Great American Road Trip - July 1-2, 2011 (Days 1 and 2)

This past winter, Beth and I planned a western road trip to visit Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming/Montana, Idaho (briefly), Glacier National Park in Montana and Canada, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. Beth had never been to Montana, Wyoming, or Idaho, and I had never been to Idaho or Canada (odd I know, as I've lived in Minnesota for most of my life). We (Beth) diligently planned our route, made hotel reservations, ordered maps and tour books, arranged for the best pet sitters ever (thanks Jessie and Carolyn!), prepared the little blue Honda Civic, and researched things/places to see. In short, we were really looking forward to the adventure, which we estimated would cover a little more than 3,000 miles.

After a brutal winter and a disappointing spring, we finally set out for what I deemed the Great American Road Trip on Friday, July 1, 2011. We both had to work that day, so we didn't hit the road until around 4. Our first destination was Mitchell, South Dakota, approximately 5 hours away and home of the (somewhat) famous Corn Palace.

Because we weren't in a hurry, we decided to stop for dinner at The Ranch in Fairmont, Minnesota. Dinner was great, but as we ate, the sky to the west became more and more ominous. Beth wanted to wait out the storm at the restaurant, but being the optimistic (and slightly crazy) person that I am, I insisted that we just push through. Unfortunately, we ran into what turned out to be a pretty intense thunderstorm that involved hail and sheets of rain. I finally gave in when we no longer could see at all and said we should pull over. Beth, the poor driver, readily agreed and we pulled off to the side of the freeway. The storm quickly passed, and lucky for me, our car endured no hail damage. Maybe some day I will learn!

We pulled into our hotel, a Days Inn, in Mitchell some time around 9 or 10, and I felt like we were really on our way. A successful first night, storm and all!

Oh, a slightly amusing story about our room that night that first night. It was obvious that the hotel was packed, as they gave us a room that was obviously normally used as a conference room. It was huge, and we had a Murphy bed that came out of the wall. We also had a industrial bar/kitchen sink in the room. I was worried that it would be a super loud and uncomfortable room, but it turned out to be just fine. I guess the Days Inn knew what it was doing after all.

July 2, 2011 - Day 2:

We woke up Saturday morning, had our Days Inn breakfast (that Beth could have handed to me through our conveniently connected door), and headed into Mitchell to see the Corn Palace. My family took a vacation to western South Dakota when I was a kid, but we never stopped at the Corn Palace. Almost everyone told us it wasn't worth the time, but we figured we couldn't skip it since we were already in Mitchell. And, how can you pass up the opportunity to see kitschy

Americana at its best?

After the Corn Palace, we hit the road again and Wall Drug was our next destination. Like the Corn Palace, Wall Drug is one of those truly hokey tourist places that is hard to skip. At one point, we started counting the billboards advertising Wall Drug between Mitchell and Wall, and I think we reached over 300! Insanity. We also drove over the Missouri River along the way, and I've never seen it that high. Sort of freaky. Anyway, here are some pictures from the journey and that pit stop:

After the Wall Drug extravaganza, we were off to Mount Rushmore. I was very excited to see it, as I hadn't seen it since I was a kid and I remembered it being pretty cool. It turns out that they made quite a few improvements since I was last there. They now have a really nice visitor center and plaza, as well as a parking ramp. And, they didn't use any government money to fund the entire project. Pretty cool.

While there, we took a ranger-led tour, which we both really enjoyed (except for the horribly rude people that joined us). For instance, the elevation of Mt. Rushmore is over 5,700 feet, and the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, originally planned to sculpt the presidents' torsos in addition to the heads. We also looked for the restaurant that Beth's grandparents, Walter and Vivian, ate at years ago, but the ranger said it was no longer there. Instead, it was replaced by a snack shop on the plaza. Oh well, things change I suppose.

After Mt. Rushmore, we headed towards Sturgis, South Dakota, where we had long ago used Priceline to book a room for the night. Unfortunately, Priceline chose Super 8, which made me nervous even back then, but I was hopeful that it might turn out okay. Wrong - we arrived to a not-so-nice hotel and a rude clerk who informed us that she only had a smoking room available. She also told us that we wouldn't be able to find any other rooms in town. The smoking room in the shady hotel wasn't going to work for us, so Beth started looking for another room and I called Priceline. After being on hold for quite a while, Priceline did come through and refunded the price of the room for that night. At the same time, Beth found us a room at a Comfort Suites in Spearfish, South Dakota (just a bit further west on 94) instead. Whew!

That night, we went out to dinner at the Spearfish Chophouse and Whiskey Bar. It was a cute little local place at the base of Spearfish Canyon, which we decided to drive through after dinner. The canyon was gorgeous, and we saw many deer as we drove along. We also saw a lovely waterfall (Bridal Veil Falls) and the city of Deadwood at night. After that little adventure, we relaxed in the hotel hot tub and hit the hay. All in all, it was a really great second day on the Great American Road Trip!

Fun with Firefighters

About two weeks ago, B and I went to the associate party at a fellow attorney's house. When we pulled up, some folks were standing outside and said we couldn't go in. We laughed and said whatever, and then they said, no really, you can't go in, the carbon monoxide detector is going off and the fire department is on the way. Sure enough, a big fire truck pulled up a few minutes later to check it out. They brought a full crew in a full size truck, and the guys let us explore it while a few went inside with the carbon monoxide meters. After a few minutes, they came out and gave us the all clear; the detector seemed to be malfunctioning. We then went inside and enjoyed the party.

Fast forward to Saturday afternoon at our own house. B went upstairs to take a nap, and I was watching Band of Brothers in the basement. Suddenly she called me up and said, the carbon monoxide detector in our bedroom is going off. I thought maybe she was playing a prank on me, as what are the odds of that happening twice in one weekend?!? However, it really WAS going off, and we weren't sure what to do. I changed the batteries but it kept beeping and telling us there was a carbon monoxide problem. B then called a non-emergency fire department number, and they said to call 911 and get out of the house. So, B called them and we went to sit on the front steps. And once again, we encountered a giant fire truck pulling up to a house! The guys were in full gear, and they went in to check it out. Also once again, the detector was malfunctioning - their meters read zero. Odd. I took the batteries out (the beeping drives Matty crazy), and decided to buy a new detector.

Now that we're back from our NY trip, I decided to try the old one again, just to be sure. Lo and behold, the stupid thing now works fine! I guess I can take the new detector back. I feel a little nervous that maybe I shouldn't risk it, but we have detectors on the main floor and in the basement as well, so I think we will be okay. I hope so anyway, two visits from the fire department is plenty for me - and I'm sure for our neighbors as well. :)

Happy (belated) Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I hope everyone enjoyed the day of ghosts and goblins.

To celebrate, B and I went over to visit her family, and we got to tag along with Charlie as he went trick or treating. He dressed as a firefighter, and he was super cute. We pulled him along in a little wagon, and we stopped at each house with lights. He absolutely loved looking at the pumpkins and all the other decorations. He was really brave too, as he walked through displays that would have scared me at his age. Once we got up to the door, he would say "happy halloween" or "trick or treat." He also tried to walk into each house, which was pretty dang funny. I had to stop him a couple times, but no one seemed to mind. He started to get cold, so Amy, his mom and B's sister, told him it was time to head home. He then looked really sad and said, "I don't want to start heading home yet." It was so cute that we decided to let him go to a few more houses before calling it a night. So, so cute!

After trick or treating, B and I headed back to her place, where we hit the hot tub for a bit. It was a perfect night for that, as it wasn't too cold. After the hot tub, we decided to go to bed...at 10 pm! We are sort of old I guess, but it had been a long week and B had to work at 6:30 am today. We missed several Halloween parties, but what can you do? I was tired and needed the sleep.

Halloween wouldn't be complete without some spookiness, and we wound up having a bit ourselves. I was almost alseep when B shook me awake saying, "someone is ringing the door bell." Whoever it was just kept ringing it over and over...we weren't sure what to do. Matty and the dogs upstairs were barking like crazy. I told her not to turn on the lights, as that would let the people see us. B looked outside but didn't see anyone. We decided to go to the door with Matty, but the ringers had left already. Creepy. I figure it was just neighborhood kids being silly, but who knows. I worried that it might be someone who needed help, but I think someone in that situation would have been yelling and banging on the door too. Who knows. Really, I think it was more scary because I was groggy. I made sure all the doors were locked and went back to bed - super glad to have Matty with us.

I actually expected the Halloween spookiness to be worse, as B's neighborhood was absolutely insane on the 4th of July. In comparison, door bell ringing isn't so bad. :)

Seriously McCain?

The other night, the home phone rang and the caller ID said something like Victory for America. I figured it was Obama's campaign calling again and I didn't want to deal with being badgered for time or money, so I let it go to voice mail. I checked the message later, and it was John McCain's campaign calling! WTF?!? I'm a registered Democrat, I have volunteered for the Dems, I have given money to the Dems, etc. Why on earth was McCain calling here?? To make it more insane, it was actually a real person who left a ridiculous message attacking Obama and promoting McCain. Yuck.

The next day I saw an article in the Strib about how McCain has been "robo-calling" in MN and WI. MN law requires such calls be made by a human rather than via recorded message, which explains the real guy. I heard the calls in WI were just awful; hate filled lies about him being a Muslim terrorist, etc. These calls seem to indicate that McCain has reached a whole new level of desperation. I can't believe he continues to spread this hate, and I can't imagine what he thought the calls would accomplish. He didn't need to woo his supporters, he probably irritated the undecided, and he pissed off the Dems enough that I'm sure more of them went out to volunteer or donate money. Plus, I think tons of people actually lodged formal complaints against him. Way to go, John! That was money well spent!

In other campaign news, I sort of have a bad feeling about the presidential election. I know Obama is leading in most polls, but his lead has slipped some places, and I'm a big believer in the silent majority as well...racism is still a big concern, and Obama needs to do well in places where Clinton wiped the floor with him (places filled with working class white voters). Plus, McCain is so desperate it's hard to say what tactics he will embrace at this point. Thus, I implore you to keep working hard as election day nears, and most importantly, get out and vote! I think people might figure that Obama is so far ahead at this point that voting won't matter, but it will! He needs every vote he can get. As Nike says, Just Do It! :)

The perfect date

Beth and I went to the state fair on Monday night, and it was probably the best date I've ever been on. This is true despite having a bad cold! I'm not exactly sure what made it so great, meaning I don't know if I can capture it in words, but it really was just about perfect.

We ate a TON of food (sharing almost all of it): corn dogs, cheese on a stick, fries (these were just me), cheese curds, apple cider, caramel apples, pineapple ice cream, and an Italian sausage. I think that was it, as if that's not enough! Everything was good, but someone needs to explain to Minnesotans that a proper Italian sausage requires the peppers and onions to be GRILLED. That was disappointing, but it didn't wreck it completely.

We hit up many of the buildings, including Education, Creative Activities, Food, and Merchandise. I always love seeing the goofy stuff at the fair - crop art, random crap that you see on TV, clothing, you name it and the fair probably has it! We also watched part of the Brandi Carlile concert, and that was excellent. I really, really love her music, and she puts on a nice show. We just watched from the street, and it was nice to not be in the big crowd. After that, we rode the Skyride Tram, and it was really neat to see the fair from above at night - great colors, and we could also see the Minneapolis skyline. Quite romantic, and just all around fun!

To end the evening, we went through more buildings and then the animal buildings. What doesn't say romance like the swine barn I tell you. We know how to rock it. In all seriousness though, the night was basically perfect. Perfect company, great food, picture perfect weather, romance, all around awesomeness! :)

Alaska - Day 5

Wednesday, August 20, 2008:

Dad and I went on a park tour today, utilizing the park shuttle buses to do so. Denali National Park does not allow people to drive their own cars past mile 15 in the park, so the only way to really see a lot of the park is on a tour. There are all sorts of tours, but we went with one offered by the park itself, as it was affordable and fit our schedule. It was also available - we didn't know it would have been helpful to book some of that stuff ahead of time. Regardless, the tour we took worked out fabulously well, and I have no complaints.

A little about the park - it's enormous. Honestly, gigantic. I don't have the stats on hand at the moment, but I'm pretty sure I once read that the park is bigger than the state of Massachusetts. Google that if you want. :) The only road in the park runs for about 96 miles, and it barely touches the surface. However, it takes about 7 hours to drive the entire 96 miles, and then you have to turn around and drive back (it's not a loop like other parks) unless you stay in the expensive lodge at the end of the road. Because we didn't feel like spending 14 hours on a bus (basically slightly modified school buses), we chose a shorter tour that turned around at mile 66 - Eielson Visitor Center. The scheduled time for this trip was 8-9 hours, also a long day. We had to buy box lunches and bring snacks and water, as the park doesn't sell any food in the park. They do this to help keep the animals wild - once they taste human food, they don't forget it and pursue it. Thus, even though we had to spend $16 for a sandwich and chips (basically), I support the park's decision.

We started off at 9:30 am, and we wound up having an excellent tour guide. We weren't even guaranteed commentary at all, so this guy was a nice surprise. He told us a great deal about the park and the wildlife in it. A nice bonus! Along the way, we stopped about every hour so we could get out, stretch, use the bathrooms, take pictures, etc. It worked out quite well, and I never felt super uncomfortable. We also were allowed to get off and go hiking on our own if we wanted; if we had done that, we could have just caught the next bus and rode it instead. We chose to stay with our bus, which was just fine.

The road itself is only paved for about 15 miles, and then it was gravel. Additionally, the road wound through the mountains, both up and down, and it was quite narrow at times. We actually had to stop at some blind corners to make sure another bus wasn't coming around the corner! The drop offs were steep, and several of the passengers had to switch sides because they couldn't handle seeing the drop off out the windows. I didn't feel too nervous, but I did choose to buckle up during these stretches. I don't know why I did, as there is no way a seatbelt would have saved me if we had rolled off the side of the mountain, but it felt comforting regardless.

Along the way, we had fantastic views of Denali. Seriously - the views we had are what they print on postcards. Absolutely stunning. We were able to exit the bus to take pics, and I think I got some decent shots. We were still about 40 miles away, so my camera can only do so much, but the image is etched into my brain and it was fantastic. We also saw some other amazing scenery - rivers, streams, other mountains, etc.

As for wildlife, the second main attraction after Denali, we saw 5 grizzly bears, numerous caribou, a lynx (third to the bottom pic), a coyote, and some dall sheep in the far distance. This was a very successful wildlife outing, as seeing a lynx is very rare. Dad was the first one on the bus to see it, and he called out stop so the driver would pull over. Go Dad! The guide also said it was rare to see a coyote, but I've seen them before so I didn't know that. We didn't see a moose, which I guess is odd, but Dad and I had already seen two outside of Anchorage. No wolves either, but they are quite elusive. I would have liked to see a bear closer than we did, but you can't control the animals. I feel lucky to have seen what we did.

After about 4-5 hours, we arrived at our end destination, Eielson visitor center. Sidenote - My sister Amanda teaches at Carl Ben Eielson school in Fargo - cool stuff. The center had fantastic views of Denali and the entire AK range. As we pulled in, the clouds started to gather around Denali, and by the time we left the center, Denali was almost completely covered in clouds - we were very, very lucky to actually see the mountain! One person we heard of has been to Denali four times, and he has only seen the mountain once! Yay us and yay weather! We hiked around the center a bit, and then it was back on the bus for the return journey. By that time, I was feeling a bit tired of being on the bus, and I think others were too - it was a lot quieter for the most part, and people seemed to stop looking for animals (except Dad, who saw the lynx, and the woman in front of us, who spotted the coyote).

At about 5:30, we pulled into the Denali Visitors Center and left our green tour bus behind. We caught the hotel shuttle and went back to our room for a bit to rest before dinner. Before leaving for the tour, we had purchased tickets to cabin night, a dinner theater production put on at our hotel. I was a bit worried that it might really suck, but it turned out to be pretty dang fun. The dinner was family style (delicious ribs, salmon, corn, biscuits, potatoes, beans, and blueberry cobbler), and we met nice people from Kansas and Sydney, Australia. We had a great meal and great conversation, all the while being served by Alaskan Amber, who stayed in character the whole time. Pretty dang funny, as her character was a bit...slutty to say the least. She really cracked me up though, and it was fun. After the meal, they put on a little show, and it was charming. Hokey, but really fun - I couldn't help singing along and smiling the whole time.

After the show, it was time for bed. We were both exhausted. Who knew sitting on a bus all day was so tiring? :)

So far, I'm having an absolute blast on the trip. So glad I came here to see this - who knows if I'll ever make it back here!

Some random notes:

• Denali and Mt. McKinley are the same thing. The Athabascan natives called the mountain Denali, which means the tall one, and many local folks still call it Denali. Its official name is Mt. McKinley.
• We saw both taiga and tundra in the park. According to our tour guide, taiga is almost tundra, but it has trees on it. Tundra just has smaller ground plants. Both were beautiful, and the tundra was already starting to show its fall colors. I imagine it will be breathtaking in 2 weeks, and it probably is the same in the spring, as it flowers.
  
• The shower in our hotel room sucks. It alternates between spraying freezing and scalding water. I think it actually burned my foot! I had to do an odd little dance to wash my hair and rinse off the soap. Not cool. The only other time I experienced a shower like that was in Brighton, England.
  
• I forgot to mention that we saw our first Target store in all of AK - it was in a town called Wasilla, between Anchorage and Denali. The Wasilla area is the third most populated in the whole state. Since we saw a Target there, we now wonder if there is a Target in Anchorage. If so, we could have avoided Walmart. Oh well.
• GLBT issues in AK - my Lonely Planet guide actually says that this isn't a gay friendly place and to be careful in deciding whether to come out. Wow - it can't be good at all if the book actually says that. It's not like I'm always running around shouting out that I'm gay, but sheesh! I hope our lesbian friends from the train stay safe - they mentioned that they had seen the same warning, so that's good.
• The train runs over 700 moose a year - wow!
  
• Most of the rivers in the park (if not all, I'm not sure) don't contain fish because they are too filled with glacial silt. That's a lot of silt!
• This last picture was taken at 11:30 pm as I was standing on the deck outside my room at the McKinley Chalet - still some light!
  

Road Trip Randomness

As we were driving home on Tuesday, I saw some very random things:

• A guy on a four wheeler going through the drive through line at McDonalds in Montana.
• A sign at the rest area that said to stay on the path because rattle snakes have been spotted.
• An exit sign saying: "Yellowstone National Park - Inquire Locally" WTF does that even mean?
• A sign for Crazy Mountains or something very similar to that.
• A random bicyclist traveling down 1-94.
• Manda saw several hitchhikers.

Those are all I can remember at the moment, but there were definitely more. We live in an odd nation, I tell ya!

Kids really do say the funniest things

Last night, Beth was watching her nephew, Charlie. She brought him over so we could all go swimming in the pool, and then we ate dinner afterward. Everything went quite well, and he is a very well behaved little guy. However, as we were driving home, he said something that made me laugh so hard I couldn't breathe.

As we were driving, he was sort of struggling a bit in his carseat, and then he said it hurts. B said, what hurts? He then said in a totally calm way, "my penis hurts." Now, I think it's great that his parents have taught him about his body parts, etc. Really, that's great. But it still made me bust out laughing - he said it in such a matter of fact way and he was so sincere. Adults just don't say things like that, and that's one of the reasons I love kids so much. They are honest, sincere, and don't care what the world thinks. That's what makes them great! :)

People are Strange

I have BarBri class almost every morning, and since it lasts 3.5-4 hours, they give us two 10 minute breaks. Typically, I go outside to warm up during those breaks, or I venture off to find "secret" bathrooms to avoid the long lines in the main building. Today, as I was coming back from one of the "secret" bathrooms, I noticed a guy sitting on a bench. At first, I thought maybe he had hurt his feet, as he was bending down and touching his toes. However, as I came closer, it became apparent that he was actually cutting his toe nails, with a clipper and everything. WTF?!? Who brings a nail clipper to BarBri so he can cut his toe nails during the break? He can't possibly be studying so much that he doesn't have time to do this at home. Seriously, I couldn't believe he was doing that as the rest of us stood around outside. Does he do this in other public places? The bus? The train? At parades? Odd, really, really odd. Honestly, people just never cease to amaze me!

Matty keeps kosher!

Beth is out of town this weekend, so I'm watching Matty. I brought her to my mom's birthday party last night, as I knew we would be outside most of the evening and I thought she would have a good time. Indeed, she did, as she was able to run around within a fenced area and she received tons of attention from different people. Also, mom gave her some treats, which she liked for the most part. Just not the pig's ear. At first, she happily accepted it. However, instead of lying down to enjoy it, she suddenly started pacing the yard along the fence, appearing sort of anxious. Finally, after a few minutes of this, she went to a corner and actually buried it! It was quite funny to watch, and I really couldn't believe she did it, as she normally wolfs down treats. The only conclusion we all came to is that she was attempting to keep kosher by avoiding pork products; that must have been it. B would be so proud of her good Jewish dog!

What's up with my stomach?

B and I went out to eat on Saturday night, and as the appetizers arrived, I turned to her and said, I think I need to throw up. Now. WTF? I proceeded to go inside to use the restroom, and I vomited. A lot. Fortunately for me and the other restaurant patrons, no one else was in the bathroom. I cannot imagine returning to eat after hearing that.

Anyway, you might be wondering why I'm telling this gross story, because really, who wants to hear about this? Well, I tell it because it's sort of funny, if you think about it, and also because it seems to be happening to me a lot lately. I'll be feeling fine, and suddenly, I'm totally ill and need to vomit. Once I do, I eventually feel better and then go on to have a good time. Saturday is a good example: I returned to the table and ate some rice (thinking that Malaysian food wasn't a good idea). Eventually, I felt better and B and I went on to hang out the whole night. Jigga what is that about?? Perhaps I need to start eating better, or stop eating such random combinations of food. Who knows, but I do know that I don't want to have to blog about this again. :)

Girls in Wonderland

As I noted in my previous post, Beth and I decided to go to Orlando from May 30 - June 1. Several of her best friends live there, and it was also Girls in Wonderland and Disney gay days weekend - basically a form of gay pride. Her friends Melia and Melissa partake in all of the Girls in Wonderland events, so that's what we decided to do as well. Thus began a weekend of drunken lesbian debauchery...well, for many women!

Our travels started out by hitting a bit of a snag at the airport. We were supposed to fly from MSP to Memphis, endure a 37 minute layover, and then fly on to Orlando. All day we knew that we were going to have trouble, as our flight was announced as delayed early on due to high winds. We arrived at the airport and it turned out that the plane that was supposed to bring us to Memphis hadn't even left Green Bay yet. There was no way we would make our connection in Memphis at this point. We had already been talking to a ticketing agent about our options prior to this discovery, and we got back in line to try again. By that point, I was definitely a bit crabby - none of our options were looking good, as it was already a super fast trip (Friday to Sunday) and most of the options had us arriving in Orlando on Saturday morning. Poor Beth had to endure pessimistic Lisa. But by some stroke of luck, a ticketing agent from the next gate called us over, and she managed to sneak us onto the direct flight to Orlando, the one that was leaving at 7:15 central time. The one that the other agent had assured us was well overbooked. Yay for someone at the airlines providing excellent customer service! Too bad it doesn't happen often...in fact, it happens so infrequently that I think I was in shock when I experienced it. She saw our dilemma, stayed calm, looked at options, and solved the problem. A novel concept for airlines I tell you, but a big yay for her! After that, our trip to Orlando was completely uneventful, and we arrived without a problem.

That night, after we checked into our hotel room, we decided to try to track down Melia and Melissa. We headed over to Bongos, a night club that was sponsoring a giant Girls in Wonderland dance. We never found M&M, but B and I had a great time dancing away in the super hot club. Oh, except for some chick in heels stepped on my flip foot covered foot - OUCH! However, if that's the only thing that goes wrong in an evening, I cannot complain too much.

The next morning, we woke up early (by my standards, not Beth's) to have breakfast with Melia and Melissa and their friends Jody and Leslie. We met up with them at the Golden Corral, and it was really a good time. B was super happy to see them, and they were super happy to see her. Good times were had, but I must also say that I will probably not be enjoying the Golden Corral any time soon, as I definitely vomited most of it out later in the day. Ick.

After breakfast, we headed back to M&M's room and started to get ready for the all day pool party. I had never been to an all lesbian pool party (or to that many pool parties period), so I really had no idea what to expect. I did have images in my head from watching shows like the L Word, but other than that, nothing. Well, it turns out that lesbian pool parties, at least the ones at Girls in Wonderland, are basically like the ones on TV: 100s of women in tiny swimsuits drinking and cavorting in a pool. It was actually a complete blast, and I loved every second of it. I kept saying to B, this is so much fun! I didn't drink much, as we were in the hot sun, but just chilling in a pool with tons of lesbians and good music rocks. Also, B's friend Court came to visit us, and once again, she was super happy. Court is one of her best friends, and she hadn't seen him in a long time. Yay for reunions!

A bit about the pool party...there were beach balls and footballs flying around everywhere, tons of women everywhere, a DJ spinning, go go dancers, food and drink vendors, and just total craziness. Dani from A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila was there, and so were random strippers. One of the strippers opened our eyes to a whole new world of...let's just say options. Finally, as the day went on and people drank more, swimsuits started coming off. Not just tops either. Suddenly, we were surrounded by naked women. Interesting to say the least. I didn't really partake in that activity, as I don't need some big scandal right before I take the bar exam. I can just see it now...Mpls attorney naked in a homosexual romp or something. Yikes! Regardless, it was cool that others felt comfortable, and I absolutely loved the pool party. Girls gone wild, but for lesbians. Rock on!

After the pool party, we headed back to our hotel room to chill for a bit. I was completely sunburned, a bit tired, and a bit nauseated at this point (see Golden Corral reference above). We rested and got dressed to head out to dinner with the gang. B's friend GeeGee met up with us at this point, and once again B got to have a friend reunion.

After dinner, we went to the House of Blues, where the Girls in Wonderland festivities were for the evening. Upon arrival, I was swiftly reminded that I'm no longer 21. The music was so loud that it actually hurt my ears. I'm not kidding. Maybe it was the pool water in them or something, but it physically hurt. And, I hated the music - all techno. In this, I wasn't alone however, as B, GeeGee, and M&M agreed. Techno sucked. Also, the DJ was hysterical - I think she thought she was the show, as she was dancing, singing along, and doing all sorts of odd things while she spun. Weird to say the least.

Finally, DJ Pat Pat came out for a bit (if you don't know her, you should. I discovered her this weekend and she rocks!), and you should have seen the people come out to dance then. It was nuts. Unfortunately, her time in charge was short lived, as the Carnivale entertainment was scheduled to begin. I wasn't sure what to expect, but let's just say it was one of the strangest shows I've EVER seen. It involved weird clowns, a freaky drag queen, tons of random people, and I swear, a little person. WTF is all I can say. It was like watching a train wreck - I literally could not avert my eyes. That's all I can say about that, as I don't think words can capture it.

Once the carnivale show ended, the horrible DJ came back (DJ Pride for the record, so you can avoid her), and we all decided we had had enough. It was already after 1 anyway, so we called it a night and went back to the hotel to crash.

We slept in a bit on Sunday morning and then met M&M for Sunday's pool party. This party was much calmer, at least when we were there. I think people were partied out by then, but perhaps it picked up later. Who knows. After an hour in the pool, we had to go shower, pack, and check out, as it was time to head back to the Twin Cities. Normally, I hate the heat and would have been thrilled for the change, but since our weather has been so bad here, I was a bit sad to leave the sunshine behind.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend. B got to see and I got to meet her friends, who are great, and we had tons of fun. It was such a fun event that I think we should round up a big group of peeps and return next year...maybe make a longer trip out of it and hit GayDays at Disney too. Ah, the possibilities!

The Pictures:
1) Me outside of Bongos by the water
2) Saturday Pool Party
3) Saturday Pool Party
4) Me and Beth - Bahama Breeze
5) Court, Melia, and Beth - Bahama Breeze
6) Melissa and Beth - Bahama Breeze
7) Dani - She hosted the House of Blues Event
8) Me and GeeGee - House of Blues
9) Carnivale show at the House of Blues (told you there was an actual little person!)
10) Carnivale show - House of Blues
11) Carnivale show - House of Blues
12) GeeGee and Beth - House of Blues
13) Me and Melia - House of Blues
14) Me and Beth - Bongos
15) Court, Beth, and Melia - Saturday Pool Party
16) Saturday Pool Party
17) Saturday Pool Party