Travel Travel Travel

It's no secret: we LOVE to travel. Luckily for everyone involved, we travel pretty well together. This year we did a much better job of forecasting our trips and planning the whole year in advance, something we have been really bad about in the past. The result was a full schedule of fun without breaking the bank (too much).

We started out by heading up to Seattle in May. It was the same weekend as Dave’s birthday, but the real point of it all was to celebrate our friend George’s 40 th! George’s partner Mark pulled out all the stops, inviting hundreds of their friends and family from all over the world and planning events for the entire 3-day weekend. World-famous DJ Kimberly S spun a party for George and his entourage. The whole weekend culminated in a “scrap book orgy” where guests were invited to create pages about/for/in honor of/roasting our man George. It was a blast. Of course, our friend Fred pulled a few strings at Hyatt and had us upgraded to an amazing suite atop the beautiful Elliot Grand Hyatt Seattle. That was some nice pampering and a great b-day gift for Dave.

Two weeks later we were on a plane to visit Daniel’s family in Denver. The mid-May weather cooperated beautifully and we basked in the warm mountain sun all weekend. We enjoyed the hospitality of Daniel’s sister Agneès and her husband Mark. We were lucky and were able to spend a lot of time with Daniel’s nephew Ben, nieces Larissa and Sarah as well his father Raffi and his wife Nancy. We eked out some time to wander around LoDo, see an outdoor air fair, visit the botanical gardens, and enjoy the sights of the city on a warm summer weekend.

In June, we revisited one of the most fun vacations we ever had together: Gay Days at Disneyworld. Together with a whole troop of our friends, we descended on Orlando with a quarter million other gays and lesbians for a weekend in the self-proclaimed Happiest Place on Earth. The weather was a little less forgiving this time around. It rained. A lot! All four days! But with our friends Fred, Rick, Jason and others, we were determined to have a great time at the parks and the parties – and we did! Exhausted, we drove down to Miami with Fred to spend the rest of the week recovering on the Beach. We checked into the swanky Hotel Victor for some R&R. We were thwarted by the first named storm of a horrible weather year, Arlene. Not nearly as devastating as the storms that were yet to come, but nevertheless an eye-opener for a couple of guys from the Left Coast. At the very least, we got to see Fred in Miami before he got the hell out of there.

Dave’s family was next. For the second year in a row, we spent the 4 th of July in Wisconsin. It’s a heck of improvement over December, believe us! We had a great time, boating with the family, visiting the gang in Madison and enjoying Dick & Rietta’s lake cottage with the whole family. It was a great getaway and we will definitely be back (in summer)! If anyone wants to see us during the winter, we will pick you up at SFO…

Okay, it’s a Tradition! Lazy Bear Weekend up in the Sonoma County town of Guerneville is a do-not-miss event in our lives. It’s not just that it is produced by our friend and all around great guy Harry Lit nor is it only because it raises HUGE amounts of cash for charity… It’s FUN! Something like 5,000 big, mostly hairy guys from around the globe absolutely take over this little town nestled in the redwoods along the beautiful Russian River and make it their own. The photos in our gallery say it all: its summer camp for middle aged men. What a blast!

We make no bones about the fact that Toronto is one of our favorite cities in the world. Our dear friends (and great hosts) Brit and Jay live there. It is a World-class city with all the amenities of both a US or a European metropolis. It is also the place where the two of us guys were legally married, and where our union is still recognized and honored. It is indeed a special place. It was our distinct pleasure to return to this beautiful location during the last weekend of August to celebrate the wedding of Mark & Stuart. Their wedding was over-the-top fabulous and we were honored to be there for it. We were special guests at the Manse on Old Yonge which gave us the opportunity to catch up with old friends and make a few new ones.

Finally for our last trip of 2005, we celebrated our own 6th anniversary in Palm Springs with our friends Randy & Paul. We relaxed by the pool under the hot desert sun and enjoyed the company of dear friends. It’s hard to think of a better way to usher in another year of our lives together.