Two weekends ago I made a much needed trip back to Chicago to visit family and friends. It had been awhile since I had been back that way, and with my promise to do as much traveling as I could this summer, I took a little, 5-day trip down to the Windy-City. There was a little twist to this trip however.
Remember my good friend in North Carolina, Foxglove? Well, through him, I was introduced to a fellow husky named Razz, who interestingly enough, lives in Chicago. Not only that, but the time of my visit was during his birthday. So, aside from meeting a friend for the first time in real life, I get to celebrate his birthday with him as well! These are the trips worth remembering.
Okay, so I didn't really get to celebrate his birthday ON his birthday. His mate was taking him on their own little trip the weekend prior to my visit and were returning on the Thursday I was getting into town. Razz's birthday fell on a Tuesday, July 13th. I got to my family's house on the 15th. I did get to spend a good amount of time with my family, especially with my cousins Jenni and Tom, and Jenni's son, Tanner.
Friday was the day that I met Razz. I went to go visit him at his work. It was quite the experience, butterflies in my stomach, the whole excitement of meeting someone whom you got to know online for the very first time. I felt the same way with Foxglove, as well as when I met my boyfriend and mate for the first time in Arizona. It was kind of funny, because he came to the door first. We greeted each other like we had always known each other, but in reality, it was our first time meeting, ever. I stayed for a bit and chatted, keeping out of the way so he wouldn't get in trouble. Luckily, his boss and the other employees he works with are all really cool and didn't mind that he had a visitor. After about an hour though, I left so I didn't over stay my visit at his work. I was going to meet him and his mate later to hang out, which gave me the chance to pay a little visit to my friends at
Sound Performance and see what I could buy for my IS300. I caught them just as they were putting cars away for the day but Reid and the owner Larry stayed and we talked shop for a bit, coming up with a new setup for my IS300. The guys at SP are very knowledgeable, and Larry is one of the best tuners in the Mid-West. I highly recommend clicking the link provided and checking out what they have to offer.
Later that night, I met Razz and his mate, Gixxer at the Woodfield mall. I took them out to dinner in celebration of Razz's birthday. We went to the Rainforest Cafe, which I hadn't been to in years. We all had a good meal and a fun time. We went back to Gixxer's place, where we made plans for the festivities on Saturday. See, the reason Razz wanted me to come was because there was a big fur meet that weekend and wanted me to come down and check it out with them. The start of the meet was going to be in Waukegan, WI, for a softball game and picnic, followed by bowling that night back in Chicago. So, it was going to be an early, and long day. I went back to my family's house and stayed up way too late still, hehe.
After a nice 3 hour nap, I had to wake up to go meet Razz at Gixxer's place. Gixxer unfortunately had to work, so he wouldn't be joining us till later. We left my LS400 at his house and took Razz's car to pick up his friend Heath, and then we were off to the softball game. I was excited and nervous because my last experience with a fur meet wasn't the greatest. I wondered if I would get the same reaction, but who knew. The park we arrived at was pretty nice, next to a man-made lake which also had a nice recreational and fitness center. The lake could have come in handy because it was HOT. Probably near 100* with humidity and no clouds and no wind. This was going to be a workout.
We got there kind of early, but after a little bit, the furs started arriving in full force. It was shaping up to be big, but Razz informed me that this was the biggest game of the year, so the turnout was expected. Razz did a great job introducing me to a lot of other furs, a few of which I talked to a little. Everyone was very friendly. I was surprised to see some people getting into suit despite the heat. Of course the socializing paused for a bit once the games got underway. Since I was the newcomer, I sat on the sidelines and cheered Razz on. I suck at softball anyways, so I wouldn't have been much use. At the end of the day, Razz's team lost one game and one the other.
After the games, we drove back to the city and picked up his mate from work, where we headed back to Gixxer's place to get ready for bowling that night. We sat around and talked for a little bit before heading out to grab some food at the Steak N' Shake, then headed to bowling. The group pretty much rented the place out, and we had it to ourselves, including the billiards room, so I was a very happy husky. I started racking them up and playing whoever wanted to play. It was a lot of fun. After a little the suiters started coming out in full-force, including Razz, who came to shoot some pool, even beating me, in suit. Impressive to say the least. After a few games, I started floating around with the camera, that is until the music started.
Now, Razz has a funny way of making people do things they normally wouldn't do. He also told me, one way to get people to come talk to you at a fur meet, is to do something out of the ordinary. Once the music got going, some of the people and suiters started dancing. I've told Razz, without a lot of detail, that I breakdance a little, dancing at car shows and other events. Well, Razz put me on the spot and challenged me to a battle. Needless to say, once I started breaking and spinning, others took notice, really getting into our friendly battle. It was great, I was not embarrassed at all, and afterwords, people were coming up and talking to me, asking me about all sorts of things, especially my cars (thanks Gixxer!). At the end of the night, I had an absolute BLAST! I met a lot of people, took a ton of pics, and just had a great time really hanging out with other furs. We ended the night with some shakes again at Steak N' Shake, and then I was back at the family's, getting ready to leave in the morning.
It was a great trip, and well worth the time and money. I needed a great experience with a big fur group to really boost my confidence in the fandom, and I got it at that meet. I really can't thank Razz enough for inviting me down to hang out and share that with me. I hope to be back at more of them in the future. It was also great to make another friend (or a lot), finally meeting Razz in person. Just something about meeting people in person whom you normally associate with just online.
Anyways, onto the pictures. I will have a link to the gallery to make it easier. Enjoy
Razz and I
Gallery:
Photos by Kaien
