June 8-15, 2002
Wow, where to start. There has already been enough written about the air travel, bus ride, and food to fill a library. I’ll try to stick with what made our trip unique.
If I can be allowed a little liberty, this year’s trip actually started in April with the CaveDweller web site. From there we had a base to swap photos, play introductory games, plan dinners, schedule activities, send email, coordinate arrival schedules, purchase T-shirts, and assign responsibilities for banners, name tags, lanyards and music. Every Sunday night we had “group chat” from 9-12PM. We arranged taking school supplies to Jamaican children. By the time we physically left the states on the 8th, we were a bonded community on a mission!
The weather was cloudy and rainy for the first few days, but did not seem to slow things down at all. We were able to party quite well in the rain. Monday, it rained all day long as tropical storm ??? passed over the island and headed to Mexico. We had no problem getting a rainy day voucher from the resort. The end of the week was clear, sunny, and hot.
We carried a dry erase board and posted it by the pool to keep the group advised of “News from the Cave” and coordinate our activities. Whatever we needed to communicate was posted on the board. Outrageous was our unstated theme. “Daddy” hung his sex swing next to the pool and offered free lessons. The swing was guarded by “Doll”, the inflatable wonder, and “Baabette”, our anatomically correct mascot sheep. Baabette unfortunately was blown out to sea and lost during the storm. Temporary CaveDweller tattoos were generously applied to all who were interested, including guests, waitresses, bar tenders, entertainment staff and security guards. The 4:00PM nude slide run was a ritual. One thing we wanted to do was get into the record books. We managed to set four resort records: The Most Nude People in a Room Shower – 26; Most Nude People in the Disco Cage – 15; Most Nude People in the Cave – 34; Most Nude People in the Hot Tub – 62.
At the end of the week, Playboy TV came for their “Girl Next Door” finals. Unlike the Showtime filming from last year, they were very polite and avoided the nude areas. They gave gift bags that included beach towels, waterproof wallets, and other gifts to anyone completing a short survey. We almost felt guilty (well, not really!) when the guys dressed in ears and tails did their “Bunny Dance” for talent night and the girls and Daddy took up “The Bunny Challenge” on the disco bar.
One thing that was different this trip (or perhaps I overlooked last year) was professional airbrush body painting available in the activity center. Prices seemed to average $50 - $100 for full-body painting. The quality of the work was excellent.
On a serious note, one of our group had an accident on the slide that could have been very serious. His wedding ring caught the lip of the slide as he entered, cutting his finger to the bone. Fortunately there was a doctor in the group who was able to clean, staple, and dress the wound in the infirmary. (Perhaps this is a new record – First Nude Surgery!) I’m just saying this as a caution to all, don’t wear anything on the slide that can get caught or become entangled.
I know that others are going to post more details of our activities so I won’t try to cover them here. I’ll just confirm that the people you are with make Hedo what it is. I’ve never met a more diverse, kinder, wilder, welcoming, crazier group than we were with this year.
As the bus arrived to take us back to civilization, we dropped our clothes one last time, made one final slide run, picked up a beer at the bar, and boarded the bus just as it was ready to leave the resort. Can’t wait till next year. CAVEDWELLERS RULE!