Smokeout 2023
A popular weekend I’ve been meaning to attend for years, Smokout in Las Vegas was quite nice. There were a few snags but that wasn’t the fault of the event or anything. This year took place at the Tuscany Suites & Casino, the same place where BiggerVegas was playing host. I was supposed to be there all Easter weekend from April 7-10, but had to miss one day. I also had a major problem with my car getting to and from Bellingham Airport. Here’s how the weekend went.
I left home Friday at 9am and drove down to the Pacific Crossing US border. I knew it would be busy, maybe an hour at most as NEXUS will help speed things a bit. Once I turn south onto 176 Street… it wasn’t long that I was in a lineup that was going to last me 3 hours! I was well before the NEXUS lane and it didn’t help that there was a 4-way intersection in front that was taking people from the west side, slowing us down. I joined a few other cars that drove on the shoulder lane to go east away from the lineup. I called my folks and let them know I was coming back home and would be missing my noon flight from Bellingham to Vegas. When I got back, I called Allegiant and after a 90-minute wait, a representative finally took my call. At first, he says that I could either pay for a new one-way ticket or I could cancel the whole trip. I didn’t want to spend a few hundred dollars more, so I told him to cancel the whole thing. He then tells me to hold on and he’ll see if he can do something for me. After a 5-minute wait, he comes back and says that he can get me on the 8am flight the next day for $67. I booked it, thanked him, and hung up. While it means I miss a night and I’m still charged for the hotel room, at least getting across the border will be easier. I didn’t do anything else Friday.
Saturday, I get up at 5:30am, repacked a few things, and had a deli meat wrap that mom made for me the previous day. Before I could leave, Mr. Pickles come through the door and into the house. I haven’t seen him in months. After some pets and nuzzles, I try to get him to go back home downstairs to my sister’s suite, but he wanted to stay upstairs. I didn’t have time for his shenanigans, so I soon picked him up and put him downstairs before I left and returned to the border. Next to no one was there and NEXUS was a breeze. On the I-5 going south, I found that my car was increasingly making some noise when accelerating to 3,000 rpm and could only go 80-100 km/h. Nothing one my dashboard was showing up. When I pulled out of the highway on an exit and was on some street, my car’s engine shut down just before an intersection and I couldn’t accelerate anymore. I put on my hazard lights and called my father via Skype. When I put my car on again twice, the oil light came on the second time finally. I opened the hood and checked the dipstick, was very much empty. I was next to two gas stations (Thank God!), so I ran and quickly bought a bottle of oil for $15, dumped it in my car as per my father’s instructions, and got the engine working again when I revved it up. I continued the short way left for Bellingham International Airport. I parked my car in F4 of Economy Lot A. Despite the lineup at the check-in counter, the ticketing agent got me to come to the front as boarding was going on. I thanked everyone in the line for this. Security with TSA PreCheck made things a little easier and I made my plane on time. We departed at 8am and I sat in 6A. I played a little bit of Shantae on my Nintendo 2DS and dozed off. We landed at 10am in Vegas and I let Alex/boy Zander know I had touched down. By the time I got to baggage claim, everyone’s bags were starting to appear. Fast service! I took a Lyft to the Tuscany and arrived after 10:30am. I got my room, H210, which was next to the pool area. After settling down, I went to the hospitality suite in building G105. I picked up my program book, the year’s T-shirt that I bought, and a wrist band to show I was registered. I then met Alex and his Sir and Alpha in the lobby. A friend of theirs took us to Yama Sushi (Flamingo location), an all-u-can-eat sushi place. It was over 20 of us and we all had a decent meal. I saw and chatted with Eric from Cockeyed Kink. A bear that sat next to me was from (Brampton?) Ontario so was nice to have a fellow Canuck with me. We left sometime after 1pm and I paid $41 for my share.
Not long after arriving back at the hotel, I ran into bootblack pup Astro and chatted with him for over 15 minutes. We haven’t seen each other since Dore Alley 2018, but we’ve been in contact since. I found out that he may see Daddy Eric when he visits his mother around Ohio soon. I then went to the giftshop for some drinks, a few snacks, and a Smartwater for my CPAP. Unlike BiggerVegas, there was no distilled water jugs around. Back in the room, Alex comes visit and we chat for over an hour. I found out that my nemesis from the Yukon, Devon S., tried to engage in a conversation with him at the pool either that day or the previous day. He introduces himself and tells Alex that he is from the Yukon, Alex says that he was waiting for a friend from Vancouver. Devon immediately asks, “Is his name Steve?” Alex replies, “Yes”. From there, Devon doesn’t say much more outside of continued contempt for me and that he didn’t want to deal with me (the feeling’s mutual!) I then talked about who Devon was in a nutshell for the next fifteen minutes. I also added that I didn’t know Devon was coming this year until immediately AFTER I registered myself for the weekend and then checked the attendees page and soon recognized him. I know he has been to Smokeout before - this year is his 4th one. Sigh… it does put a damper on the weekend. After Alex left, I later walk around the vendors in building G. The second one I checked had beard oils and brushes, which was tempting. The bears running it were extremely hot! In the third vendor, a leather shop, I chatted with a guy who recognized my Knights of Malta vest. He wasn’t a past member, but he knew of them while living in Portland some years ago. I talked about the Knights with him, especially about why the American chapters had to change their name for legal reasons. It was interesting talking about Portland and the leather scene there. He is currently local to Vegas.
After the vendors I took some pictures of guys around the hotel and then went across the street to a smoke shop and got a couple of cigars. The selection was extremely limited, but it was sufficient. I returned to the room for a bit. Alex invited me and a couple other guys for dinner at Pub 365. I had a chicken breast dish with asparagus and a side of fries. It was very nice though the chicken portion could have been a little better. While waiting for our order, Devon walked past us though my back was facing him: I could tell by the way he walked, his demeanor, and height that it was him. He must have noticed me because of my Knights vest and seeing Alex. He said nothing and Alex confirmed that it was him. He wore a white shirt and I noticed he must have gotten a mohawk-style cut from the barber in the hospitality suite as he walked away from us.
After dinner, Alex and the rest separated and did their own thing at the hotel. I got into my leather uniform and shared a Lyft with a cub from Chicago to the Fun Hog Ranch. I haven’t been there in years. It was packed, but manageable. I chatted with some guys there though not many were in gear. There were three HOT east coast rubber bears that I spent most of my time with. One was from Ontario, the other two were from Buffalo, NY. The Ontario bear knew Ian from Toronto and the other Ian from Surrey, both friends of mine. He also knew of Danny Jellis but didn’t know that he passed away last summer. Later, I found on Recon who they were, and we have cruised each other before. I left the bar around 11pm and took a Lyft back by myself.
When I got back to the hotel, I started taking some pictures of various men who were congregating on the main path outside the hospitality suite. Soon after, I met up with Alex and we hung out. I got a diet coke from the bar near hospitality (drinks are free for registered members) and I finally got to smoke a cigar outside! I enjoyed chatting with Alex and other men around. There was some (unofficial?) buns contest that happened out of nowhere next to us, which was lovely eye candy since each butt was furry and beefy! One big Daddybear from Phoenix with his gut and butt hanging out in his leather chaps invited us to his patio near the pool and we chatted for over half an hour while I worked finishing my cigar. We talked about our backgrounds and how we got into leather. He even lived in New Glarus for a bit but did not know of Michael & Donovan. As he was getting tired, we said good night after 1am. Alex joined me outside my building while he helped a friend with his bootstraps. He joined me back in my room but not for long. He helped me out of my Chippewas, and we said good night about 2am. I went to bed before 4am.
I slept until 10:30am but didn’t get out of bed until before noon. I then had a shower and put on my Wesco Highliners so I could go see Alex during his bootblack shift in the hospitality suite. He did a wonderful job on my Wescos, and they may be the first time they ever been done. I paid him $20 and later found I was one of two or three guys who had their boots done during his shift. Things got slow for the bootblacks that Sunday. For brunch, I went to Marilyn’s Cafe and ordered a chicken sandwich with fries and a diet coke. I saw AlphaPupMorty and his partner as he was in the back of the restaurant. We’ve been wanting to meet for around a few years. He’s cute! (I didn't realize I took his picture the previous day) I returned to my room and relaxed for a few hours on my laptop, chatting online with a few guys. I met up with Alex for dinner with his Sir and Alpha at Merilyn’s at 6:30pm. I had a chicken breast plate with fries and green beans. The chicken breasts tasted good but were a little skinny portion-wise. Our waiter mucked things up with the unsweetened iced tea the three of them had and for whatever reason, charged Alpha’s dish with extra mashed potatoes. The manager fixed things after our meal. I paid $25 to Sir for my contribution.
Soon after dinner with Alex, around the main pathway by hospitality, Devon passes me. We say nothing and he was with a guy that Alex wasn’t fond of named Kelly from Boise, Idaho. Sigh, he’s still the same after all these years. After several minutes, we ran into pup Astro where Alex’s Sir and Alpha and others were sitting together and playing Cards Against Humanity. Alex and Astro chatted first as they were bootblacks. After they got up to join the group playing Cards, I left to relax a bit and get into some leather, like what I wore at the cigar social at last year’s Palm Springs Leather Pride. I returned and lit up my last cigar. I also molested pup Astro a bit since he loves being played with by gloved men. We sat down and I talked about Devon and my background involving him. Early in the conversation, pup replies that Devon was cruising him and has been for the last couple of Smokeouts, but Astro finds him harassing. I gave him in a nutshell about my years with Devon and proceeded to talk about David and when he was on Kink, a show that pup knew about. My cigar went out as I was blabbing so much, and after the second time, I didn’t bother getting it re-lit. We left after 11:30pm and I took a few final pictures. Alex met us outside of Astro’s building and we said final goodbyes. Alex joined me back in my room and helped get me out of my Wescos. About 25 minutes later, we said last goodbyes too as he was leaving early in the morning. After he was gone, I did most packing, called for a late check-out request (12 noon), and went to bed about 2:30am.
Easter Monday, I got out of bed around 10:30am and had my “release” too. I messaged Pup Morty and found that he and his partner left a few hours earlier to drive home. Sad that we didn’t get to meet again before leaving, especially yesterday when I had time to do it and take advantage. I had a shower and got a call from Alex that they left about 8 that morning. He thanked me for coming and getting to hang out a lot. I finished packing and left my room before 12 noon. I checked out, left my bags with the bell hop, and got something to eat at Marilyn’s. I had the chicken breast with fries again but had a vegetable medley instead of just green beans. I also had a slice of NY cheesecake to finish the meal. Afterwards, I hung around the lobby for a couple hours. I talked to a leatherbear from Vancouver for a bit that I knew since the days of BC Bears and early days of VML. I hope he will consider coming back to VML and joining BLUF too. I made a couple of phone calls. The first was to Daddy Eric, talking about future trips. He plans to go to Austin around his birthday, which intrigues me. I then called Eugene and chatted a bit with him too, talking about Knights Gathering.
I then took a Lyft to the airport and arrived around 2:30pm. I was too early for my flight to check-in and was told to wait for an hour nearby to drop my bags off later. So, I sat and charged my phone a bit while watching a few YouTube videos. After 3:30pm I could drop my bag off. I went through TSA PreCheck which helped make things easier as it was kind of busy. For whatever reason, ten minutes later I realized I forgot my carry-on back at security screening! I walked back and the TSA agent pointed me to their lost and found nearby. The nice TSA lady there had my bag and I signed for it. After she put it through the scanner again, I could take it and go. I thanked both TSA agents and went to gate A19. For the next few hours, I worked on my laptop and slowly drank a bottle of diet Dr. Pepper to hydrate myself. After 6:30pm, I got my carry-on ticketed for the luggage compartment. That saves me from having to deal with trying to find room to store it. We departed on time, and I sat in 22E though my seatmate went to 22A, so I took his 22D. I watched the Star Trek: TOS pilot episode “The Cage” on the Netflix app and played some Sudoku on my phone. We reached Bellingham just before 10pm. It was slightly rainy that night. Baggage didn’t take long to arrive, so I waited about 5 minutes for mine to arrive, and I returned to the parking lot. After putting my bags in, I checked the dipstick in my car to see if the oil has settled in, but found it was still kind of empty, or I couldn’t see it properly. I turned my car on, and it seemed somewhat normal, I figured that the oil may not have had time to set. After paying my $30 ($41Cdn) parking, I found that my car was acting the same as Saturday morning. I returned to the same gas station and bought another bottle of oil as a precaution. I continue and go north on the i-5, staying in the right lane. I still couldn’t accelerate much past 80 km/h and cars were passing me as I was below the speed limit. About 20km in, my engine starts to die so I quickly pull to the side of the road and put on my hazard lights. I go outside and put in the new oil. It seemed to work, but again doesn’t solve the problem. I continued on and made it to the Pacific Crossing border. NEXUS was closed so I diverted into the normal lanes. About two or three of them were open and three cars were before me. The customs guy was quite nice when I told him about Smokeout without divulging details. He seemed to like the idea of people getting together to smoke cigars et al. socially and admitted he liked to smoke cigars occasionally too. After my declarations, I continued and put my phone out of airplane mode so I could call my father now that I’m back in the country. I woke him up and let him know I was almost home and what had happened earlier. I hung up by the time I reached 16th Ave. This was possibly going to be the last obstacle for my car due to the hills it has. My car managed to make it through, and I turned onto 200th Street. Sadly, when I reached a 4-way stop on 24th Ave, my engine started to die again so I drove just past the stop sign and to the side of the road, just barely off, and in front of the IGA grocery store. So close! I called BCAA to request a tow back home. It was a half hour wait for the next available serviceman. I call my father again and let him know. He would have the gate open for us to back the car into the driveway. The serviceman comes and about 15 minutes later, my car is towed and it’s only about 1.3km to my home anyways. After midnight, I made it home and I thanked the serviceman. A big pot of mom’s spicy chicken noodle soup was waiting for me, and I haven’t eaten since Marilyn’s! I unpacked my stuff in near record time as I had to get to bed soon. I had a dental appointment downtown in the late morning. I’ll be using my father’s van for work this week until I can get my car checked out.
While the long weekend started off and ended rocky, I enjoyed my first Smokeout and regret not going to it years ago. While I know I must deal with Mr. Fuckface at times, the overall weekend and laid-back atmosphere makes it less stressful and good for needed relaxation. I hope to make new bear and leatherbear friends as the years go by, smoking cigars together.