The Bear Arrives

I promised to recap my friend's visit of last week, complete with pictures. I've spent the past week going through the pictures and deciding which ones to share. I realized that we did so much and took so many pictures, mainly that first day, that trying to recap the visit in one post is impossible. So if you'll indulge me, I will recap over the next few days so that I can do his visit justice. Although he agreed to let me post his picture, I'm not comfortable sharing his name because he tends to be on the shy side. So..I will call him Bear. And trust me...he is the epitome of a bear!

When Bear decided he wanted to get away from San Francisco, he chose to come to the Los Angeles area. He's never been here before and he knew he could count on me to put him up. So arrangements were made including my taking a few days of vacation to play tour guide. On the first Wednesday of August, Bear flew from SFO to Long Beach CA. He had an evening flight, which worked well for me to go pick him up after work.

As some of you may remember from previous posts, I was excited. As more and more people exited the terminal to the meet-n-greet area, I started getting nervous because I wasn't seeing him. Finally there he was...the Bear in So Cal! We hugged and hugged and possibly scared a few people. It was so good to see him.

Here's a picture of Bear just after getting his luggage. He wasn't happy I was taking his picture but I wanted to be sure to document as much of his trip as possible. We left the airport and headed toward my house. We stopped at an iHop for a bite to eat and to catch up on what each other had been doing.

At my place, I introduced him to Winston who, unfortunately, did not take to Bear at all during his stay. We stayed up talking into the wee hours of the morning, laughing and enjoying each other's company. The song "Good Morning" from Singing in the Rain definitely came to mind. We finally went to bed after discussing what to do on his first Los Angeles day.

Next up: Bear Goes Hollywood!

BEHR HUGS