MFF 2010: Day One - Rainbows and Milkshakes
In a sense, the convention began on Wednesday night. That's when commanderteddog arrived from Toronto. There was a flurry of packing and preparation, then we settled in to watch the last half of Krull, a movie we'd started watching a few weeks back. And lo, it was good.
Thursday morning we got up bright and early, and headed over a couple of blocks to the Faehold to spirit away sassy_fae. She was a tiny bit excited.
We stopped in London for a late breakfast and then headed out into the curious empty landscape of farm land that lies between London and Sarnia. As we zoomed across rural Ontario the weather varied between glorious late fall sunshine and blasting rain and hail. For a long time, we drove with dark clouds on the right and sunshine on the left. We saw rainbow after rainbow, some of them seeming to touch the roadside right by the car.
sassy_fae continued to be a tiny bit excited.
Tarkin and commanderteddog took up the copilot seat most of the way. Driving the police car on a log road trip was a joy. It was built for highway runs like this. We got across the border without any real delays, though the border guard kept asking where our fursuits were. Apparently, some convention-bound folk had just passed through. sassy_fae put on her cat ear hat, and he laughed and waved us through.
This was the first thing we saw when got through the border crossing. A big yellow rig with that painted on the back. O, America. You are so full of The Whimsy and War-Makery!
We stopped at the Port Huron rest area, just over the bridge. This was a strictly class X port, with no refuel or repair facilities. Nothing but toilets and weird generic vending machines loaded with a mix of supermarket brand soda and the real thing.
We let out commanderteddog because she was whining and pawing at the window.
Somewhere in Michigan, we stopped for gas and Tim Horton's. It pleases my nationalist heart to see Tim Horton's spreading into the U.S., after having endured the Krispy Kreme invasion of the late 90s. Not only was Krispy Kreme pushed back, Tim Horton's chased them across the border and set up bridgeheads.
I bought this in the expectation of wondrous glories. It tasted like a sugary chalk and chemicals. Woot!
Not pictured: A stop in Battle Creek at the Slan Shack. I have video, though.
We stopped at a Steak N'Shake outside Kalamazoo. It was attached to a gas station, but that was okay. Teddog and Sassy Fae drank 2 litres of eggnog milkshake and pronounced it good.
I had a cheeseburger. However, the cheese all melted off the burger and violated my fries.
A missed exit brought us into downtown Chicago, which actually turned out to be a much faster way to the hotel during rush hour. And, we got to see marvelous things. Like this White Castle restaurant, which puts one in mind of the whited sepulchres of scripture,"which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead bones, and of all uncleanness."
The skycrapers were fantastic.
We arrived around 6:30 p.m. and immediately saw signs of furry life.
The hotel was the same one I'd stayed for Visions 1998, when I first met iamradar. It's a glorious mix of Logan's Run and Star Wars. Teddog and I vowed to spent a couple of hours wandering and taking photos later in the weekend. And we did!
The pre-registration line looked short. We were happy!
Then we turned a corner and saw just how long it was...
Finally through the line, we crashed in our hotel room for a while with some suitable entertainment.
We ventured out in search of food, and decided on the traditional jaunt to a Giordano's, where they apply cheese with a shovel.
Upon our return to the hotel, we spotted normanrafferty, Ironclaw headrat. I gave him his present, a copy of "Doctor Rat" by William Kotzwinkle. By strange coincidence, Raff was dressed in medical scrubs.
And look! leonard_arlotte and his magical raccoon hat! (We also saw halfelf and rikoshi, but that photo was weird and blurry!
Teddog made us a door sign. And then... bed!
Thursday morning we got up bright and early, and headed over a couple of blocks to the Faehold to spirit away sassy_fae. She was a tiny bit excited.
We stopped in London for a late breakfast and then headed out into the curious empty landscape of farm land that lies between London and Sarnia. As we zoomed across rural Ontario the weather varied between glorious late fall sunshine and blasting rain and hail. For a long time, we drove with dark clouds on the right and sunshine on the left. We saw rainbow after rainbow, some of them seeming to touch the roadside right by the car.
sassy_fae continued to be a tiny bit excited.
Tarkin and commanderteddog took up the copilot seat most of the way. Driving the police car on a log road trip was a joy. It was built for highway runs like this. We got across the border without any real delays, though the border guard kept asking where our fursuits were. Apparently, some convention-bound folk had just passed through. sassy_fae put on her cat ear hat, and he laughed and waved us through.
This was the first thing we saw when got through the border crossing. A big yellow rig with that painted on the back. O, America. You are so full of The Whimsy and War-Makery!
We stopped at the Port Huron rest area, just over the bridge. This was a strictly class X port, with no refuel or repair facilities. Nothing but toilets and weird generic vending machines loaded with a mix of supermarket brand soda and the real thing.
We let out commanderteddog because she was whining and pawing at the window.
Somewhere in Michigan, we stopped for gas and Tim Horton's. It pleases my nationalist heart to see Tim Horton's spreading into the U.S., after having endured the Krispy Kreme invasion of the late 90s. Not only was Krispy Kreme pushed back, Tim Horton's chased them across the border and set up bridgeheads.
I bought this in the expectation of wondrous glories. It tasted like a sugary chalk and chemicals. Woot!
Not pictured: A stop in Battle Creek at the Slan Shack. I have video, though.
We stopped at a Steak N'Shake outside Kalamazoo. It was attached to a gas station, but that was okay. Teddog and Sassy Fae drank 2 litres of eggnog milkshake and pronounced it good.
I had a cheeseburger. However, the cheese all melted off the burger and violated my fries.
A missed exit brought us into downtown Chicago, which actually turned out to be a much faster way to the hotel during rush hour. And, we got to see marvelous things. Like this White Castle restaurant, which puts one in mind of the whited sepulchres of scripture,"which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead bones, and of all uncleanness."
The skycrapers were fantastic.
We arrived around 6:30 p.m. and immediately saw signs of furry life.
The hotel was the same one I'd stayed for Visions 1998, when I first met iamradar. It's a glorious mix of Logan's Run and Star Wars. Teddog and I vowed to spent a couple of hours wandering and taking photos later in the weekend. And we did!
The pre-registration line looked short. We were happy!
Then we turned a corner and saw just how long it was...
Finally through the line, we crashed in our hotel room for a while with some suitable entertainment.
We ventured out in search of food, and decided on the traditional jaunt to a Giordano's, where they apply cheese with a shovel.
Upon our return to the hotel, we spotted normanrafferty, Ironclaw headrat. I gave him his present, a copy of "Doctor Rat" by William Kotzwinkle. By strange coincidence, Raff was dressed in medical scrubs.
And look! leonard_arlotte and his magical raccoon hat! (We also saw halfelf and rikoshi, but that photo was weird and blurry!
Teddog made us a door sign. And then... bed!