dhp_bear's November cross-country trip
Last Updated: Dec 3, 1996

-------- 1st leg --------

Nov 6th:

I set off on my 4-week journey to San Francisco! My first stop, being New York City. I left at 6:40 AM and arrived at 10:30.
Bradbear was nice enough to show me around The Village. We visited 'the piers'. Brad told me that's it's pretty much a 'ghost of its former self'! The elevated West Side Highway was torn down and many improvements are being made to the area. We had lunch at a little restaurant on Bleeker, the name of which, escapes me! By the way, New York bagels are the BEST! I checked in to my hotel room and frolicked a bit with Brad! ;)
I attended a meeting ot the Metro Bears at the Gay and Lesbian Services Center. I saw a lot of familiar faces and met some WOOFY 'new' bears!; Ed Carpenter and Jeff Fuller! I'll be posting pix of these and other bears that I meet, once I arrive in San Francisco and have access to my scanner.
Next Stop: Bethlehem, PA

WOOF's !

-------- 2nd leg --------

Total distance traveled: 204 mi (Waltham, MA to New York, NY)

Nov 7th:

After getting back from my date for the night, I checked out of my hotel room and had the valet return my car. I had left quite a bit of luggage in the back seat. Fortunately nothing was stolen! ;) I left NYC at 11:30 and arrived in Bethlehem around 1:30.
I found Steve's place with the aid of my trusty laptop and GPS receiver. He lives at the top of this *steep* hill. He has a great view of the Lehigh Valley. Steve showed me around the town. Most of Bethlehem Steel has closed down, with just a 'special products' plant still running.

Next Stop: Baltimore, MD

WOOF's!

-------- 3rd leg --------

Total distance traveled: 270 mi (Waltham, MA to Bethlehem. PA)

Nov 8th:

In spite of tornado warnings, the trip to Baltimore was uneventful. However, it *teemed* with rain once I reached my destination! ;( Marv, (PhotoBear) lives in an art studio near the heart of the city. Marv, Paul (wrestlbear) and I went to dinner at Mount Vernon Stable, a gay-friendly restaurant with *very* good food! Unlike the City Diner next door, that once tried to poison Marv with uncooked buffalo wings! EEEEK!
As luck would have it, the DCBC was in the midst of a bear-run that night! I *finally* got to meet, greet,and grope several bears that I've chatted with on IRC!
In particular, one FlirtBear!, a real sweetheart :) To only thing that marred the festivities at the DC Eagle was the rantings of a *very* obnoxious bar-back who broke up the woofings on the back patio! :( "I don't want to catch you guys again! Do I have to stand here to make sure you guys don't do it again?!") EEEK! I guess the Puritans never left D.C. either! ;(
The after-hours party started around 2:00 AM at the host hotel in Chinatown. *there*, there was WOOFING aplenty! ;) It did *my* heart good to see a 'hospitality suite' being *that* hospitable! ;) We got back to Marv's around 4:00 AM. Woke up at 8:00. I got 4 hours of sleep, but they were a *good* 4 hours of sleep!

Total distance traveled: 500 mi (Waltham, MA to Baltimore, MD)

Well, a tenth of the trip is completed and am looking forward to next nine tenths!

WOOF's!

-------- 4th leg --------

Total distance traveled: 614 mi (Waltham, MA to Winchester, VA)

Nov 9th:

A nice, sunny day! I left Baltimore about 9:00 and arrived in Winchester at about 12:30. I hooked up with MtnBear who works at a hotel in the area. We decided to meet at 2:00. I ate *breakfast* at about 1:30! (really screwy meal-schedule!).
MtnBear welcomed me with open arms (quite literally!). He's a *big* ol' WOOF-bear! We woofed and chatted about religion, music, The South, etc. A really nice bear!
Winchester, I'm afraid, is yet another victim of "The Malling of America" :( I expected a sleepy, Virginia town! But had to fight traffic just to get to the hotel! That night, we ate at a Texas steakhouse - very good!

Tomorrow takes me to North Corolina.....

WOOF's!

-------- 5th leg --------

Total distance traveled: 914 mi (Waltham, MA to Raleigh, NC)

Nov 10th:

I left Winchester around 10:00 in VERY CHILLY weather. for the 300-mile journey South, to Raleigh, NC. I checked in to the Holiday Inn around 4:00. It looks a little like the Capitol Records building in Hollywood!. I figured that the weather would be warmer here - WRONG! It's just as chilly as Virginia was!
I met up with Jeff Briggs, whom I met at Bear Bust in October. He showed me around the town, pointing out the four gay bars. He recommends _FLEX_ for bears, in spite of the fact that they show bodybuilder videos! The other 3 bars are dance/twink - *real* surprise, huh!? ;)
Jeff, his lover Doug and I went to dinner at Rathskeller, a gay- friendly restaurant with a LARGE menu!

Tomorrow, I embark on the first 'non-gay' leg of the trip. I'll be visiting my aunt in Columbia, SC.

WOOF's!

-------- 6th leg --------

Total distance traveled: 1114 mi (Waltham, MA to Columbia, SC)

Nov 11th:

I left Raleigh at 12:00 noon. Very chilly, but sunny. I hit the 1000-mile mark, 42 miles from the NC/SC border! I also encountered the *tackiest* place, so far, on this trip:
"South of the Border". I was clued in on the tackiness by the sheer frequency of billboards advertising the hotels/restaurants/arcades of said location! Cutesy sayings like "South of the Border is a SMASH" (with a wrecked car fastened to the billboard! and "You never sausage a place!" (you guess it - a sausage fastened to the billboard!) Well, this place was like Disneyland without the rides! Yes, *NO* "It's a Small World" ride! ;) Thankfully, it was not crowded due to the cold weather! I ate lunch in a relatively drab restaurant - beige walls and a smell like those 'de-odorizers' used in urinals - EEEK! I arrived in Columbia, finding my aunt in good spirits. I visited my cousins, whom I haven't seen in 22 years!

Well, tomorrow I *finally* get to meet the infamous "BearPiss/Bubba69" of #bearcave fame! - wish me luck! ;)

WOOF's!

-------- 7th leg --------

Total distance traveled: 1360mi (Waltham, MA to Lithonia, GA)

Nov 12th:

I left Columbia around 7:30 and arrived in Atlanta at 11:00. Bubba greeted me with a BIG bearhug! *WOOF*! He's much taller than I imagined and his beard is about a B4 now! ;)
After woofing, we went to get eats and then went into town to go bar-hopping. We visited The Heretic, Phoenix (in a truly *bad* part of town), Model-T(the only bar we visited that plays 'classic rock'!), and The New Order (God's waiting-room). We returned home where we proceeded to shave each others heads! WOOF! Bubba now actually looks like Lurch! We used "ladies" razors because they don't nick.
We went back into town the eat at Dunk 'n' Dine, where the waitress was VERY rude (probably due to the fact that Bubba was wearing a torn flannel shirt and a vest and I was wearing a white T-shirt and leather jacket!
We returned to the phoenix, where there was *true* weirdness! First, this guy comes in trying to sell a B&W TV for $10.00 to anyone. This hustler comes up to us and starts buttering us up, saying how much he liked fur, stroking our beards. He was *not* our type! We then went to the Model-T, which is in the Kroger's mall - no sign, but a friendly bar. We then wound up the night at the Eagle, where we woofed in the backroom, in spite of the fact that it was "boy's night out".

This evening, Bubba and I will be traveling to New Orleans via Montgomery, AL - wish us luck!

-------- 8th leg --------

Note: This leg was not in the itinerary that I distributed. This is extra! Just a little way of saying that we care about *you*, the home-user!

Total distance traveled: 1550mi (Waltham, MA to Montgomery, AL, en route to New Orleans)

Nov 13th:

Bubba and I woke up around 12:30 PM, got online for a while, then went to breakfast/lunch at the local _WAFFLE HOUSE_. I figured that we just *might* be in a redneck community when I saw a sign over the counter that read "Firearms not permitted in this restaurant. Thank you - Waffle House". A store clerk at Krogers insists that Bubba and I were brothers! ;)
We met Jim Myers at his place around 4:00 PM and played a bit. We left for Montgomery, AL at around 6:00PM. Bubba noticed that there were kilometer markers on Rt 85 once we got into Alabama! We decided that this is Alabama's way of saying to Altanta: "Look, *we're* progressive *too*!"
We just now checked in to the Wynfield Inn, an erstwhile Howard Johnson.

Tomorrow, we complete the last 300-mile trip to New Orleans!

-------- 9th leg (part 1 of 2) --------

Total distance traveled: 1884mi (Waltham, MA to New Orleans)

Nov 14th:

Bubba and I checked out of the hotel in Montgomery and ate breakfast at yet another Waffle House! We were on the road by 8:30. We took the scenic route through Biloxi. Bubba pointed out *many* places familiar to him when he was stationed there in 1974-75.
We arrived at the Phoenix in New Orleans at around 2:30. We walked to the Epitome, a cigar store in the French Quarter. We returned to the Phoenix, to meet up with Adam, our host. We ate at Jack Dempsey's, a seafood restaurant. The first redfish I've eaten in my life.
At about 10:00, we went bar-hopping - The Coppertop and Boots 'n' Bears in Adam's neighborhood, the Marigny. We then went back to Rawhide in the Quarter. Very disappointing - it had changed in the 4 years since I'd been there! ;( Loud techno 'music' and a rearranged bar.
Bubba and I then went to the Cafe Lafitte, where we stayed until the wee hour of 4:00 AM! I went tback to Adam's to get some much- needed sleep. Bubba went back to the Coppertop.
Tomorrow will be the first full day that I've spent in a single city since I left a week and a half ago!

-------- 9th leg (part 2 of 2) --------

Nov 15th:

Bubba and I walked to the French Quarter that morning. We stopped for some 'sliders' at Clover Grill across from Lafitte's (see definition below)
We picked up Duane at the airport, whom I first met at Bear Roundup in Dallas earlier this year. We visited this tacky adult bookstore near the airport. We marveled at the "wall o' dildoes". We ate dinner at Bruning's, a seafood restaurant right on Lake Pontchartrain. We then attended a beer bust at the Phoenix. A great wet time was had by this writer! ;) It wound up at around 1:00 PM, so we adjourned to the Coppertop until the wee hour of 4:00 AM.

Nov 16th:

We woke up at around 12:00 noon. We visited Marie Laveau's (the Voodoo Queen's) Tomb in St. Louis Cemetery. On we went to find breakfast. The place we desired was closed. We wound up at a Shoney's at around 1:30PM. We ended up with all the 'remains' of the breakfast bar! Sausage, bacon, biscuits & gravy, soup, rice - a cholesterol-lover's dream! ;)
Adam and Duane went to make groceries. Bubba and I visited the Mardi Gras/Jazz/Mint museum. There, we saw a pair of seahorse costumes that Adam and Bill (Bear coverman #27) wore at the 1992 festivities. We returned to Adam's for a 'disco nap', to prepare for the upcoming late night out! We attended a cigarman get- together at Rawhide in the Quarter. We were delighted to see that they were showing the video from Bear Round-up! Several attendees where in that video! The best scene was where Duane was getting his underwear ripped out from under his pants! We returned to the Phoenix later, where we witnessed a lover's quarrel and an obnoxious straight guy trying to re-enter the bar! Yes, some more wet activity, too! ;)

Nov 17th:

at around 2:00 PM, I called David, my next visit in Mississippi. He said it was raining up there. Since it was a 6-hour trip, I decided to stay one more day in New Orleans.
Boy, I'm glad I did! Adam took us to see the 'den'. where Adam, Bill and many others create Mardi Gras costumes. As luck would have it, my camcorder battery ran out :( We then went to eat blunch at 'Rocky and Carlos", an Italian restaurant in Chalmette, down river from N.O. There we saw about 10-15 cooks preparing all manner of food. We saw a *large* sandwich being made, with at least half a stick of butter in it! YIKES! This place serves *immense* portions of everything! You *must* be aware when 'you are next' to order. If not, you may get 'bumped'!
Later, Adam showed us an area of N.O. that was flooded in 1965. Some of the oldest styles of architecture exist here. Two 'steamboat' houses - made with an Oriental-style roofs and all- tile first floor, supposedly for waterproofing.
Adam had to do laundry, so Duane, Bubba and I went to the French Market, where Bubba bought some 'hobby clamps' and hemostats (guess what for?), Duane bought earrings, and I bought some Cajun music CD's. We had coffee at Cafe Du Monde, then at around 5:30, bounced back and forth between 3 Vieux Carre bars: Cafe Lafitte's, Good Friends and Rawhide. Another small wet-session between Bubba, Richard and I! Yes, the term 'go-cup' *does* have a double-meaning! :) Bubba and I returned to the Phoenix, then to the Coppertop, to find very little happening! ;( I turned in early at around 11:00. I left Bubba at the bar - he never made it home! :)

Well, tomorrow I had up to Oxford, MS to visit pinecabn....

slider: slang for a hamburger that goes through you like crap through a goose! (usually refers to the _Krystal_ chain)

-------- 10th leg --------

Total distance traveled: 2270 mi (Waltham, MA to Oxford, MS)

Nov 18th:

I woke up at 6:00 AM, got the car packed. Adam served me breakfast of bagels and coffee. At around 7, I headed for MS, crossing Lake Pontchartrain via the causeway. At 24 miles, it's the longest single bridging in the world! I I hit the 2000-mile mark at 11 miles north of the MS border. Encountered a *heavy* downpour in Jackson, so I stopped for lunch at a Pizza Hut. The remainder of the trip was through some quite hilly country. I always assumed that this area of the country was flat.
I arrived at Dave's around 3:00. He lives in a converted fishing cabin on a county road in the backwoods. I almost didn't find it. I was glad that he displayed a neon lavender triangle in the front window!
We woofed and woofed and woofed. What a great guy! We had chili for dinner. I *finally* had a chance to post my New Orleans leg of the trip! (including an amended version!).

Tomorrow I head for Little Rock, AR

-------- 11th leg --------

Total distance traveled: 2665 mi (Waltham, MA to Texarkana, AR)

Nov 19th:

I left Dave's at around 12:30, heading for Memphis. I stopped at yet another WAFFLE HOUSE for breakfast. I also visited Graceland. The mansion tour was closed on Tuesdays, but I managed to visit the gravesite. I was pleasantly surprised at how tastefully appointed the grounds were.
It was then on to Little Rock via route 40. I called Jack, the bear I was going to stay with, but he wasn't home! ;( So, I continued the journey through Hope, the birthplace of Bill Clinton. I eventually stopped in Texarkana, right on the Arkansas/Texas border. I checked in to a Budgetel for the night. I had many phone calls to make, plus I needed to get online. Their phone-service was TERRIBLE! Only 5 local and 5 long-distance lines; all in use! It was so bad, that I *LEFT* for the Holiday Inn next door. In all the confusion, I managed to leave my bag of toiletry items *somewhere*. I think I left it in the parking lot, and someone stole them :(
To make matters worse, I called my home # in Massachusetts, which I *thought* was still running voicemail. I was *wrong*. Apparenty I was misled by NYNEX! (Rick Ameral, are you listening!?!?) I *hope* this is the last of these mishaps!

Well, it was a late night. I got to bed at around 1:30

Tomorrow, it's off to Dallas for two days......

-------- 12th leg --------

Total distance traveled: 2868 mi (Waltham, MA to Dallas, TX)

Nov 20th:

I checked out of the Holiday Inn at around 9:30. This was the first morning on my trip that it was drizzling rain. I drove about 80 miles past barbecue places and Taco Bell's before I found a place to eat breakfast! I got in to Dallas and found Dave Beals' place with no trouble at all! I remember how confused I was with the Dallas road system when I was attending Bear roundup in March.
I arrived at 1:15. I was glad to finally encounter *hot* weather! Dave wasn't home. I took this opportunity to 'replace' my $200.00 worth of toiletries with a trip to the local Target.
I got back to Dave's at around 3:00, where he met me at the gate. He is fighting off a cold, so he gave me a 'safe' hug. ;) I was pleasantly surprised to see that his other guest was GenXCub! He'll be moving here from Long Beach, CA. I got online for a while.
Cowboy_Ed called me on the voice line. It was nice to actually *hear* each other too! We then watched ST-TNG and DS-9 where all three of us "MST-3K'ed" both shows! ;) Later, we ordered garlic and pepperoni pizza from Sal's.
I met up with GaryBear at around 10:00. We went out to get a few groceries then returned to his house to watch Toy Story. Actually, only *part* of the movie, since we started WOOFing during it! We then went to sleep. I was *tired*!

Nov 21st:

After a good night's sleep, we had cereal and fruit for breakfast. It was kind of a gloomy day out, so we watched _Twister_. It was pretty good, although I can't comprehend how those 'tornado-chasers' managed to get through all of that, totally unscathed! !?
I returned to Dave's to replenish his supply of Diet Coke and enter my previous log. We went to 'the strip' for lunch (the gay section of Dallas - Oak Lawn). We ate at hunky's. One of the waiters was very cute! Clean-shaven, but had a nice pony-tail! Later that night, Me and GenXCub went to a 'bear eats' at Breckenridge Brewery downtown. We had a LOT of food! Lotsa cute bears, most of whom I'd never met before. Five out of the 14 bears in attendance were *clean-shaven*!
We then went to the Eagle, where I met up with alfbear, who had e-mailed me several times before my trip. I agreed to spend the night at his place in 'mid-city', a *nice* condo, featuring a hottub! WOOF! Still dog-tired, I went right to sleep after we took our dip!....

-------- 13th leg --------

Total distance traveled: 3179 mi (Waltham, MA to Austin, TX)

Nov 22nd:

I left 'mid-city' around 11:00. Got to Dealy Plaza around 12:00 to observe the 33rd anniversary of the assassination of JFK. Who should I see running down the hill but Tony Price from L.A.!!
I took video of the crowd and several speakers, one deaf person told a poignant story of how he was ignored by authorities, in spite of what he saw that day.There was a 1-minute moment of silence at 12:30, the exact time that he was gunned down. At that time, a presidential limousine drove by, then sped up, reenacting the event.
I left Dallas around 1:00 for Austin. I broke the 3000-mile barrier! I stopped at a truck-stop for 2 fat weiners (get your minds outta the gutter!). I arrived in Austin around 4:00. I went to the nearest Chrysler dealership for my next 3000-mile oil change. I managed to find my way to RS42BEAR's place in Pflugerville. We had a GREAT time. Wat a woofy bear. I met him all-too-briefly at Bear Roundup in March. He told that the bar scene consisted of one bar worth going to; the Chain Drive.
Well, tomorrow it off for a 'visit' to San Antonio. I decided to get a head-start on my long trip to El Paso tomorrow.

-------- 14th leg --------

Total distance traveled: 3846 mi (Waltham, MA to El Paso, TX)

Nov 23rd:

I called Carl, the other bear that I was meant to get together with. I accidentally stood him up last night! The three of us ate breakfast. Ron and I went into the city to do some shopping. I left Ron's at around 2:00 and headed for San Antonio. I located the house that my family lived in 3 years before I was born! I then met up with Paul Phrange. We hugged and talked. I told him that I'd probably want to drive to El Paso at night. I left around 6:00PM.
I was warned that the drive to El Paso would be boring! Well, not so! For most of the trip, I was lightening far off in the distance. All of a sudden at about 360 miles from El Paso, the wind picked up. Large drops of rain began to fall and the lightening intensified! I'd *never* seen lightening like this! It was acting like a strobe light! My wipers looked like cobwebs. I'd really though I wasn't going to make it! It stayed like this for about 20 miles and continued to rain for the next 50 miles! Then at about mile 105 I was at the top of a hill and all of a sudden a whole *town* lit up! They were having intermittent power-failures! I arrived in El Paso at 2:30 Mountain Time.
In spite of everything, I was amazed at how short the trip seemed! I think the lack of eye-fatigue and the generally good quality of the roads helped.
Tomorrow I'll be off to Las Cruces, NM to visit Graham (hippybear on IRC).

WOOF's!

-------- 15th leg --------

Total distance traveled: 4187 mi (Waltham, MA to Tucson, AZ)

Nov 24th:

I had planned to meet Graham in Las Cruces (hippybear on IRC). The only problem is that I got waylaid in Austin and forgot to E-mail him! ;( So, he had made plans to be in Albuquerque that day. So I called up Mark in Tucson and asked if he'd mind terribly if I got there a day early. He said no problem, so I made the 300-mile trip, leaving around 10:30 and arriving in Tucson at 3:30.
Mark and Dennis own a great house that overlooks the city. Hills surround the property, covered with 12-foot cacti. Mark showed me around downtown. He took me to the Venture-N, the local bear-bar. There I met Cowboy_Ed and a few others. Mark told me that it was unusually quiet for a Sunday evening.
I was tired from all that driving. So we got back to the house, got online for a while, then went to bed at 10:30.

-------- 16th leg --------

Total distance traveled: 4345 mi (Waltham, MA to Phoenix, AZ)

Nov 27th:

I left Tucson at around 8:00 and arrived at Rich's apartment in Phoenix at 11:00. Rich was surprised to see me right at his doorstep! I told him I had located the place through the use of my Map 'N Go CD-ROM.
We ate lunch at My Mother's, a mom and pop restaurant that caters to the bears! We went to see _101 Dalmatians_ at this great new theater with high seat-backs and unobstructed views from every row!
After we got some woofing in, we went to dinner at the 5 and Diner, a 50's-style restaurant with outdoor seating with heaters (it was a bone-chilling 60 degrees that night!) It's also one of the places that the bears go after the bars close.
We then bar-hopped to the Country Club, which has a great patio with a 10-foot-diameter firepit! A nice, relaxing bar that *doesn't* play techno! It's the new host bar for the local bear club. On we went to the Club 155/Harley's, your typical leather/disco bar, complete with a leather store and a darker bar, The Cell, which opened at 10:00.
We went to the 10:10PM showing of _Star Trek - First Contact_. Will in line, we ran into Mike Ramsey (riverbear) WOOF! He said that he would be leaving for Japan for about 10 days. The movie was good, although there were several 'in-jokes' that only made sense to regular viewers of _Voyager_.
After the movie, we returned to Club 155 for a bit. There, I met up with Wade, a young cub whom I got into a mutual grope/hug session with!

Nov 28th:

We returned to the 5 and Diner for breakfast, where I ordered *way* too much food! We returned from breakfast to find that my car had been vandalized! Both mirrors had been ripped off the car and left in the parking lot! Rich felt VERY bad about it and assured me that he would pay the cost of replacement. We planned to go to a dealership the next morning and get them replaced.
Rich then took me for a drive through the city. He showed me the new $1.2 billion library, where there is internet-access, CD's, videos and, of course, books!
We were invited to a Thanksgiving dinner put on by Tom, another local bear. Rich and I splashed in the pool for a while. David Butcher arrived (SatyrAZ on IRC). What a tall WOOF! The dinner was held in the clubhouse at Tom's apartment complex. This is basically a large apartment unit set aside for such events. There was WAY more than enough food for all. About 20 showed up. There were *FIVE* Dave's among us, including me!
Later, we all watched _Broken Arrow_. Each of us pointed out technical flaws in the film, basically, "MST3K-ing" it! Mike Ramsey pointed out that copper mines *do not* exist under sandstone! Later, we watched a REALLY BAD twink porn movie. It was found in the VCR that Richard lent us. It was so boring it was funny! Six guys sitting around on lawn furniture jerking off for 30 minutes. And my sheer coincidence, they ALL reach orgasm at the same time! Oh, any of you who need to know then name of this epic, it's _Texas Tales_. Yes, this is one movie that should betransferred from videotape to flammable nitrate stock! ;)
Rich and I got back around 12:30. We went straight to bed. We had to get up at 7:30 the next morning to get to the dealership in time.
-------- 17th leg --------

Total distance traveled: 4656 mi (Waltham, MA to Sky Valley, CA)

We got to the dealership at around 7:00AM and found that they work a 4-day week! So, we sent way North to Bell Street. They replaced the passenger-side mirror. The other one had to be ordered from another dealership, and wouldn't arrive until 1:00. I had to leave before then. So I gassed up and left Phoenix at 11:00.
The trip to California was riddled with MANY dust-storms! At the border, all vehicles were stopped for an agricultural inspection: "any animals? any plants? any nuts?" I managed to stifle my rude, sarcastic answer! ;).
I arrived in Sky Valley at around 2:30 PST. There, I saw my first 'windmill farm'. I ate at a little restaurant called Richard's Country Kitchen. I then went to find Gabe's place. I was surprised to see him at home. He got back early from his visit. His place is in the middle of the desert, a small 3-room house, but with a wide-open feel to it.
Gabe greeted me with open arms. We got to know each other. He's a friend of Urso, whom I've known for about five years. We watched TV and woofed. A&E was running a whole series of Star Trek-related shows, "The Science of Star Trek" and biographies of Gene Roddenberry and Leonard Nimoy. Gabe's other half, *another* Dave, got home around 8:30. He cooked a wonderful roast! I went to bed at around 10:30 (11:30 Mountain Time).

-------- 18th leg --------

Total distance traveled: 4854 mi (Waltham, MA to Van Nuys, CA)

Nov 30th:

I got on IRC this morning and chatted with ednixon (Frank Martin), who works in Rancho Cucamonga, which is en route to L.A. from Sky Valley. We agreed to meet at the 76 Truck Stop in Ontario at 11:00.
I left Gabe's at 9:00 AM and arrived in Ontario at around 10:30. Frank picked me up and gave me a tour of the T.V. station that he works at, which carries infomercials and religious programming. We then returned to the truck stop, where he showed me the GTE Internet booth, where truckers can telnet, e-mail, and surf the web (no IRC, though!)
I then resumed my trip, arriving at Chuck and Tom's house in Van Nuys at around 12:30. We went to eat lunch at Vivian's, a small restaurant in Studio City. There, I mad my *first* Hollywood celebrity; Roscoe Lee Brown, a black character-actor, whom I remember from several _All In The Family_ episodes.
Later, I learned that had played Othello and a character in _Logan's Run_.
I called bugi in Hollywood to try and get together with him tomorrow. He told me to be at his place at 5:00 tomorrow to see the Hollywood Christmas Parade.
I drove around the beach for a while and got back at around 6:30 to meet James Roth, a friend of Chuck and Tom's and Clark Jellison, whom I first met about 4 years ago. I joined them in the hottub for a while. Then, it was off to dinner at a Mongolian restaurant nearby. There are around ten bears in attendance, including Doug Brown and his lover, FZcub from the Bay Area, and the 2 redheads, one of whom in named Scott.
We returned to the house, where Clark, James, Chuck, Tom, and I had a nice, relaxing woof-session in the hottub! ;) We then retired for the night.

Dec 1st:

I treated Chuck and Tom to breakfast at Nat's, a great place, within walking-distance. (nope, noone stopped and asked if our car was broken down!)
I tried to get in touch with Bugi to confirm our plans, but couldn't get a hold of him. Meanwhile, Tony E-mailed to tell me that there was a Ventura Bear's beer-bust at Paddy's Pub in Ventura.
I ran some errands with Chuck and Tom in town, then packed my car and left at around 2:30. I stopped at Frye's, a *huge* electronics store, to try and find a power adaptor for my laptop - no luck.
I continued on to Ventura and found Paddy's and met LOTS of woofy bears! , one Jim Parton, who was cooking burgers, Jeff Mobs, whom I first met at the Bear Expo '93 bear contest, and Ken, the president of Ventura Bears.
I followed Tony and Jim back to Tony's place in Simi Valley. I passed the Reagan Library, where I was reminded of an old joke:

"The Ronald Reagan Library burnt to the ground today - *both* books were lost

but the *sad* part is - he hadn't finished coloring the second one!"

Anyway, I had a restless night, being allergic to cat's (Jim had brought his over for the weekend). I somehow managed to drop off, anyway!
Well tomorrow I head for San Luis Obispo.

-------- 19th leg --------

Total distance traveled: 5400 mi (Waltham, MA to Milpitas, CA)

After getting online for a while, I left Tony's at 9:15. I hit the 5000-mile mark just outside of Ventura! I took the 101 to San Luis Obispo. there, I called Mike, the person that I was going to stay with and told him that I decided to head closer to San Francisco in order to shorten tomorrow's drive.
San Luis Obispo was very pretty. Many upscale shops. I ate at an Italian restaurant called Angelo's I was fortunate to find a couple of used CD and record stores, "Bee Bee's" and "Cheap Thrills", where I found a few out-of-print CD's that I had been looking all over for!
I drove the scenic route (route 1) up to Monterey. What *incredible* countryside! I took *many* pix that I'll put on my web-page once I get established in S.F. It was MUCH more picturesque than "the five", which I had taken earlier in the year when attending IBR '96). I only regret that it was dark by the time I got to the Big Sur. ;( I guess I'll just have to revisit it someday.
I called my parents from a laundromat in Monterey.They were happy to hear my voice. I *try* to make a point of calling them at 8:00 EST (5:00 PST), but I was having a little *too much* fun at the beer-bust last night! ;) They are *already* putting in requests for sourdough bread!
I got back on the 101 in Salinas and drove to San Jose. I arrived at the Holiday Inn in Milpitas at around 9:30PM. I had stayed there three years ago. Then, it was the "Hotel at the End of the Galaxy"! The area sure has been built up since then!

Well, tomorrow I make the LAST leg of my trip to San Francisco via Berkeley (gotta hit some more CD shops!)

WOOF's!

-------- 20th leg --------