The Bear

I will freely admit I wanted a Build-a-Bear. As a guy, though, it isn’t like I can easily just walk into one without surrendering a few male-points. Lucky for me, I have a female friend with kids, who one day decided we would all go to Build-a-Bear, and I decided I would get her one. And then I could get myself one too and it would be okay.

So, I got Blue, a limited edition Star Wars Bear, who’s first adventure was trick-or-treating in a Darth Vader custom, bought at the same time. He got a few pictures taken,

and the whole thing was fun. SO he started to come with on other trips, such as to Discovery World in Milwaukee and the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

At the time I was planning on bringing the Ural on my trip, and the addition of the bear was nothing compared to the available storage space I had on the bike.

Blue came with on the Arizona trip to the Overland Expo, traveling in a backpack that made him easy to transport of the bike. Of course, on that trip the size of my bike changed considerably as I decided to ride my SR250 instead, and Blue was in danger of being left behind. Luggage space is at something of a premium on the small bike.

After a couple weeks to think about it, I decided Blue was still going to come with. I think I had just gotten used to having him around, and he complained a lot less than other people I’ve gone on long trips with. But his backpack would now have to be worn all the time so I went to Erewon, a outdoor adventure store in Milwaukee, and got him a nice replacement.

As I write this I’ve only had the new pack for less than a week but Blue already has about 100 miles in it. I can’t even feel it when riding, which is a massive change from my old backpack.

Oh, and Blue has his own Facebook page. He has always been more popular than me anyway.