I got back late last night from Califur, so here's generally how it went ...

Travel: It was pretty painless, but the pace was a bit slow. Also, typical LA traffic made getting down to the con a bit frustrating. Thanks to some locals, I had an effective way out of the area now (and back again next time I go).

Hotel: I have absolutely no problems with the hotel; the rooms were nice, and the one or two interactions I had with the staff were fairly pleasant. A huge change from the last time I went to Califur at the Hyatt in 2008, where it really didn't even seem like they wanted us there.

Con Events: Honestly, I only attended one actual con function, and that was the fursuit parade. This was a treat to me because I got to wear Pucks the Badger and actually be in the parade! After being FC Parade lead last year, and helping out on a few other parades before that (as well as the countless other public parades I've done with critters by the bay), it was great to finally actually be in a parade at a con! Other than that, I didn't really attend any other events. I tried to go to the dance Friday night with 2 other friends, but showed up after it had let out. Saturday night, I fell asleep just after that dance had started. I would have liked to have gone to the dances, but honestly, with frolic happening every month (and indeed this upcoming weekend), the sense of urgency to attend a con dance just isn't quite there. ;)

Other con-related stuff: Registration was really good. Basically they had a kiosk where you could register at con, or if you pre-registered, you could bring your paperwork with you and move to the head of the line to the registration area. This went really well for me; I showed up to register at about 4 pm on Friday, walked right up to the booth, and had my badge in hand in less than 5 minutes. Even for the registration kiosks, the wait was not more than a few people deep. Big kudos to them for getting it right!! The dealers den was pretty good too, though the only thing I could afford was another badge from my friend Brown Wolf.

Socializing: This was the theme of the con (and I think the theme of the con for a lot of folks). I spent nearly the entire weekend in the company of various friends, whether it was in hotel rooms, out at dinner, or just bouncing around the hallways and lobby talking to people. As always, thats a lot of fun to me; I love seeing the familiar faces and chit chatting. And yet, being limited to only one weekend, it still didn't seem like enough time. Thats really where the 4-5 day cons are at the biggest advantage, at least for me.

Photos: Yeah I took some, but eh, I just wasn't in the mood for photography this weekend, so I think most of them turned out pretty poopy. Still I ended up with almost 70 photos from the weekend, which are here

Other stuff: One of the biggest themes for me personally this weekend was nostalgia. After all, Califur was the first furry con I'd ever attended in 2008, and it was great to see the drastic change between this weekend, and what went down 4 years ago. I had an infinitely better time this year than before. I was also really conflicted, because I hadn't been down to Orange County since that weekend in 2008, and I have family that lives in the area; I would have liked to have seen them, but goddammit, there just wasn't enough time in the weekend to do so, and that really tore me up. If only I had a job that allowed me to take an actual extended vacation, I would have been able to. It definitely helped with traveling down by car that I knew the area, but Im sure I was getting annoying with "oh I remember this shopping center, I saw a movie here in 1993" type stuff. I mean, we were only a few miles south of the house in Tustin where my grandma and uncles used to live. I wondered if the house was still as it was when I saw it last in 1996. But, there wasn't even enough time to go see it.

But as far as the con goes, I'm really glad I went, and had a fantastic time.