Come and Knock On Our Door…..in Pittsburgh?!?

It's amazing the things that draw you to your friends. I met my friend Sean at the Burning Man from hell in 2007. We can laugh now in retrospect about how inept our camp leader was (he packed Sean's vegetarian foods at the bottom of the cooler underneath all the meat, leaving Sean to basically not eat for the last two days of the trip), how Sean's sister almost had to be sent to Reno because of alcohol poisoning (very common out there by the way - alcohol and 100+ degree temps don't mix) and of course me accidentally (I swear!) eating a half dozen hash cookies and being comatose for two days (and being fed water hourly by my awesome campmates). At the time it was hell but we kept it funny by pretending the whole camp was a Three's Company episode.

I was Larry because I did the best impression…I think a guy ended up being Mrs. Roper

Needless to say, after that we've been best buddies ever since (and still sing the Three's Company theme song). And after Sean telling me about how much he wished his awesome girlfriend (now wife) was there at Burning Man with us, I knew she and I would get along great…and we do (hey Amanda, maybe YOU can be Mrs. Roper? Huh huh? Come on…), oh sorry to get off track. This story is really about going to see my buddies - Sean & Amanda.

I had been saying for years that I was going to go to Pittsburgh and visit them when they moved out there a few years ago. One of my favorite vacations ever was going to Daytona Beach, Florida and spending the 4th of July weekend of 2008 doing our own cheap-ass rendition of Burning Man, appropriately called "Burning Stick". This comprised of us getting drunk and burning a 1 ft version of "the man" in someone's backyard. The weekend also included eating lots of junk food, driving around listening to early 90's rap music, going to a water park and telling jokes and stories until the wee hours of the morning - it was a hoot. I didn't get to spend nearly as much time with them as I wanted to when they were living out here a few years ago so it was time to brush off my frequent flier card….which had expired. I hadn't been on a plane in four years (since the Capn and I went to Oahu - I'm the only person on Earth who thinks Oahu is totally overrated) and I was surprised at how easily I was able to get in and out of the airports - hint: bring a backpack, not luggage. So surprised that when I ran in front of Sean's car, he damn near hit me. Of course, I didn't make it better by getting in and immediately saying "quick man, the cops are after me, go go!!" in front of Sean & Amanda's 7 year old son who really thought the cops were after me. Oops.

I really didn't want to do much sightseeing - I just wanted to spend time with my buddies. I was thinking about what we could do for the day when I noticed a gem from my childhood - "dude, is that Mario Bros. 3? Wholly shit! Can we play?" So we did…all weekend! Sadly, it took us a day and a half to go through every level on Mario Bros. 3 (we didn't do any of that warping crap - this was old skool). It was still fun and we got a lot of good jokes out of it. Amanda set up a fire pit in the backyard and invited her hilarious cousins over, we went to an awesome sushi dinner, and the sandwiches…oh yeah! We don't have sandwiches like this out here.

Primanti Bros. Pastrami - I dream about you my sweet…

It was a great time. I'm pissed at myself for not going out there sooner and plan to make it a yearly thing (besides, I left my orange mug I got out there and I need an excuse to go get it). I was able to see my buddies, relive old hilarious stories and create new ones since they got me hooked on this hilarious Canadian show called Trailer Park Boys. It's not for everyone but we get a kick out of it.

I don't even have my grade 10….

As I sat in the airport with all the other people obviously going back to California (see Beats headphones, strategically placed knee-holes in their jeans, questions to the other passengers about how the Dodgers and/or Giants are doing), I realized how big the world the world really is and that I really, really need to travel more. Lesson learned - go see your buddies damnit! And that is your PSA for today.