BiggerVegas 2019
My second BiggerVegas, as it usually goes on every two years, was a better experience than last time for me even though I stayed one night less. From July 6-8, here’s how things went.
On Saturday I got up after 7am and did some packing. I said goodbye to my folks as I would be driving down to Pacific Crossing and to Bellingham International Airport. This is the first time I’ve ever drove to Bellingham on my own, but I wasn’t nervous. I knew it would happen someday LOL! Anyways, I got to the border at around 8am. There was a 20-30-minute wait in the regular lineups, so I used NEXUS and it took only a few minutes of waiting. This was also my first time driving through NEXUS at the border, but it was easy. I then drove south down to BLI, about a half hour drive. I took my car to Economy Lot A and parked it after getting my ticket at the machine. I took my bags, locked the car, and walked to the airport. I checked in with Allegiant; my bag was 34 pounds (they only allow up to 40 until they charge extra) so that was a relief. For security screening, the expedited process was a little different for us NEXUS card holders. As there only one security screening open, we got pink cards, so it meant we didn’t have to take off our shoes and get the few other benefits of pre-TSA status. It didn’t take long at all. Once I was done, I bought a Snickers bar and bottle of water. The Wi-Fi was shit and waited for nearly an hour for my flight. We boarded and left on time, at 10:23am. I sat in 21A. When we left the ground, I nodded off and didn’t even know we were flying until I looked out the window. I continued to nod on and off mostly. I later played some Kingdom Hearts: Re:coded on my DS. We landed just shy 1pm. I got my luggage and took a Lyft to the Tuscany. The weather was very hot and hit me like a furnace! The Lyft driver was very friendly and shared my ride with a South Korean couple. I got my room, 205, in building “L”. I was pretty much in the way back of the property again! Argh! Ah well, I walked in and realized I forgot how spacious and nice the rooms were. I set up my stuff and registered for the free Wi-Fi on both my phone and laptop. I walked back to the main hotel and went up to the second floor to registration and got my package. I went next door across to the hospitality room and immediately noticed Daddy Clayton. I also noticed a guy from New Westminster (he also happened to know Clayton) and my chub friend Shawn, also from New West (I think they live together). Bill, the big Jewish bear from Palm Springs was also there plus Daddy Bradford! I spent a couple of hours talking to them and being around the 2nd floor. During that time, I went to the vendors and bought the trilogy of the Bear City movie series for $60US. I left after returning to hospitality for some more socializing, I went down to get some distilled water from the gift store. It was $5 for a jug! Damn… it'd cost me $2 at most back home! Oh well, besides my CPAP I could also use the jug to drink from too. I went back to my room with it. I geared up in my leather pants and boots to go to the dinner and contest. The banquet room had its own Wi-Fi so we couldn’t use the hotel one strangely.
The theme was based on “Disney’s Aladdin” - most likely because of the recent live-action movie remake. Some of the main organizers were dressed as characters: The Sultan, Jasmine, and even Jaffar. Their costumes were quite good. I sat with Charles from Virginia (the chub from 2017 and joined me in DC for MAL) while a nearby table had Clayton, Shawn, his chaser room mate, and even my friend Kevan from Washington State. The food was okay but wasn’t too impressed. The desserts were very rich but nice. The cupcakes were offered again at a table like the last time. For entertainment, we had some chaser singer and for the whole night, a chubby gender-neutral drag queen as an emcee named "Eureka". I felt her humour was forced but she can work a room. The Chub & Chaser contest had two other main photographers besides me. The contest took quite awhile and there were over 15 handsome chubs stripping off for us. The chasers… not my type and I’d argue the chubs had more energy in their performance! I got a ton of pictures of everyone. In the later part of the contest, I noticed Clayton left early though Charles left earlier. I didn’t see them for the rest of the night. At the end of contest, I took pictures of the title holders and the three Aladdin-dressed characters in front of an inflatable Genie. Why no one dressed as Genie… *facepalm*.
I returned to my room and looked at guys on Recon, I saw this Leatherdaddy who was part of the weekend and cruised him. He cruised back and sent a message to meet up and have me play with his nipples. I took the chance and he came to my room. I worked and sucked his nips and sucked him off. He was very sexy, and we cuddled and chatted a bit before he left. Not long after, I got a message from a chub friend from Long Beach -who couldn’t meet me when I was visiting there in May- that he was back from visiting the Fun Hog Ranch and if we could cuddle. I agreed and I went to building “J” where he was waiting outside. He still was in some of his leather: harness, armband, boots, and kilt. We cuddled for about an hour, which was so nice. He had to drive home in the morning, so we bid goodbye and I went to bed after 2:30am.
I got up after 11am, after on and off trying to sleep properly. I showered and got dressed. Earlier, I got a message from Dean of Reno, who was free to meet up. We had met each other briefly the previous day, our first meeting in under 11 years! So, I went and saw Dean in building “M”. We cuddled and talked for hours, getting caught up on things: my Kevin’s death, some background details, David on the Canadian TV show “KinK”, Dean breaking up with his partner in recent times, stuff on Star Wars, etc. Sometime after 4pm, I met his friends, Ken & Nathan. I’ve seen Nathan on Recon and cruised him before. They both cruised me, which made me blush. Dean invited me to dinner and Ken drove us at an Italian restaurant called Battista’s. I had a steak pizzaiola - which was a steak with marinara sauce on top with some kind of spinach sauce, and a rigatoni size dish. Also had minestrone soup and garlic bread as appetizers. Even the cappuccino that was included was good (more chocolate than coffee taste). All I had was excellent. Dean paid and I thanked him for that! Ken drove us back to the hotel. We returned to their room (all three were sharing) and spent over an hour. While Ken & Nathan were watching TV, Dean and sat on the couch cuddling together at times. I showed him some Nostalgia Critic videos including the Star Wars Christmas Special, the bear scene from Nicolas Cage version of The Wicker Man, a Canadian feminist PSA, etc. Ken dozed off on their bed. Eventually, they started to leave, and we joined too. Dean and I went and spent the rest of the night at the hospitality room. There was karaoke and a dance that night, but we didn’t bother with them. I tried to see if I could go spend time with Daddybear Clayton, but he was busy with someone else. We sat with Bill of Palm Springs and met a cute big bear from California (north of SF), who was cruising me though I forget his name (I added him to my favourites on BiggerCity). Jerrell, who was Mr. TBRU 2017, joined us too. Bill was nice to get us slushie drinks (I think those who paid for the most expensive package could get them) as it was a change of pace from the water and pop we drank mostly. Jerrell mentioned that NY Pride had around 500 men and women in its leather contingent. I also showed him the pictures I took of him with his title sash 2 years ago, which he liked. On Recon, I found that a rubber pup I’ve been chatting with from Connecticut just happened to be in town and just over a mile from me but… we couldn’t end up meeting, much to my disappointment. Sometime after 1am, I said goodbye and thanked everyone I was with. I went to bed after 2am after some packing.
I found that I overslept after 9am since the farewell brunch started at 8:30am. At least I slept better than Saturday night. I showered and got to the brunch, which was in the same big conference room as the dinner and contest. In the hallway on my way there, I said goodbye to Bill and Ken & Nathan as they were leaving. When I arrived, I said goodbye to Dean just before he left. The big bear who was cruising me the previous night was there and before eating, spent some time with him. I had potatoes (like the ones I had at Pauline’s in Chicago), ham, bacon, small waffles, and a bowl of mixed fruit. I pretty much sat by myself. I said goodbye to the big bear and will chat with him in the future. I messaged Charles as he paid to extend his check-out time, wondering if we’d spend some time together. My flight wouldn’t be for another few hours, but he was planning on getting a massage and then a dip in the pool. Sigh. I got back to my room and as I was packing up, I got a call from Rick Ruben of Seattle. We talked about Seattle Pride as he was in the parade (I think 4th entry, just behind the Sisters), friends and subs of his, and his possibilities of joining me for Dore or PSLP. After our conversation, I took my bags and checked out. The first night was already charged to my card when I booked months ago while the second night was charged. I went outside and while waiting for my Lyft ride, Jerrell happened to be around, and we said goodbye to each other. I got to airport just after 11:30am. Check-in was quick and there was next to no one in Pre-TSA. I sat at my gate, A17, after buying a cherry Sprite and bag of candy. Daddy Clayton happened to be in the airport too as he missed his flight to Sacramento, but he was in a different terminal. I stayed and typed on my laptop for the next few hours while watching some YouTube videos. My flight departed on time after 4pm. I sat in the same seat as before, but I felt uncomfortable and restless for some reason. I didn’t do much for the over 2-hour trip. We landed at BLI just before 7pm. I texted my fellow leatherbear friend, Patrick, earlier in the day so we could meet up. He was on his way to the airport. I got my luggage and met with Patrick outside briefly. He took me across the Economy Lot A, and we chatted a bit. He said he would be out of town during Bellingham Pride later in the month, so that’s a downer. After some other talk, he dropped me off in front of the lot and headed out to see his mother. I remembered where my car was and put my bags in. At the gate, I inserted the ticket I had all weekend, paid $30 with my credit card, and exited. I then drove to Bellis Fair - a shopping mall that was a part of my childhood, but I don’t think I’ve been to for over 15 years! I wanted to be somewhat traditional and parked outside Target like my family usually did. Inside, it was definitely different as the electronics section was on the other side of store compared to where it was when I was growing up (I bought a number of my NES and SNES games at this Target back in the 80’s and 90’s). I walked the mall and found it’s 80’s aesthetic was pretty much the same. I was hungry so I went to the food court. I got a Philly cheesesteak with fries and drink at Two Guys Burgers, which was pretty good. After a quick stop at GameStop, I drove home as we were nearing sunset. Before the border, I filled up at my usual Yorky’s gas station. I heard the border wasn’t too bad, but I took the NEXUS lane anyways and found it was about a near 10-minute wait. Honestly, I probably just saved about a few minutes as lots of regular border lanes were open, making them go relatively fast. But customs was easy and I got home around 10 minutes later.
There was a little regret at this BiggerVegas compared to two years ago. I wish I could have been there a little longer given I got to be more social with bear buddies. It was great to see them again and spend a day with Dean. But when it came to Daddy Clayton… I felt I was put on the back burner. I don’t know what happened with Kevan and Daddy Bradford… nothing came of them. Daddy Bradford and Bill, I’ll see later this year but Kevan and Daddy Clayton it’s unknown when I’ll see them again. Charles I’m sure I’ll see in the near future depending on my travel plans. As for Dean, we’ll see.