After a night of tossing and turning, getting little sleep, and having a dream about suspensions, I woke up on July 24, 2004 and began to get ready to head off to the great lakes bbq 4.0. This would be my second bbq ever, and I looked forward to attending, meeting new people, and having a blast!
At A Glance Author Dawn Contact Dawn@bme.anon IAM Dawnie When It just happened I left in my car by my self early in the morning, departing from Hamilton, Ohio, and heading to Sidney, Ohio to pick up three fellow IAM members. I picked up Ed (iam:p7tms), Jake (iam:modvayne) & Monica (iam:poptart) from Sidney, Ohio, and that is when the journey really began.
The car trip up to Azalia, Michigan was quite the experience. Ed is quite the comic I must say! He made us laugh a great deal from the time he tried to stuff my car to the brim with all of the items he thought he just had to have for the one night stay! He then proceeded to chat in the car about using his pump. And of course, everyone else in the car took it as a perverted conversation, until we realized he was talking about the air pump for his blow up mattress. It was funny nonetheless!
On the way up, before actually making it to Michigan, we stopped at a Mcdonalds on the way to eat, because we were all craving french fries after a conversation with Ed telling us about a special something you can get in another country for a dollar more (you would have had to been with us to understand that). We ordered our food, and sat down to eat. We chatted about body modifications that each of us wanted. And Ed proceeded to tell us about the scalping of his navel he would be having done that evening! There was also the cutest little boy, probably around 3 years of age, who stared at us with our visible mods with curiosity.
About an hour after stopping to eat, we arrived at the bbq location. We all hopped out of the car and shortly set up the tents and all of that good stuff in the backyard.
I then ran into the lovely Josh (iam:leviticus)! He looked stunning in his short pink shorts, and black leg warmers that were covered in colored hearts! Stylish as usual! Hung out with him and Monica for a little while. I found myself feeling a bit intimidated by the crowd, not knowing a ton of people there, however later in the evening that feeling subsided, and I felt fairly comfortable.
I watched some mud wrestling that was going on for a bit, and let a couple people make mud hand prints on my chest even though I wouldn't mud wrestle!
Shortly after this, a certain someone, who will remain nameless, said some pretty harsh things to me, and I kind of got upset, and began to cry a bit. That is when I met the lovely iam: Randolph! Her and Monica sat with me for a while, and chatted with me, and really helped me out a lot, more than either of them will probably ever know! Those two ladies, really helped my night brighten up!
I then sat down and chatted with James (iam:EJ) & iam: Holey. I had a nice look at James' testicles in a jar from when he had them removed! I must say that was the first time I had ever saw testicles in a jar, but it was neat, because I had talked to James about his procedure and his reasoning, experiences and all of that stuff online. So it was a pleasure getting to meet and chat with him in person!
I then chatted with a lovely group of girls! And watched some play piercings and the such for a bit. These girls include: iam: punkyfish & iam: cuthalcoven! They were great girls, as were the other two that were with them that I am not sure of their names!
Soon after I met the wonderful Alison (iam:beartrap)! Her and I chatted a bit, and then we ended up having a little more fun in a tent that was set up, needless to say if you walked by the tent, you know what I am referring to! But I wont go into detail on that part of the experience here, that is a whole other submission, if you get my drift! But after her and I exited the tent, we sat around the fire, with a plethora of other IAM members, and sat and chatted for a while. Shortly later, I had to say goodbye to her, because her and her friends she came with were driving back to her hometown that night.
After we kissed and said our good-byes, I went back and sat around the fire for a while with the other attendees. That is when I met iam: Melinda her and I decided that it would be liberating if we got topless, so Melinda and I got topless and sat around by the fire, feeling free and comfortable. iam: Aek was passing out altoids to everyone, which was sweet of her! Melinda and I then wandered into the barn where there were some guys getting their heads shaved and the such. Then I met iam: PokenHolez and she gave me a great big hug! She was sweet!
I started getting sleepy soon after, and ended up sleeping in the back of my car to keep warm, because I didn't bring a sleeping bag so needed a way to stay warm, I suppose I forgot that it gets a bit cooler in Michigan at night time!
I along with many other people woke up to the annoying sounds of an air horn that a certain person was sounding off. Not a great morning awakening... And to make things worse, I really had to go to the restroom when I woke up, but some very mean person decided it would be funny to flip over our one and only port-a-potty! Not cool, not cool at all! So, the morning didn't start out to great, but IAM: poptart and I drove out to a nearby Mcdonalds to get breakfast and to use their restroom!
After returning to the bbq, we sat around the campfire for a bit, and talked to iam:Badur who is also a really nice guy! Shortly after this though iam: poptart, iam: p7tms and iam: modvayne and I began the road trip back home. The car trip was about four hours longer than expected, simply because I decided to give iam: poptart a ride to her house in Indiana. But the car ride was actually very pleasant despite it taking about 9 hours to get back home! A good trip I must say!
Overall, the great lakes bbq 4.0 was a positive experience. It was nice to meet with other like-minded individuals who share a lot of the same interests that I do! I am very glad that I attended, and plan to attend again in the future! It was a pleasure meeting everyone! I highly recommend coming to an BME event if you ever have the opportunity to go to one!