So we drove from 4 a.m. until 3 p.m. , and factoring in the hour we traveled back in time, that makes for a solid twelve hours. Megan, Justin, and Alex all came to say goodbye to me at my parents place, and Julian was with us as we climbed into the back of the truck and drove off. 

I slept a good 6 or 7 hours of the trip, and had strange, strange dreams for the last hour of sleep. We made only a couple pit stops for gas, and the rest of the trip was straight and fast. It was amazing how quickly it went by. We pulled into the parking lot of our new apartment around 4′o’clock, and proceeded with a mad dash to fill out paperwork and jam all of our stuff into the elevators and our place as quickly as possible. 

Now how lucky are we? The first night we arrive is the finale night of a three or four day fireworks extravaganza, and the show is about five minutes away from our place. After setting a few things up we went for a walk to explore and find dinner, and found the streets out front to be filled with literally thousands of people! The roads were closed, and there was crowds in every direction as far as you could see all migrating towards the beach for the show. We toured the mayhem for a few blocks and ended up walking in a circle and stopping at the Safeway across the street from our place for sandwiches.

We ate sandwiches cheaper, more generous, and more delicious than Subway, and toasted over glasses of homemade Zinfandel, and then, just as everyone was starting to pass out where they sat, a couple of warning shots rang out into the night air, reminding us of the fireworks that would shortly begin. While some of us stayed behind and slept, most of us made our way to the beachfront for the show. We were treated to about 35 minutes of excellent fireworks, accompanied by an eclectic array of music and the sounds and smells of a large crowd: “Spark that shit up!”, “FUCK YEAH, USA, USA, USA FUCKING RULES!”

We crowd surfed all the way home (ok, only in a manner of speaking), and made our way upstairs to our crowded little hole in the wall I now call home (it’ll be cozy when it’s just Lisa and I). Upon retiring to the boudoir, we discovered we had the perfect view to the thousands of people I mentioned all fighting to get home as well. It was mind boggling and noisy, but beautiful.

Oh yeah, as most of you know we live in the heart of the second largest gay community in North America, or as Lisa calls it, “The Gayborhood”. Sometime during our second day in Van there will be a massive Pride Parade, floats and all! This is already turning out to be way too much fun!

I have a crazy day in front of me though, so I bid you farewell. Catch ya’ll on the flip side!