muscular blond dude was standing at the end of the car. When we reached Woodside Station, enough people had left that Gary was able to snag a two-seat row for himself, so I scooted over to the aisle seat. A very cute cub in basketball gear wandered the aisle searching in vain for a seat to his liking. When we arrived at Penn Station, we took the stairs to the 7th Avenue side instead of walking down the platform to Moynihan Train Hall. There are two mezzanine levels: one for the LIRR and one above that for New Jersey Transit. We ended up walking through the NJ Transit concourse to reach the street via escalators.

We returned to the hotel and I changed clothes and fetched some ice, and we chilled out for a bit. We decided to have milkshakes for dessert since Five Guys was across 7th Avenue from our hotel. I had a salted caramel shake washed down with a strawberry Fanta Zero soda; Gary had a strawberry shake. We sat in the window and watched the city go by. When we arrived at the hotel and caught the elevator, a woman exited who looked like a model, which didn't surprise me as the Fashion Institute of Technology is on the next block. We returned to our room and I sent Martin a message with our schedule, and he worked out when to meet for dinner: 6 PM Sunday. Gary fell asleep in front of the TV so I turned it off, finished journaling, and went to sleep just after 12:30 AM.

THURSDAY

I woke up about ten to four for an urgent trip to the bathroom. When I was done I returned to bed while Gary was awake and surfing the net. My alarm went off at 7:30 and I showered and dressed, and we packed bags. We went downstairs to breakfast about eight. We both had omelets today. We returned to the room around nine, packed a few final items, and chilled out. I noticed Gary was falling asleep so I set an alarm for ten, but it wasn't needed so I turned it off.

We checked out of the hotel around ten and proceeded to the subway station. When we arrived at 30th Street we found the sole working combination of elevators from the platform to the street at 31st Street, and walked the extra block east to the train station. We found seats on a pew alongside Gate 9 serving Tracks 9 and 10. I was thirsty and Gary wanted a copy of the Inquirer so I ventured across the station to the newsstand. While I was there, I found a couple of souvenir T-shirts. They only had one Rocky shirt in our size so I also picked up one with the Love sculpture.

About an hour later our train boarded on track 8. We ended up in the Quiet Car with no talking and no cell phone conversations. Our conductor, Joe, was a cute otter with a trim, dark, and curly beard. Gary was asleep pretty much as soon as Joe had scanned our ticket and I'd put it in my bag. Dude sitting immediately in front of Gary held a phone conversation in Spanish and worse yet, put it on speaker so we could hear the woman he was talking with. Eventually another passenger addressed him in Spanish and pointed out the sign directly over his seat, and he wrapped up his conversation. That settled, Gary went back to sleep and I just relaxed, journaled, surfed the net, and watched the world go by.

We arrived at Penn Station on schedule and ascended the elevator from the platform to Moynihan Train Hall. In between the two was a level I didn't recognize, labeled WEC; it turns out this is the west end of the Long Island Railroad concourse projecting from the old Penn Station under Eighth Avenue. We made a quick pit stop and grabbed lunch from Burger Joint. There was a party of seven in front of me in line, and they were served by a super cute cubby dude with a trim mustache and beard. By the time I reached the counter, cute cub had switched to cooking and a nice young lady took my order. Gary wanted a single burger with a Diet Coke, and when the lady asked me how he wanted it cooked I said "well done" as that's how he likes his steaks. She told me that would take 12 to 15 minutes. I ordered a double burger, medium, with the works; a ginger ale; and a pickle in lieu of fries. I took our drinks over to Gary and he suggested I find us seats. A nice young dude was seated at the far end of a six-seat table and agreed we should join him. After some finagling with the luggage we were seated, and I checked my phone and received the news that Queen Elizabeth had died. Gary later observed this as the continuation of the rule "Whenever Gary is on vacation, at least one newsworthy event happens." Our lunch was ready soon afterwards. We ate, and I informed Harry and Colleen respectively via text that we had safely arrived in New York.

When we were finished eating, we made the short walk from Moynihan Train Hall to our hotel. A tall and friendly young dude checked us in and handed me a couple bottles of cold water. As we entered the elevator we were joined by a hot little cub with longish hair and a thick beard. We settled into our room, and I set up my CPAP and stripped off my clothes which were soaked with sweat, leaving on only my socks. Gary swapped channels for a while as many stations were covering the royal succession, and settled on MLB Network coverage of Wegmans... er, Walgreens... no, *Washington* at St. Louis. I caught up on my journal and looked up information to plan the evening. Around quarter to four Gary decided to take a nap and I set an alarm for six and joined him. Around five a lady, presumably from Housekeeping, unlocked the door and attempted to enter, so I yelled (as I was mostly naked on top of the covers) and she left. Gary woke up and set out the do not disturb sign, but then did not go back to sleep so I woke up and turned off both the CPAP and the alarm.

About 6:30 we left for the evening. We purchased transit passes (on Metrocards) at 28th Street and rode the 1 train south to Christopher Street to pay a visit to the Stonewall Inn. The place was a bit of a hole-in-the-wall with paneled walls, high tables and a chill-out bench in the back. The bartenders (both ladies) were pleasant and friendly but they had lots of arbitrary rules and policies to enforce. Should we visit again I will make a note to run a tab and let them hold my ID, as that is the most efficient way to pay by credit card. Still, it was a nice visit regardless.

After selfies with the sign out front, we returned to the subway and rode north to 18th Street, then walked a block north to Peter McManus Cafe. The bartender was a tall, muscular, bald dude. He explained that while this is a fourth generation family business, no one on duty tonight is a family member - although he did say the owner's nephew also named Mike McManus pitches in to work there on occasion. We ordered drinks: I had the McManus Ale, which is a pleasant and very drinkable red ale when served cold, while Gary had a Magners cider which we'd had at the Irish pub in Calgary. For dinner, Gary had a pastrami sandwich with coleslaw and I had the Pop Pop's burger with a blend of meat including brisket and a side of Tater Tots. After I finished the glass of ale I had a Magners instead. Over my left shoulder, one of the regulars muttered imprecations and at one point was feeling neglected: I thought he was very close to asking who he had to fuck to get a drink. I also noticed an extremely tall (close to 7 feet) and thin dude with blond hair in a man-bun, wearing a white T-shirt with a Polo logo and knee-length pink shorts, go into the kitchen and hug the chef (who had a look on his face that screamed "Awkward!"). He hung out at our end of the bar. The place was getting busier so as soon as we finished dinner and drinks, we left, wishing the staff a good night.

As we emerged from the bar, a fire truck with lights and sirens going approached 7th Avenue and carefully crossed against the light just before it changed. We crossed 7th and went to Duane Reade on the corner to purchase drinks, snacks, and disposable razors for Gary as he wants to start over on parts of the beard. A security guard had to open the display case for the razors. We checked out and returned to the subway at 18th. A cute dude in black wearing a black yarmulke was leaning on a post; Gary later saw him without it. We emerged from the train at 28th and made our way to the hotel. Gary turned on the football game we'd been watching at the bar and we sat in bed and surfed the net, and I caught up on my journal. Around eleven I prepared for bed and we went to sleep about midnight.

WEDNESDAY

Woke up about quarter after six to use the bathroom and returned to bed about seven. Slept in until my alarm at 8:15, then rolled over while Gary showered and took medication. I texted with Harry, and Gary arranged to transfer our tickets to our phone apps so we could meet up at our seats instead of outside the stadium. We got dressed, filled out postcards, and headed downstairs for breakfast around quarter to ten. I had the Fourth Street Skillet with potatoes, scrambled egg whites, and turkey sausage; Gary had French toast again.

We walked from the hotel to the historic post office in the Franklin print shop building and mailed our postcards there, where the clerk hand-cancelled the stamps. From there it was a quick walk (at least, as quick as my bum knee and hip allowed) to the pier for the River Link passenger ferry from which we intended to visit the Battleship New Jersey. Unfortunately, while Washington was famous for crossing the Delaware, we could not: the ferry ceased operating on weekdays after Labor Day, only running on Saturdays and Sundays. So we settled down on a bench and took pictures from there of the Battleship, the Walt Whitman Bridge, and the Jersey shore of the river generally. After a few minutes we headed north along the waterfront walk to get pictures of the Ben Franklin Bridge and watch the crew dismantling a party tent in the nearby park. We continued north to Penn Landing, passing an empty dog park with several signs warning people not to sleep there, and encountering a few joggers. There was a choice of a long switchback ramp and a stairway to the bridge across I-95 to Market Street, so we took the ramp for the first flight and split up for the rest; I took the stairs and Gary stayed on the ramp.

We crossed the bridge and immediately descended into the 2nd Street Station. My leg made it difficult to navigate the stairs down so we waited for a second train. Aboard the train we stood behind a bald dude in a black T-shirt with ink all up and down the back of his head and neck. When we arrived at 5th Street Station, as happened often this trip, we took the elevator and launched into a chorus of "That Smell" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. As we crossed the street we saw the waitresses from the hotel restaurant on their way out after work (the restaurant is closed for lunch and reopens at five for dinner). We returned to the room to chill out for a bit, arriving just before noon. I caught up on my journal while Gary snoozed, then we reversed roles. I woke slightly after the alarm I'd set for 3 PM and we got dressed for the ballpark.

We left the hotel around 3:30 and had a late lunch at Big Ass Slices around the corner on Market Street. We were served by a cute cub with short dark hair and matching beard, with ink on both forearms, and who rather resembled Alan Van Camp but far younger. I had two Half-Ass Slices: a meat lover's and Julio's Special (white pizza with spinach, garlic, and tomato slices). Gary had a Big Ass Slice of sausage. From there we walked the short distance to 2nd Street Station and descended to the platform. Across the way on the other platform, a black dude in shorts snoozed on a bench. 🎶 He got legs... 🎶 Later, a dude who reminded me of Denzel Washington boarded wearing an Eagles cap and chewing on an unlit cigarillo. He ended up transferring to the Broad Street train at City Hall with us. The train stock for the two lines is different, with the Broad Street trains looking a little older and taller.

We left at the end of the line at NRG Station and proceeded to the First Base Gate. An announcement over the loudspeaker said gates would open at 5:35, about 20 minutes later than expected. We entered the stadium soon after and found our seats under cover from the next level, which was helpful as it had begun to rain steadily though not heavily. Harry arrived just as the rain eased off and the tarp was removed from the field. When the umpires were introduced, Harry had a noticeable reaction to the assignment of Angel Hernandez at second base; apparently he has a reputation. We spent the first inning or two catching up and introducing Gary since he and Harry hadn't previously met. There were a couple of loud ladies seated at the bar rail behind us, shouting love and encouragement to Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper. When the second-base umpire made a questionable call, one of them said loud enough to be overheard, "... that dickhead Angel Hernandez..." which got me laughing out loud. After a slightly hair-raising ninth inning involving a run immediately followed by a single for the Marlins, the game ended in a 4-3 win for the Phillies.

We parted company with Harry and headed for the NRG subway station. People were having difficulty getting in and had to be reminded to buy fares before trying to enter. We sat on the platform waiting for a local train, thinking the express would bypass City Hall station (we later discovered that wasn't the case). When the local train arrived, we were among the very few passengers in the lead car of the train. The station just north of NRG Station is named Oregon and pronounced "OR-uh-gone". When we arrived at City Hall, I managed to navigate to the eastbound platform at 15th Street. Gary spotted a small rat on the track bed and we watched it carefully cross the tracks. Suddenly a black dude on our platform hailed another across the tracks with the N word and the two carried on an animated conversation. As we boarded the train, a black dude wearing a funky hat rolled a shopping cart purloined from Target and loaded with bottled water and other stuff onto the train, perched on top of the cart with his feet up on the partition by the doors, and asked us how we enjoyed the Phillies game.

When we arrived at 5th Street Station I suggested we take the stairs in the opposite direction from the elevator to avoid a street crossing. We didn't run into the homeless dudes this time. I picked up some ice cream bars at the front desk and we returned to the room, watched news and the remaining West Coast ball game, and finally turned off the TV about 12:30. I finished the day's journaling and went to sleep about quarter to one.

TUESDAY
I woke up just after five to use the bathroom. Carl had written me back that it was, again, for the best we skipped the Bike Stop last night. Fingers crossed for tonight. I went back to bed just before six and rose for the day about nine. We watched the Weather Channel for a while and headed down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast around 10:30. After breakfast we sat on a bench outside the lobby and watched the rain and the traffic on the narrow street. We returned to the room, and Gary napped while I posted pictures to Facebook.

About 2:30 we walked to the Bourse Food Hall for a late lunch at Firebyrd Chicken. We had grilled chicken sandwiches, mine with fried pickles and his with coleslaw. From there we took the subway to Spring Garden, which is an elevated stop in the I-95 median. There was a puddle of ick on the floor of the train so I carefully wiped my shoes on the platform when we left. We descended to street level to catch the 38 bus to the vicinity of the Rocky Steps. While waiting for the bus we noticed a hot bear with a shaved head and a long, thin beard, wearing a white T-shirt, jeans, and work boots; that beard reminds me of Jason the Illustrated Man. He boarded the bus and we followed.

When we arrived at the museum, much of the area was still cordoned off. We made our way to the Rocky statue at the foot of the steps and took pictures, but the steps themselves were fenced off about halfway up. So we walked around and up the hill to the north side of the building and thence to the top of the steps. A cute bearish dude and another big dude were jumping up and down for the camera. We took pictures, then walked around the building from the other side, descended the hill, and waited by the Joan of Arc statue for the 32 bus to the Bike Stop. While we waited, a tall, shirtless dude covered in ink and wearing see-through wet white shorts over orange compression shorts jogged past us. The trip was uneventful and it was a short walk from the bus stop to the bar.

We spent a half hour or so at the bar, having a nice chat with the bartender and corresponding with Carl on Messenger. We all were in need of dinner so we agreed to meet up there around nine. That settled, we walked around the corner to Moriarty's pub, where we were served by a cute cublet with nice ink on his arms past the elbows. I had the shepherd's pie and coffee and Gary had a turkey burger. For dessert Gary ordered the key lime pie but was served cheesecake, which he didn't mind because he'd been having trouble deciding between the two. I had the classic bread pudding and more coffee. From there we walked to the nearby CVS pharmacy for postcards and supplies, then returned to the Bike Stop to wait for Carl to arrive, which he did just after nine. We chatted for about an hour and a half about our trip, bear clubs, camping, erotic couture, and assorted other topics. As we prepared to leave, I suggested we take a selfie so I could properly thank Alan for virtually introducing us. Gary was positioned better so he took the picture with my phone.

We walked up 11th Street to the subway station and caught the train two stops to our usual place. On the way back to the hotel we encountered a group of homeless dudes: one who reminded us of Gabriel who I met at the YMCA in Seattle; another who was peeing on a street tree; and a big young dude whose query "Help the homeless?" sounded like "Oklahoma?". We managed to get past them without incident and got back to the room about eleven. We prepared for bed about midnight and kept the TV on for the Giants at Dodgers game still in progress. I took the time to journal and settled into bed.

MONDAY

We headed out for Breakfast with Betsy, a couple blocks south of the hotel on Chestnut Street. I thought it was a small independent restaurant but it turned out to be the hotel restaurant for the Renaissance Hotel. The explanation seems to be related to the wall full of portraits of Betsy Ross. Gary had the classic omelet and I had the Philly omelet with shaved beef, cheese, and peppers.

As we left the restaurant, intending to head for the subway station to purchase transit passes, we noticed we were right in front of Independence Hall. So we took a few pictures and stopped by the Liberty Bell pavilion. We spotted a couple of cute cubby uniformed security guards at various points. After visiting the Bell, we descended into the subway station to buy passes. Gary had a little trouble with the kiosk but eventually was able to pick up two passes. When we boarded the westbound train, a cubby dude with curly hair was smoking a blunt (pot-laced cigar); he left the train at the next station. 🎶 Ooh, that smell... 🎶 We left the train at 30th Street Station and were immediately confronted by an unfortunate incident on the platform: a not-unattractive, heavy-set youngish dude in an orange shirt and what appeared to be underwear lay on the platform, unresponsive and being attended to by medics. On our way out of the station we noticed a fire crew and an ambulance who had been summoned to assist.

We walked to a bus stop opposite the far corner of the train station, to catch a bus to the Rocky Steps leading to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Unfortunately the Steps were inaccessible today because there were crews cleaning up after the Made in America Festival which concluded last night. But it wasn't a total waste of time, as we got to see (in addition to the hot construction bears in hi-visibility shirts) the Rodin Museum, Logan Square, the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, and Love Park (featuring the Robert Indiana sculpture as well as several fountains people could play in). When we arrived at Love Park, I texted back and forth with Harry and we made arrangements to meet on Wednesday outside the stadium for the Phillies game. Before descending into the subway once more, I bought soft drinks from a street vendor while he prepared a meal for a nice young lady with heavy braids navigating the streets in a wheelchair.

We finished our drinks and rode the subway back to Independence Mall. Across the street I noticed the YO sign was also meant to be read from the back, where it reads OY. This led to a visit to the Weitzman Museum of American Jewish History, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, which occupies the building behind YO/OY. As instructed (and in keeping with our usual strategy of exploring a multi-story museum in any case), we ascended the elevator to the top (fourth) floor and worked our way down. I noticed several references to Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, the first rabbinical seminary in the US. I looked it up online and it is still operating in Cincinnati as well as campuses in New York, Los Angeles, and Jerusalem. When we had explored the chronological exhibits on the upper three floors and returned to ground level, I noticed a further exhibit in the basement so I took Gary downstairs to see it: a wall of posters including one memorializing Harvey Milk, as well as two portraits of first responders flanking an exhibit of military nursing uniforms including a full biohazard suit.

We ascended the elevator and exited the museum in search of a late lunch. The next block over on Market Street housed several shops featuring hoagies and cheesesteaks. En route we stopped by the printing shop of Ben Franklin and explored the courtyard where large metal structures were erected to outline the envelopes where the two buildings composing Franklin's home had once stood. This was a spot I recall visiting with Harry back around 1989 or 1990. We picked the first hoagie shop we came across, Primo Hoagies, and ordered cheesesteaks to go since they were closing early for Labor Day. On the way back to the hotel I noticed a shirtless, lean bicyclist wearing a chain around his neck approaching from the opposite direction.

We returned to our room and ate our late lunch, I called Sheila to wish her a happy birthday, then Gary went upstairs to relax poolside and I showered, donned a swimsuit and joined him. I hopped in the pool, doing ten laps, updating my journal, then hopping in for ten more and capping off the session with a somersault. My second set I was accompanied in the pool by a cute and clearly biracial boy of perhaps ten or twelve, while his parents (Dad reminds me of Darius Rucker aka Hootie; Mom looks either Asian or Native American) looked on approvingly and Mom took video. Also in the pool area were a bearish gentleman about our age, a hot and slightly younger bear who looked around briefly but didn't stay; and a group of four middle-aged and older adults, likely a family group of some sort. Gary slept most of the time we were in the pool area. As we were preparing to go, a simply huge bear in a yellow swimsuit and a tall but leaner dude got in the pool.

We returned to the room and watched local news for a few minutes, then Gary suggested dinner at the Race Street Cafe a couple blocks around the corner from the hotel. The place was a well-maintained old bar with an Irish pub ambiance. A nice-looking dude with an impeccably trimmed beard sat in the window as we made our way to the back corner table. Gary ordered the tortelloni in vodka sauce with grilled chicken; I had the sweet-and-sour brisket with vegetables and mashed potatoes in a potato skin cup. I also drank a couple glasses of a very dry cider which was very nice. Gary decided he didn't want to visit the Bike Stop so I informed Carl on Messenger. Instead we returned to the room and watched sports the rest of the evening.

SUNDAY

It took a while to get parked at the gate, and since we were in the far back of the plane we were treated to an extended view of the ground crew offloading more frozen fish than luggage. One of the cargo handlers was a hot, swarthy bear with curly black hair, matching beard, and a big nose - Gary thought he might be Lebanese. When we finally deplaned we made a beeline for the restroom, and I spotted the cubby dude from the waiting room at Sea-Tac using the sink.

We took the Airtrain to Jamaica Station and Gary purchased combination tickets for the Airtrain and Long Island Railroad with the assistance of a customer service representative. The train to Penn Station left simultaneously with an adjacent train to Atlantic Terminal, and I got about 4 seconds of video of the apparent race before the conductor arrived to punch our tickets. The train stopped briefly at Kew Gardens and Forest Hills (the latter being the original location of the US Open tennis tournament) before arriving at Penn Station.

We walked down the platform until we reached the elevator to the Moynihan Train Hall, which was built inside the old Post Office building on 8th Avenue. We first verified there is no checked baggage service on our train, then grabbed BJ Burritos with bacon at Burger Joint, one of the few eateries open in the Food Hall at that hour on a Sunday. We took our food and baggage to the Ticketed Waiting Room under the Post Office steps. It was crowded when we entered, but a few trains left and the place cleared out considerably. A white-bearded fellow in a camouflage sweatshirt and cap with a deep bass voice sat across from me. Gary reminded me: No. Later a very tall dude arrived with his wife and daughter; the daughter was catching the train to Vermont for college. Gary suggested if the father were about a hundred pounds heavier they would pass for Tony, Carmela, and Meadow Soprano. I managed to fall asleep in the waiting room. Later an Amtrak employee (nice looking bald black dude with a thick beard) escorted an elderly man with a bag of groceries to a nearby seat in the waiting room, as they were finishing an interesting conversation about factory farming, feed lots, and slaughterhouses. I also noticed a big, balding, brown-haired bear with a similarly sized lady, both wearing Washington Capitols T-shirts; they left for the Acela train to Washington DC. Also spotted a lean young dude in black with a thick curly black beard, complex monochrome ink on both forearms, and a gray ball cap escorting a woman who appeared to be of an age to be his mother. We left the waiting room around quarter after noon to pick up snacks and a copy of the New York Times. Next door to the newsstand was Vesuvio Bakery so I picked up a slice of cheesecake and a mocha each for us.

Soon after we finished eating, it was time to board the train for Philly. A muscular young dude with a trim, stubbly beard and mustache, wearing a Nike cap and accompanied by a young lady, was seated two rows forward on the opposite side of the train. An older lady came down the aisle speaking rapidly in Spanish to a somewhat younger lady behind her; the other lady responded just as she passed our seats. The train stopped just outside of Secaucus; there was no immediate announcement of the reason, but Gary suspected a drawbridge was involved, which was confirmed several minutes after the train began moving again. We stopped at Newark Penn Station, then passed by North Elizabeth and Elizabeth, which prompted Gary to do his best Redd Foxx impression. I also noticed a dude I hadn't seen board was seated across the aisle one row forward, so all I could see was his tanned, lean, furry legs in gray/white Nike sneaks and gray shorts.

When we arrived at 30th Street Station there were a few minor snafus. First, the Market Street doors to the station were closed for construction; second, the closest entrance to the subway station was stairs only, which made luggage handling difficult; and last, the fare dispenser apparently charged Gary's card $5 and didn't produce any tickets. Grrr... But we entered the station without further incident and caught the train east to the hotel. A nice-looking young dude was seated facing us on the train, and when he left at the station before ours, Gary reminded me: No. There was a sign cum sculpture across the street from the 5th/Independence Hall station that read, in bright yellow, "YO." So Gary yelled it after me as I crossed the street. I was a little rattled at first but quickly got the joke and LOLed.

It wasn't far to the hotel and we checked in and stripped down without incident, watching the Seattle Storm game at home against the Las Vegas Aces and relaxing. I set an alarm for 7:30 PM (it was just after four) and tried to catch up on sleep. For a moment while watching the news I thought we would get right up and have dinner, and then Gary fell asleep in front of the TV so I followed, rolling over on the 7:30 alarm and rising about 8:30. We decided to have dinner at the hotel bar and grill. A family reunion occupied part of the restaurant space. An attendee was overheard saying "You can take the girl out of the 'hood, but you can't take the 'hood out of the girl." I had the Caprese chicken (topped with tomato and mozzarella slices) with potatoes and collard greens and Gary had mushroom ravioli in what looked like a vodka sauce. I had an Angry Orchard with the meal; Gary stuck with water. For dessert we had tiramisu (🎶 like the deserts miss the rain... 🎶). We decided to skip our planned visit to the Bike Stop bar and try again tomorrow.

SATURDAY

We did a remarkable amount of running around before leaving on the trip: I went to the post office to mail a birthday card to Sheila, then searched in vain for a trial size bottle of my contact solution. Meanwhile, Gary was busy with neighborhood association work. We packed up early, then Gary fixed the front gate and trimmed the bushes by the front porch. Gary fixed stir-fry chicken for dinner to use up the remaining leftover rice, while I watched the beginning of the football game (Notre Dame at Ohio State). After dinner we showered and dressed for the flight.

I installed the Lyft app since Gary had had better service from them when we got stuck at Everett Station in the wee hours of the morning. Our driver was very nice, and the red Prius was clean and the ride smooth. As we waited for the bus at Everett Station, a couple of young Asian ladies walked back and forth looking for something. There weren't many people on the bus until we reached Lynnwood. As we left the bus and approached Northgate Station, Gary spotted a family with a large stroller and we let them use the elevator first. Gary sat opposite our luggage while I sat some distance to his right in the articulated section. Diagonally opposite me was a very cute young dude with a complex monochrome tattoo covering his right forearm, seated with his knees bent and his feet up on the seat. As he prepared to leave the train at Westlake, he shifted position and I saw his nurse badge. There was also a dude I couldn't see from my seat shouting unintelligibly, and a very nice, tall black dude wrapped up in colorful blankets, wandering around a bit before finding a seat.

We arrived at Sea-Tac and ended up sharing the much larger elevator with the family with the stroller. We just missed the shuttle so we walked to the terminal. There weren't many people at bag drop and security was about to close at checkpoint 3, leaving only checkpoint 2 open for general screening. I had to scramble to retrieve my belongings from the belt, but there was a table nearby and I got recombobulated quickly. We made our way to the North Satellite in an almost empty car on the shuttle train. Most of the shops and restaurants were either closing or already closed for the night. Once we settled in at the gate, I noticed a cute cubby dude with a curly light-brown beard seated a row over. I stopped by the one open eatery, a Vietnamese place, to pick up Coke Zero and a cheese and salami snack for each of us. A flight headed for Juneau had the gate agent calling for the last passengers so they wouldn't leave without them.

Since we had cheap seats this time, we were in the next to last row with a petite Asian lady on the aisle. Thankfully, our seat belts fit with only a little stretch. A few people seated in our vicinity struggled to find space for their bags in the overhead bins. The aircraft was completely full and it took a bit longer than usual to get airborne. Once we reached 10,000 feet, I got out headphones and started the music I downloaded from my CD collection earlier that day. Shortly afterwards we were served our pre-ordered meals: mine a mini charcuterie board and Gary's a fruit and cheese plate. I didn't sleep well because my legs were cramped, but surprisingly I didn't feel very tired when we landed.

FRIDAY
We left the house about 1:30 and stopped by Jersey Mike's for lunch. After we ate, we picked up ice, fruit, and cheese at Safeway. We were on the road by 2:30 and arrived at camp at 3:30. After checking in, we unloaded our stuff, Gary parked the car and we had the tent up by five.

While we were making the final adjustments, our site mates arrived: Lyndon, Brendan, and Brad. They're all thirtysomething and from the Seattle area. Lyndon is black with a moderately athletic build, Brendan has short, partly bleached-blond hair and furry legs (and a tattoo on one of them memorializing his late dog), and Brad has really long brown hair and a swimmer's build.

We set up the Christmas chairs and took a break, while the trio went in search of a party. I went to get us drinks since the cooler had to stay in the bear locker. Gary fell asleep briefly. I met a bearish dude named Larry with a tiny dog on the way back to the campsite. I set up the table, grabbed the dinner fixings, and cooked the bratwurst - unfortunately the heat was a bit too high and the brats were burned on the outside and undercooked in the middle. I ate them anyway but Gary took a couple bites and threw his out.

After dinner we accompanied the trio to the Meet and Greet over at the Bottoms Up seasonal site. Tom who we met at the Fireplace was bartending. We chatted with Greg (who reminded me of Jerry Lewis from SMC only shorter), Bill (with a Santa beard just like Alan Braden), Mike (our host, tall and blond wearing a Hi tank top with the Big Island dotting the i), and Tom (who reminded me of Aaron from Olympia).

We returned to camp about quarter to ten. After helping me set up my cot, Gary went to bed and I sat up and watched the fire with the trio. I went to bed about ten after eleven.

SATURDAY
I didn't sleep well. I thrashed around trying to get into a comfortable position, got up briefly at five to readjust the covers, and then the CPAP battery petered out by 5:30. I decided to get up to use the bathroom and then try to get some more sleep. I gave up and rose for the day about 7:30 as I heard the other guys getting up to make coffee. I went to the bear locker for breakfast food and drinks, and sat by the fire with the guys chatting about Foley artists and audio production until Gary awoke around nine.

We had some coffee and I fixed bacon and cheesy scrambled eggs, using the bacon grease to fry the eggs because the cooking spray in the camp box didn't work. (Note: pull that out of the box when we get home.) The griddle made loud screeching noises with the gas any higher than minimum so I kept it low for the bacon and used the same burner for the eggs. With that settled, we had the leftover blueberries from home with breakfast and I grabbed a couple of granola bars.

Brad wore a silk dressing gown, at first by itself and later over sweatpants, and put his hair in a ponytail; the others wore what they had on last night.

We chilled out in the Christmas chairs while the guys finished cooking their breakfast (burritos) with potatoes on the campfire. About 10:30 I disposed of the garbage, returned food to the bear locker, and had a pee, then returned to the campfire.

Around 11:30 we headed to the beach. It was set up a little differently from last year as the river had changed course, but we found a couple of good swimming holes next to each other. Brad and I were the only ones to get in the water though, and it was quite cold. After we got out of the water we sat and listened to music on the Bluetooth speaker, first from Brendan's phone and then from mine. Lyndon expressed interest in joining the Chorus so I got his contact information on my phone. Around one I took a second dunk, dried off, and dressed, and we returned to camp around two.

By 2:30 we were on the road, headed for the White Chuck Overlook on the unpaved portion of the Mountain Loop Highway near its north end at Darrington. There were many cars parked at the end of the pavement and several families camping along the way. At one point a pickup truck was parked askew in the middle of the road; between that and the rough surface, we decided to come back the long but paved route through Darrington, Oso, Arlington, and Granite Falls. We parked at the overlook about quarter to four, got some good pictures of White Chuck Mountain and the valley below, and had a late lunch of oranges, apples, and grapes.

We left about four and got back to camp about quarter to six. By the time we were done, my phone and Gary's were fully charged and the CPAP battery was above 75%. Lyndon was sleeping and Gary soon followed suit, and I had a nice chat with Brad about Forks (which was printed on his hoodie) and Bothell (where he and Brendan live). Brad left to split some firewood so he wouldn't disturb Lyndon, then rekindled the fire.

Around seven I started dinner and by 7:30 it was ready and I woke up Gary. This time I took about 15 minutes to make sure the brats were cooked all the way through. Around quarter after eight I went to return the food to the bear locker, dispose of the trash and use the bathroom.

When I got back to camp, Gary was done for the night and Brendan and Brad were elsewhere, but shortly afterwards Brad walked into camp and Brendan emerged from the tent, and they headed for the gazebo around quarter to nine. I sat in the Christmas chair and listened to the sounds of the river, traffic passing on the highway, and dogs barking. But I didn't want to go to sleep just yet because there is no way the battery would last all night. So I headed for the Gazebo myself, around nine.

At the Gazebo I met Gary, an older gentleman from West Seattle; Winston, the bartender, who hails from Vancouver, BC; Jabriel, the assistant bartender:and a gaggle of bears from Portland including David who was involved in setting up Bear Town for several years; Nick, a hot bear we saw passing by our site a lot: David, in a plaid shirt and camo cap with a thick, curly brown beard; Nick, a scruffy, balding bear in a thin gray T-shirt with a large dog on a leash; and his partner Trevor who's a hot brown bear. They were all staying in Site 1. Josh and Mike from last night's Meet and Greet were there too. Later on I had a nice chat with Brendan from the XL Bears who produced last weekend's party, and Bill with the Santa beard. Met Steven (a hot dude in a sawed-off denim shirt) and Mark (who lives on the Everett waterfront), and finally AJ and Chris who had been hanging out all evening. After the bar closed, I had a nice chat at Bill's camper with him and Gary, which wrapped up at one with Gary turning off the generator for the night. I made my way back to the campsite and quickly went to sleep.

SUNDAY
I woke up about six to use the bathroom and sat briefly chatting with Brad and Lyndon, while Brendan kibitzed occasionally from inside the tent. I returned to bed for another hour until Gary got up about eight, when the other guys packed up and left. We packed the contents of the tent by about nine and fixed breakfast around quarter after.

We had the tent struck and everything packed away by eleven, and were on the road by 11:30. We took the car through the car wash (with a hot bear working the front end) on the way home, and arrived around twenty to one. Half an hour later we were unpacked and parked in front of the TV for a Mariners game.

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bigmacbear

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A Day Like All Days

...full of the events that alter and illuminate our lives. And there I was.

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