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Way Too Effing Long AC Report
11 years ago
Yeah, this is a wall of text. So here's the TL; DR version - Went to AC, didn't do much 'officially' at the con, but met lots of people and had a good time
----
Last year my con roommates and I toyed with the idea of driving out to Anthrocon instead of flying but in the end we did the smart, sensible thing and flew. This year? Well... I was going to fly but then floated the 'should we drive?' idea to the fox. Turns out the fox's sister's boyfriend had these big heavy mirrors he was trying to get from the west coast to the east. They'd already been transported from California to Colorado a few months earlier. If we drove we could bring them with us and deliver them in Pittsburgh!
Okay! That was excuse enough for me! Plus we could see the country and I could bring a few things along to drop off with Mama and Papa Snow Leopard en route!
It wasn't really until a week or so before the con that I realize the enormity of the whole 'driving to AC' commitment: we'd be at the con for 3 full days and on the road for 4. And the part of the country we'd be seeing, the mostly flat, largely treeless middle part, was something I'd seen many times before and didn't really need to see again. But it was too late to turn back now! Adventure, Ho!
I left northern Colorado on Wednesday morning and headed down to pick up the fox at the airport in Denver. It only took three go arounds at DIA until we were both able to be on the same level at the same time. The third time was thankfully the charm, but already we'd killed about 15 minutes going literally in circles.
Normally this wouldn't be too big of a deal but we had plans for the night: authentic (or at least authentic-ish) Kansas City BBQ for dinner! The only problem was that the two restaurants we were looking at closed at 9:30 and 10PM CDT, and the GPS said it'd take 9 hours to get from Denver International to either one of them. It was already 1:30 CDT so if we were good, law abiding animals that would put us in town too late.
So we raced across Kansas passing multiple Jesus billboards. I'd like to think that the Jesuses were blessing us and protecting us so that we could enjoy that yummy KC BBQ but I guess it's equally possible that they were gazing down upon us disappointingly because we were breaking the 11th Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Speed. But in the end we got into Kansas City just in time to hit Q39 BBQ for a DELICIOUS meal, so thanks Jesuses!
We passed into Missouri and bedded down for the night in Columbia. The beds were stiff and the air conditioning was noisy, but I was out like a light within 20 seconds of crawling into bed.
<--->
Thursday we soldiered on towards Pittsburgh with a stop in Indianapolis to have a late lunch with the parents. We left Missouri later than I'd hoped, spent more time doing the 'lunch' thing than I planned, and then ran into constant construction slow downs all throughout Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. We got to Pittsburgh late on Thursday evening, but we got in safely and that's what mattered. We met up with the weasel, handed over the mirrors and had dinner with the fox's sister and her boyfriend, then met up with the wolf in our hotel room.
<--->
Thoughts from the road:
+ It must be said that Kansas was a lot more scenic than I remembered it. Though it might just be that we hit eastern Kansas, the part of the state with hills and trees, right around the time Hollywood calls 'magic hour' when the setting sun casts a golden glow that makes almost everything look heavenly.
+ Billboards must be one of the top three crops growing in Missouri. I've not been to all 50 states yet but nowhere I've been have I seen billboards grow as high or as plentiful as in Missouri.
+ I'm originally from Indiana so I think I'm allowed to say this: Hey Indiana, WTF is up with your freeway traffic? 90% of semis were driving in the left hand lane. This isn't England, this is 'Murrica! Move over to the right and let me pass, dammit!
+ We listened to the audiobook of Red Devil as we crossed the midwest. I'd read the book and knew what was coming (minor spoiler alert: it has some sad parts), so luckily I was prepared and did not cry. My eyes teared up a bit, sure, but that was because the sun was setting low on the horizon. (Never mind that the sun was behind us and actually below the tree line by that point. I didn't cry. Really!)
<--->
I... Had a good time at Anthrocon? I think? The only official Anthrocon activities I participated in were the parade, the photobooth and 5 minutes of one of the dances. I also 'did' the headless lounge, the fursuit badges and dealers room too if those count. But most of the experiences I'll remember are the dinners, the hanging out with friends and the public fursuiting.
Some complain that as a con it's almost too big. It's very possible to spend a whole weekend not seeing someone you were hoping to see simply because everything is so spread out and so densely populated. I can't really disagree with that at all. But I still like Anthrocon. I think the most impressive thing about it is the relationship that the con has developed with the city of Pittsburgh. Many furry cons are barely tolerated by the staff in the hotels in which they are held, much less the surrounding community, but man does Pittsburgh love it some furries. The effing MAYOR showed up to declare it 'Anthrocon Day' on Saturday. Granted, a big part of the furry love we get is because of the money we bring in for the weekend, but other furry cons bring money into the local communities too and those cities don't exactly roll out the red carpet.
I think it's because of this relationship that most of the best times I had at the con weren't really at the con itself, but walking back and forth between the convention center and my hotel 4 blocks away. It's very nice and flattering when furries want to take a photo with me, but it's downright AWESOME when Pittsburghers want a photo, or beep their horns, or give a thumbs up.
<--->
Friday was pretty indicative of how AC went for me: I spent a good chunk of the early afternoon trying to track down some fursuit parts in what became a giant game of phone tag. Where are you at now? When is a good time to meet? I'm on my way! No wait I got sidetracked and am running late. Hello? Are you there? Oh crap, sorry I didn't hear your text go off. I know it was an hour ago but are you still in the elevator lobby?
I finally flagged down the sabercat and purple wolf I needed to get the parts from and headed back to their hotel room. And we talked. And talked. And talked some more. My phone kept beeping with people texting to see where I was, other games of phone tag that I was losing because I wasn't responding. We talked for 3 hours about fursuits and furries and how awesome Colorado was. We decided to meet up with 10 others for dinner and, after a whole day of trying to track them down to pick up the fursuit parts, I then left said fursuit parts in their room where they'd stay for another 24 hours.
<--->
After a wonderful dinner at Ten Penny in which our party of furries was inexplicably given a private room all to ourselves, we retreated to the roof to watch the fireworks. Me, the purple wolf, the saber cat, the guy who has so many fursonas he could fill a zoo, and about 90% of the rest of the convention watched the night sky explode in fireworks. It was very purRRrrrty.
Afterwards I went suiting with my con roomie the weasel and my con-roomie-for-one-night the wolf. The weasel was was dressed up as an edgy GSD and the wolf as, well, a wolf. We took the shuttle over, meandered around a bit and then hit the dance, where we stayed and danced for... Oh, about six minutes. Then it was off to the headless lounge where we chatted headlessly with other fursuiters for the next two hours.
<--->
Saturday is a bit of a blur. Maybe weasel or con-roomie-for-one-night-wolf slipped something into my drink. I vaguely remember wandering around a bit in the morning and then suiting up for the parade but there are big, unaccounted for time gaps. If you happen to have any photos of me that might explain what the hell I did with most of my day, say, I dunno, dancing around foolishly in the streets, please let me know.
<--->
Dinner Saturday night was an unexpected surprise. How often does this happen at a furry con: A group of a dozen furries agree on a restaurant & a meet up time, and then not only does *EVERYONE* show up but they actually show up EARLY? It's like, unheard of! I can't say for sure that everyone tipped generously as well (it would have been awkward to examine every receipt... how would I explain that? 'Yeah, I was just looking to see if I could steal your credit card info'?) but I'd like to think we didn't skimp.
After dinner I suited up again but this time I figured I'd do some species swapping. In an effort to see how the other half--specifically the canid half--lived, I donned a german shepherd partial and went suiting with the weasel in his partial-ized german shepherd. I'd never partial'd at a con before and it was a new experience. I have to admit that up until Saturday night I was a little bit of a full-suit snob, thinking partials had it 'easy' because they weren't wearing full on carpets covering their entire body. After that night though I have a new appreciation for them though. Simply put: It was still pretty damn hot! Especially when you're wearing jeans and a long sleeved parka to cover up your arms and legs.
So we strolled around a bit, saying hi, posing for a few pics and ultimately serving as WATCH_DOGS (*unpaid plug) for the fox and his friend who requested a security escort back to her car.
<--->
Sunday morning at a con is always for the zombies and the merchants who drew the short straws to tend to the tables. A spattering of people here and there, but barely any suits or any activities going on. I milled about the dealer's room, bought a plush hawk from the convention's charity and a book written by an invisible wolf, and then headed back to suit up for photo shoot pics. Which I was late for. Very late. Oops. We took a series of standard pictures (here we are in a line!... And now here we are in three rows of four!) but we also had some fun with head swap photos. For a short time I got to see the world through the golden eyes of a wolf and my decapitated head got to ride atop the shoulders of a wolf and a dingo.
I had dinner with several other olde... er.. more mature furries at a church that'd been converted into a brew pub. You may think there's something a little bit sacrilege about that but the Jesuses I passed in Kansas who blessed my speeding were probably okay with it on the condition that the food was good. And it was. The company was quite good as well, even though sadly I'm forgetting one or two of the guests.
I toyed with the idea of doing one last suiting run on Sunday night, but it was late and with the suiting up, walking to the con, milling around, walking back, desuiting and showering it just seemed like it'd eat too much into my sleep. Sleep would be important with back to back 13 hour days of driving looming ahead.
<--->
The weasel left at 4AM, sneaking out quietly as weasels tend to do. The fox and I 'slept in' til 7:30, showered, got breakfast, and lugged our stuff down to the car. We buckled in and I turned the key.
*click*
I turned the key again.
*click*click*click*
Well f*ck.
The guys in the garage were able to give us a jump and the car started right up. It carried us faithfully off into the west.... and then failed to start again when we stopped for gas in Cleveland.
*click*
Yay for Smartphones though. After another jump we drove on to a suburb of Toledo where the fine folks at AutoZone would hook us up with a new battery that would (hopefully) carry the car to Minneapolis and points west.
The fox and I used to live in Minneapolis and our goal was to make it into town in time to stop by Annie's, one of our old haunts. Technically we did get there before the dining room closed, walking in at 10:55PM, but the kitchen wasn't taking any more orders so after a quick glance about the dining room that neither of us had seen in over 15 years, we headed downstairs and went elsewhere for a late, late dinner at Old Chicago's, where I had my only strawberry lemonade of the entire week.
It might be for the best that we weren't able to eat at Annie's. It'd been the first time either of us had been on the campus of the University of Minnesota since the late 90s and it was just so different now. Light rail stations, apartments and even a towering football stadium had all been built since the last time we'd been there. It's sort of an odd moment to get nostalgic over a McDonalds that was still standing, but as it was one of only a handful of buildings I recognized, that's how I felt.
<--->
My Anthrocon experience came to a close on Tuesday. The fox was sticking around in Minneapolis to take care of a few obligations and to talk to people about books, so I'd be making the last leg solo. 915 miles and 13+ hours of driving through scenic southern Minnesota and then decidedly less scenic Iowa and Nebraska. It was a long, dull ride but I pretended I was Jeremy Clarkson zooming through flat Nebraska while an unseen Richard Hammond and James May were racing me back to Colorado in a hang glider or rocket ship or shopping cart or something. I'm pretty sure I won.
I can't say I'm glad we drove rather than flew, but sometimes life is about making memories and driving across the middle of the country with the fox is definitely a memory that'll stick with me for a while.
<--->
Shout out to several people I met at the con, many of whom I will forget to credit here or whose FA names I don't know who to tag:
----
Last year my con roommates and I toyed with the idea of driving out to Anthrocon instead of flying but in the end we did the smart, sensible thing and flew. This year? Well... I was going to fly but then floated the 'should we drive?' idea to the fox. Turns out the fox's sister's boyfriend had these big heavy mirrors he was trying to get from the west coast to the east. They'd already been transported from California to Colorado a few months earlier. If we drove we could bring them with us and deliver them in Pittsburgh!
Okay! That was excuse enough for me! Plus we could see the country and I could bring a few things along to drop off with Mama and Papa Snow Leopard en route!
It wasn't really until a week or so before the con that I realize the enormity of the whole 'driving to AC' commitment: we'd be at the con for 3 full days and on the road for 4. And the part of the country we'd be seeing, the mostly flat, largely treeless middle part, was something I'd seen many times before and didn't really need to see again. But it was too late to turn back now! Adventure, Ho!
I left northern Colorado on Wednesday morning and headed down to pick up the fox at the airport in Denver. It only took three go arounds at DIA until we were both able to be on the same level at the same time. The third time was thankfully the charm, but already we'd killed about 15 minutes going literally in circles.
Normally this wouldn't be too big of a deal but we had plans for the night: authentic (or at least authentic-ish) Kansas City BBQ for dinner! The only problem was that the two restaurants we were looking at closed at 9:30 and 10PM CDT, and the GPS said it'd take 9 hours to get from Denver International to either one of them. It was already 1:30 CDT so if we were good, law abiding animals that would put us in town too late.
So we raced across Kansas passing multiple Jesus billboards. I'd like to think that the Jesuses were blessing us and protecting us so that we could enjoy that yummy KC BBQ but I guess it's equally possible that they were gazing down upon us disappointingly because we were breaking the 11th Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Speed. But in the end we got into Kansas City just in time to hit Q39 BBQ for a DELICIOUS meal, so thanks Jesuses!
We passed into Missouri and bedded down for the night in Columbia. The beds were stiff and the air conditioning was noisy, but I was out like a light within 20 seconds of crawling into bed.
<--->
Thursday we soldiered on towards Pittsburgh with a stop in Indianapolis to have a late lunch with the parents. We left Missouri later than I'd hoped, spent more time doing the 'lunch' thing than I planned, and then ran into constant construction slow downs all throughout Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. We got to Pittsburgh late on Thursday evening, but we got in safely and that's what mattered. We met up with the weasel, handed over the mirrors and had dinner with the fox's sister and her boyfriend, then met up with the wolf in our hotel room.
<--->
Thoughts from the road:
+ It must be said that Kansas was a lot more scenic than I remembered it. Though it might just be that we hit eastern Kansas, the part of the state with hills and trees, right around the time Hollywood calls 'magic hour' when the setting sun casts a golden glow that makes almost everything look heavenly.
+ Billboards must be one of the top three crops growing in Missouri. I've not been to all 50 states yet but nowhere I've been have I seen billboards grow as high or as plentiful as in Missouri.
+ I'm originally from Indiana so I think I'm allowed to say this: Hey Indiana, WTF is up with your freeway traffic? 90% of semis were driving in the left hand lane. This isn't England, this is 'Murrica! Move over to the right and let me pass, dammit!
+ We listened to the audiobook of Red Devil as we crossed the midwest. I'd read the book and knew what was coming (minor spoiler alert: it has some sad parts), so luckily I was prepared and did not cry. My eyes teared up a bit, sure, but that was because the sun was setting low on the horizon. (Never mind that the sun was behind us and actually below the tree line by that point. I didn't cry. Really!)
<--->
I... Had a good time at Anthrocon? I think? The only official Anthrocon activities I participated in were the parade, the photobooth and 5 minutes of one of the dances. I also 'did' the headless lounge, the fursuit badges and dealers room too if those count. But most of the experiences I'll remember are the dinners, the hanging out with friends and the public fursuiting.
Some complain that as a con it's almost too big. It's very possible to spend a whole weekend not seeing someone you were hoping to see simply because everything is so spread out and so densely populated. I can't really disagree with that at all. But I still like Anthrocon. I think the most impressive thing about it is the relationship that the con has developed with the city of Pittsburgh. Many furry cons are barely tolerated by the staff in the hotels in which they are held, much less the surrounding community, but man does Pittsburgh love it some furries. The effing MAYOR showed up to declare it 'Anthrocon Day' on Saturday. Granted, a big part of the furry love we get is because of the money we bring in for the weekend, but other furry cons bring money into the local communities too and those cities don't exactly roll out the red carpet.
I think it's because of this relationship that most of the best times I had at the con weren't really at the con itself, but walking back and forth between the convention center and my hotel 4 blocks away. It's very nice and flattering when furries want to take a photo with me, but it's downright AWESOME when Pittsburghers want a photo, or beep their horns, or give a thumbs up.
<--->
Friday was pretty indicative of how AC went for me: I spent a good chunk of the early afternoon trying to track down some fursuit parts in what became a giant game of phone tag. Where are you at now? When is a good time to meet? I'm on my way! No wait I got sidetracked and am running late. Hello? Are you there? Oh crap, sorry I didn't hear your text go off. I know it was an hour ago but are you still in the elevator lobby?
I finally flagged down the sabercat and purple wolf I needed to get the parts from and headed back to their hotel room. And we talked. And talked. And talked some more. My phone kept beeping with people texting to see where I was, other games of phone tag that I was losing because I wasn't responding. We talked for 3 hours about fursuits and furries and how awesome Colorado was. We decided to meet up with 10 others for dinner and, after a whole day of trying to track them down to pick up the fursuit parts, I then left said fursuit parts in their room where they'd stay for another 24 hours.
<--->
After a wonderful dinner at Ten Penny in which our party of furries was inexplicably given a private room all to ourselves, we retreated to the roof to watch the fireworks. Me, the purple wolf, the saber cat, the guy who has so many fursonas he could fill a zoo, and about 90% of the rest of the convention watched the night sky explode in fireworks. It was very purRRrrrty.
Afterwards I went suiting with my con roomie the weasel and my con-roomie-for-one-night the wolf. The weasel was was dressed up as an edgy GSD and the wolf as, well, a wolf. We took the shuttle over, meandered around a bit and then hit the dance, where we stayed and danced for... Oh, about six minutes. Then it was off to the headless lounge where we chatted headlessly with other fursuiters for the next two hours.
<--->
Saturday is a bit of a blur. Maybe weasel or con-roomie-for-one-night-wolf slipped something into my drink. I vaguely remember wandering around a bit in the morning and then suiting up for the parade but there are big, unaccounted for time gaps. If you happen to have any photos of me that might explain what the hell I did with most of my day, say, I dunno, dancing around foolishly in the streets, please let me know.
<--->
Dinner Saturday night was an unexpected surprise. How often does this happen at a furry con: A group of a dozen furries agree on a restaurant & a meet up time, and then not only does *EVERYONE* show up but they actually show up EARLY? It's like, unheard of! I can't say for sure that everyone tipped generously as well (it would have been awkward to examine every receipt... how would I explain that? 'Yeah, I was just looking to see if I could steal your credit card info'?) but I'd like to think we didn't skimp.
After dinner I suited up again but this time I figured I'd do some species swapping. In an effort to see how the other half--specifically the canid half--lived, I donned a german shepherd partial and went suiting with the weasel in his partial-ized german shepherd. I'd never partial'd at a con before and it was a new experience. I have to admit that up until Saturday night I was a little bit of a full-suit snob, thinking partials had it 'easy' because they weren't wearing full on carpets covering their entire body. After that night though I have a new appreciation for them though. Simply put: It was still pretty damn hot! Especially when you're wearing jeans and a long sleeved parka to cover up your arms and legs.
So we strolled around a bit, saying hi, posing for a few pics and ultimately serving as WATCH_DOGS (*unpaid plug) for the fox and his friend who requested a security escort back to her car.
<--->
Sunday morning at a con is always for the zombies and the merchants who drew the short straws to tend to the tables. A spattering of people here and there, but barely any suits or any activities going on. I milled about the dealer's room, bought a plush hawk from the convention's charity and a book written by an invisible wolf, and then headed back to suit up for photo shoot pics. Which I was late for. Very late. Oops. We took a series of standard pictures (here we are in a line!... And now here we are in three rows of four!) but we also had some fun with head swap photos. For a short time I got to see the world through the golden eyes of a wolf and my decapitated head got to ride atop the shoulders of a wolf and a dingo.
I had dinner with several other olde... er.. more mature furries at a church that'd been converted into a brew pub. You may think there's something a little bit sacrilege about that but the Jesuses I passed in Kansas who blessed my speeding were probably okay with it on the condition that the food was good. And it was. The company was quite good as well, even though sadly I'm forgetting one or two of the guests.
I toyed with the idea of doing one last suiting run on Sunday night, but it was late and with the suiting up, walking to the con, milling around, walking back, desuiting and showering it just seemed like it'd eat too much into my sleep. Sleep would be important with back to back 13 hour days of driving looming ahead.
<--->
The weasel left at 4AM, sneaking out quietly as weasels tend to do. The fox and I 'slept in' til 7:30, showered, got breakfast, and lugged our stuff down to the car. We buckled in and I turned the key.
*click*
I turned the key again.
*click*click*click*
Well f*ck.
The guys in the garage were able to give us a jump and the car started right up. It carried us faithfully off into the west.... and then failed to start again when we stopped for gas in Cleveland.
*click*
Yay for Smartphones though. After another jump we drove on to a suburb of Toledo where the fine folks at AutoZone would hook us up with a new battery that would (hopefully) carry the car to Minneapolis and points west.
The fox and I used to live in Minneapolis and our goal was to make it into town in time to stop by Annie's, one of our old haunts. Technically we did get there before the dining room closed, walking in at 10:55PM, but the kitchen wasn't taking any more orders so after a quick glance about the dining room that neither of us had seen in over 15 years, we headed downstairs and went elsewhere for a late, late dinner at Old Chicago's, where I had my only strawberry lemonade of the entire week.
It might be for the best that we weren't able to eat at Annie's. It'd been the first time either of us had been on the campus of the University of Minnesota since the late 90s and it was just so different now. Light rail stations, apartments and even a towering football stadium had all been built since the last time we'd been there. It's sort of an odd moment to get nostalgic over a McDonalds that was still standing, but as it was one of only a handful of buildings I recognized, that's how I felt.
<--->
My Anthrocon experience came to a close on Tuesday. The fox was sticking around in Minneapolis to take care of a few obligations and to talk to people about books, so I'd be making the last leg solo. 915 miles and 13+ hours of driving through scenic southern Minnesota and then decidedly less scenic Iowa and Nebraska. It was a long, dull ride but I pretended I was Jeremy Clarkson zooming through flat Nebraska while an unseen Richard Hammond and James May were racing me back to Colorado in a hang glider or rocket ship or shopping cart or something. I'm pretty sure I won.
I can't say I'm glad we drove rather than flew, but sometimes life is about making memories and driving across the middle of the country with the fox is definitely a memory that'll stick with me for a while.
<--->
Shout out to several people I met at the con, many of whom I will forget to credit here or whose FA names I don't know who to tag:
There, fixed!
Angel: Slow down you can get caught for speeding
Devil: You know you want them BBQ
Glad ya had fun though