Arziona Spring Break

Since the $700 bear was hell-bent on killing me, I decided to crouch behind him and mock him. What did I have to lose? You can't negotiate with an angry and hungry $700 bear. If this bear is going to kill me, I'm going to be in death what I was in life - me.

When we got to Jim and Kathy's, they had dinner waiting for us. We had chili, and it was an old family recipe that had been passed down throughout the years. It was delicious. So we sat and talked, and caught up with family information since the last time we saw each other. For me it had been like 7 years or more since I saw them last, but my Dad had seen them more recently. Jim and Kathy spend the winter in Phoenix and the Summers at a cabin in Delavan, WI on the shores of Lake Geneva. Although it was a still a little early (8:00 pm) for us it was 10:00 pm, so we decided to call it a night. We had previously stayed here back in 2002 when we were driving back from California, and Tim and I had to share a futon in the study. Jim and Kathy used to own a souvenir shop when they lived in Colorado called the Tourist Trap, and this bear is one of the few things that they kept. And I know why they kept it too, because no one wanted to buy it because the price listed on the tag is a whopping $700!! For a stuffed bear! Back in 2002, this scary bear bit Timmy on the arm (left picture) and here in 2009 it completed it's vengeful mission by biting my arm. Back in 2002, we disturbed his slumber by invading his territory, and he vowed to get even with us. The circle was complete when he chowed down on my arm. And I still had to sleep in his cave tonight.

Tim has memories of the $700 bear, but none of them are fond. To be quite honest, the $700 bear scared the shit out of Tim and I. I was texting Tim all night, and I told him that the $700 bear was going to give me nightmares if it stared at me all night. So he suggested that I cover him with a shirt, so I proceeded to drape my JJ Hardy jersey over the bear, and hoped that it would work.

The $700 bear wasn't satisfied after chewing on my arm, so he decided that my head was a little more appetizing. But as soon as he started gnawing on my skull he gave up, because not even $700 bear teeth are strong enough to penetrate my thick skull.

A futon normally only sleeps one, and it doesn't even sleep one comfortably. Now imagine two dudes sleeping side by side on this thing. The only reason that it worked out is that we were brothers, and we weren't afraid of sleeping in close proximity to each other. But it was uncomfortable nonetheless, although it does make a very good story. It was weird sleeping alone, but I dealt with it.