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Biggest Little BLFC and Trip Report
10 years ago
I guess I haven’t made a con report for a while so here we go.
I attended the Biggest Little Furry Convention (BLFC) in Reno, NV a few weeks back, followed by a road trip through south-western United States with Procyon. Big adventure, farthest and longest I’ve ever travelled on my own, met great people, visited cool (and cold) places, and did furry things. The end.
BLFC Pictures
Road trip Summary Pictures
THURSDAY
Alright now for the detailed version (which I will still try to keep simple since this is a two week adventure! Also please highlight any errors, typos or inconsistencies if you notice any). You can follow along with the summary pictures! I left from Toronto Pearson Airport on Thursday on a bright and sunny afternoon, arrived at Chicago on a cloudy-as-always later afternoon, Phoenix it was getting dark but at least it was warm, and then finally Reno an hour before local midnight. The first thing I see upon leaving the plane is of course slot machines at the airport. To my unfortunate surprise it was wet at Reno and colder than or just as cold as the other cities I stopped by! I walk around confused for a while until I realize luggage was just taking a long time to unload. I soon board the shuttle headed for the Grand Sierra Resort and make subtle observations of the people around me and judge if they are blatantly furry or just a normal resort visitor. :3
The GSR sure was grand and it was quite impressive. I check in casually and play it cool as headless suitors roam around (since you were not allowed to wear a suit head on the casino level). Everything smells like cigarette smoke as I make my way to the farthest set of elevators. The hotel room was upgraded to a king suite and it was pretty sweet (see panorama shot in pictures). Also a pull out bed and lots of sofa couches. I make myself at home, claim the king sized bed to myself and try not think too hard that I managed to get ALL THE WAY TO RENO!
FRIDAY
I slept well, wake up, realize I am in Reno and get all nervous and stuff. I somehow manage to leave and finally have the breakfast RelaxingDragon1 promised me two MFFs ago. We went to some breakfast food place outside the resort and I got to see the city of Reno in all of its glory (it wasn't that glorious). RD invited two cool critters on the breakfast trip and were great company and I wish I could have hung out with them some more, moopdrea and Inashne117. RD introduces me to a plethora of fuzzies I had little hope at remembering, but those with suits did show up again and if anyone was around to listen I could have busted out some serious furry knowledge then.
I register and do various con roaming. I meet the marfy Mike Folf aka Simmer on the way (and of course it was RD who introduces me to him). I give my little “HEY I KNOW WHO YOU ARE” speech and try to prove it by telling him his FA name, while he tells me mine. I feel a little more comfortable being there after that and only stop by my hotel room three times per hour instead of six :P. There was a panda photoshoot that I orbit around for a bit since I was clinging to RD. I run into PepperCoyote and try to play it cool as he invites me to watch the comedy event that’s happening. I cringe, laugh and shake my head in disappointment (but mostly cringe) while Pepper mentions all the things they are doing wrong with the audio setup. Shortly after that *cough* trainwreck *cough* Pepper has his music show which was seriously awesome and genuinely funny (and I didn’t cringe as much). At this point I really start enjoying the con and I feel a lot more comfortable and way less nervous. :3
Procyon arrives around this time and I give him the hotel room tour. I meet even more people now via the other raccoon, who all probably had a Ph.D (Kashra may have been one of them according to Procy). and studied some really cool aspect of science. Dinner buffet ended up being with Procyon, super nice guy Abe, old time Procyon friend Daria and her buddy Monophylos. More meet and greets, networking and collecting business cards and e-mails during room parties. This whole trip was really a job search in disguise! We eventually meet up with AstroDuck who is at the nerd room party with really fun people. I could only excitedly shout “HEY I KNOW YOU, YOU’RE DURJ” at Durj since everyone else was new to me, but really all I knew about Durj was some friends Twittered at him often. I learn a lot about comics and have beer thrust into my paws. Slowly make way back to room despite wanting to stay, but it was late.
SATURDAY
Next day, I catch the tail end of Toki, Abe and the gang’s jazz performance, then breakfast with more Procybuddies including two otters I’ve heard of but it was too early in the day to give my “HEY I KNOW YOU” shout (DadaistOtter and DadeOtter, plus a Kyash). Meet up with Astro, Riley and Kilometers who were super cool and fun to hang with. A blend of roaming around, playing the slots, THE WHEEL, Kilometers winning BIG, getting rejected from the casino bar for being Canadian, forcing others to play a terrible card game called Avalon, making Procyon nervous about it which eventually made him to leave to buy socks. ootachi and LatteMonster drop by and I scare them off by trying too hard to be friendly and making them play my card game. :(
Fursuit parade and second night of dancing, Cami all suited up and being a hyperpuppy. Room party with Ph.D. that I just couldn’t get myself to interact with that much (they were there to say bye to Procyon for the 10th time since he’s going to Denmark njkext month). Then the real party begins when we hear the first thud of someone walking into the ill placed mirror just outside the hotel room door. We leave the door slightly open to hear reactions of those coming in to visit, either walking right into it or freaking out on seeing the mirror. There was Procyon, AstroDuck, Durj, teddyfoxcoon, KristianCollie, aurora-fox, rcmouse and maybe redwulf (she was there at the nerd room party the night before). Daria and Monophylos show up later on.
Apparently there was this “official BLFC party” going on, aka Skyler’s party, which was giving away resistance/civilian themed badges that I just HAD to get. After much convincing, I got Procyon to go with me to find this room but at the elevators on the way we met RelaxingDragon all suited up in party mode, telling us the room party was SHUT DOWN. I was pretty disappointed for delaying so long and missing it after everyone was returning with free fans and badges.
We return to the room to find it mostly intact still. It was an enjoyable and eventful room party full of sitting on couches and on each other, sharing Youtube videos from our phones, Astro wearing Cami head, money falling out of Astro’s hat, money being thrown at Astro, 2am deserts room service, money falling out of Astro’s hat again, “just a little bit of peach”, serious flopping, and discussions about Lucario’s hips.
RD FINALLY shows up and regrets taking so long to get to the best party. I introduce my “long time buddy” Durj to RD who just movie talk the night away. As the party draws to a close, RD whisks me away and tries to get me into other room parties, which have been mostly shut down. Except for the underwear parties. :| I say bye to :linkTenebrisRex for the fifth time since I kept running into him the whole day (after Procyon introduced us), return to the hotel room and try to coax Procyon off the floor and into a proper bed. Which he does, eventually.
SUNDAY
Wake up, pack up and move out because it’s suddenly SUNDAY. I buy something from Starbucks for the first time in my life and keep Procyon company as he tries to recover from the night before. I decide to explore a bit, run into Durj who leads me to Astro and allows me to store my stuff in his car. Kilometers and Astro go skydiving, I regret missing out on go-karting (I blame RD again), I wear big fluffy paws and seriously paw at Procyon, sit down with people I think I know but may not remember me and doodle until everyone starts to leave. I kinda squee over Tachi’s doodles and probably draw the best Yoshi of my life for him, which was actually still pretty bad. A silly doodle for Durj and a random Gabumon later, I’m giving awkward goodbyes and having my final BLFC dinner with Astro and Mari. Soon, the three of us are on the road and we’re GOING TO CALIFORNIA. We drive through the Sierra-Nevada with pretty nice views and zoom through Sacramento without saying hello to Hordan. :3
This ends the BLFC Report.
MONDAY TO WEDNESDAY
I stay at the AstroDuck Hotel just outside San Francisco while Astro is at work (many many thanks Astro and Mari for your hospitality if I have not thanked you enough yet! :3). I play with Astro’s wooden blocks, try to befriend cat, drink tea from a beaker, setup a Raspberry Pi media server, check in on IRC, and call my mom and wish her a happy birthday. A relaxing, peaceful day before I decide to venture into the great outdoors and walk for hours trying to reach the Googleplex, passing by many neat things along the way (SEE PICTURES). I return just before sunset to let the duck into his own house, have a fancy dinner of pizza and wine and watch Captain America on the (mostly) functional media server.
Visit downtown San Francisco the next day, spend most of the day at the Exploratorium just being fascinated by everything as if I was ten again. Meet up with Tachi who shows me the arcade machine museum and gives me a tiny glimpse of his vast video game knowledge. I feel young and ignorant having missed out on arcade machines as a big part of my childhood, but luckily Tachi manages to talk about z-buffers in home consoles and I feel old again. I introduce my “long time buddy” Tachi to RelaxingDragon, who talk the evening away about famous furries over dinner. I’m just amazed at how the community is so connected and interlinked and listen with interest. RD drops me off home and I invite him over as a thanks. I’m not sure if Astro appreciated it since RD tried to convince him to go to every furry outing that will ever happen.
Take train back to SF the next day, walk forever to reach Strawberry Hill at Golden Gate park, bus around like I know the city inside out and meet up with Airyu. I totally don’t hold her dresses as she finishes up her shopping then go to the Japanese Mall, do an embarrassing photobooth thing, STRESS OUT because of time constraints, ease a bit when eating a crepe with icecream which was like the best thing I had. Rush hour traffic home, leave Airyu behind at the train station at the last minute (her train was arriving later), but I still felt kinda bad for leaving her since her phone was dead too! Astro is in a meeting so it’s an excellent time to drive me to the airport, yipping in agreement with his co-workers on occasion. Short flight to Burbank, long wait for the shuttle to finally start driving to Procyon’s house. Spend the night as his place on minimal, communist grey, inflatable mattress and covers. I also eat his humus and tortilla supply, salvaging some cardboard and napkins as a makeshift plate.
THURSDAY TO SUNDAY
I help poor Procyon pack the rest of his apartment into his car, ENGAGE ROADTRIP MODE. But stop at In-N-Out Burger first and regret not knowing about the “animal style” option before ordering! The rest of the trip is a lot of driving and a lot of parks, better described with the posted images. Here’s a breakdown of locations that can be followed along in the 300 image imgur album:
• Joshua Tree National Park, CA
• Hoover Dam, NV/AZ
• Las Vegas, NV
• Zion National Park, UT
• Grand Canyon National Park North Rim, AZ
• Vermillion Cliffs, AZ
• Mojave Bridge, AZ
• Horseshoe Bend, AZ
• Four Corners, UT/AZ/CO/NM
• Mesa Verde National Park, CO
• Great Sand Dunes National Park, CO
• Independence Pass, CO
• Aspen, CO
• Maroon Bells, CO
Joshua Tree NP probably had the warmest and clearest weather, followed by many cloudy and rainy days traveling to Colorado. Even snow on the climb to the Grand Canyon! I was prepared to wear shorts the whole trip too! I eat meals that are like four times as big as what I’m used to and scamper up many hiking trails. We also encounter weird things on the way like constant “gator farm” advertisements along the highway, silly billboards, and an alpaca store. I keep my eyes open for any fox-related things too.
MONDAY TO WEDNESAY
Arrive in Aspen for Procyon’s science con where I stay as a guest in his free rented condo. I’m left alone to roam the town while science con happens, weather FINALLY clears up after a light shower and we get a functional room key. I relax a bit in the room and chat online with Shade99 and some family. For dinner, I have mac and cheese with “Colorado’s best bacon” and some blueberry beer that Procyon sneers at. Procyon pays for all my expensive Aspen food and suggest we go watch a movie, which I had to act fast and put my paw down and pay for before he decides to pay for that too! We watch Mad Max (how romantic!) then we make our way to the condo in the rain.
The next day we visit the final park for the trip: the Maroon Bells. We hike through mud, rain and snow (which was the first time during this whole trip I was unprepared, mind you), Procyon educates me on types of animal poop and we observe a minor avalanche. The views of the lake and mountains were of course fantastic. Dinner is the largest fish sandwich ever which exploded all over my plate before I could put it into my maw, followed by beers and a final trip recap at the noisiest pub thing.
An early morning trip from Aspen to Eagle Airport, where plans are delayed due to pilots requiring some minimum hours of sleep before flying again, a quick but meaningful goodbye and I’m off on a propeller plane to Denver! I manage to pass the hours in Denver before flying to Chicago, where I DASH for the last plane to Toronto and I’m home (my luggage wasn’t able to keep up though and got stuck in Chicago for a day).
Overall, the trip was okay, I guess. ;)
I attended the Biggest Little Furry Convention (BLFC) in Reno, NV a few weeks back, followed by a road trip through south-western United States with Procyon. Big adventure, farthest and longest I’ve ever travelled on my own, met great people, visited cool (and cold) places, and did furry things. The end.
BLFC Pictures
Road trip Summary Pictures
THURSDAY
Alright now for the detailed version (which I will still try to keep simple since this is a two week adventure! Also please highlight any errors, typos or inconsistencies if you notice any). You can follow along with the summary pictures! I left from Toronto Pearson Airport on Thursday on a bright and sunny afternoon, arrived at Chicago on a cloudy-as-always later afternoon, Phoenix it was getting dark but at least it was warm, and then finally Reno an hour before local midnight. The first thing I see upon leaving the plane is of course slot machines at the airport. To my unfortunate surprise it was wet at Reno and colder than or just as cold as the other cities I stopped by! I walk around confused for a while until I realize luggage was just taking a long time to unload. I soon board the shuttle headed for the Grand Sierra Resort and make subtle observations of the people around me and judge if they are blatantly furry or just a normal resort visitor. :3
The GSR sure was grand and it was quite impressive. I check in casually and play it cool as headless suitors roam around (since you were not allowed to wear a suit head on the casino level). Everything smells like cigarette smoke as I make my way to the farthest set of elevators. The hotel room was upgraded to a king suite and it was pretty sweet (see panorama shot in pictures). Also a pull out bed and lots of sofa couches. I make myself at home, claim the king sized bed to myself and try not think too hard that I managed to get ALL THE WAY TO RENO!
FRIDAY
I slept well, wake up, realize I am in Reno and get all nervous and stuff. I somehow manage to leave and finally have the breakfast RelaxingDragon1 promised me two MFFs ago. We went to some breakfast food place outside the resort and I got to see the city of Reno in all of its glory (it wasn't that glorious). RD invited two cool critters on the breakfast trip and were great company and I wish I could have hung out with them some more, moopdrea and Inashne117. RD introduces me to a plethora of fuzzies I had little hope at remembering, but those with suits did show up again and if anyone was around to listen I could have busted out some serious furry knowledge then.
I register and do various con roaming. I meet the marfy Mike Folf aka Simmer on the way (and of course it was RD who introduces me to him). I give my little “HEY I KNOW WHO YOU ARE” speech and try to prove it by telling him his FA name, while he tells me mine. I feel a little more comfortable being there after that and only stop by my hotel room three times per hour instead of six :P. There was a panda photoshoot that I orbit around for a bit since I was clinging to RD. I run into PepperCoyote and try to play it cool as he invites me to watch the comedy event that’s happening. I cringe, laugh and shake my head in disappointment (but mostly cringe) while Pepper mentions all the things they are doing wrong with the audio setup. Shortly after that *cough* trainwreck *cough* Pepper has his music show which was seriously awesome and genuinely funny (and I didn’t cringe as much). At this point I really start enjoying the con and I feel a lot more comfortable and way less nervous. :3
Procyon arrives around this time and I give him the hotel room tour. I meet even more people now via the other raccoon, who all probably had a Ph.D (Kashra may have been one of them according to Procy). and studied some really cool aspect of science. Dinner buffet ended up being with Procyon, super nice guy Abe, old time Procyon friend Daria and her buddy Monophylos. More meet and greets, networking and collecting business cards and e-mails during room parties. This whole trip was really a job search in disguise! We eventually meet up with AstroDuck who is at the nerd room party with really fun people. I could only excitedly shout “HEY I KNOW YOU, YOU’RE DURJ” at Durj since everyone else was new to me, but really all I knew about Durj was some friends Twittered at him often. I learn a lot about comics and have beer thrust into my paws. Slowly make way back to room despite wanting to stay, but it was late.
SATURDAY
Next day, I catch the tail end of Toki, Abe and the gang’s jazz performance, then breakfast with more Procybuddies including two otters I’ve heard of but it was too early in the day to give my “HEY I KNOW YOU” shout (DadaistOtter and DadeOtter, plus a Kyash). Meet up with Astro, Riley and Kilometers who were super cool and fun to hang with. A blend of roaming around, playing the slots, THE WHEEL, Kilometers winning BIG, getting rejected from the casino bar for being Canadian, forcing others to play a terrible card game called Avalon, making Procyon nervous about it which eventually made him to leave to buy socks. ootachi and LatteMonster drop by and I scare them off by trying too hard to be friendly and making them play my card game. :(
Fursuit parade and second night of dancing, Cami all suited up and being a hyperpuppy. Room party with Ph.D. that I just couldn’t get myself to interact with that much (they were there to say bye to Procyon for the 10th time since he’s going to Denmark njkext month). Then the real party begins when we hear the first thud of someone walking into the ill placed mirror just outside the hotel room door. We leave the door slightly open to hear reactions of those coming in to visit, either walking right into it or freaking out on seeing the mirror. There was Procyon, AstroDuck, Durj, teddyfoxcoon, KristianCollie, aurora-fox, rcmouse and maybe redwulf (she was there at the nerd room party the night before). Daria and Monophylos show up later on.
Apparently there was this “official BLFC party” going on, aka Skyler’s party, which was giving away resistance/civilian themed badges that I just HAD to get. After much convincing, I got Procyon to go with me to find this room but at the elevators on the way we met RelaxingDragon all suited up in party mode, telling us the room party was SHUT DOWN. I was pretty disappointed for delaying so long and missing it after everyone was returning with free fans and badges.
We return to the room to find it mostly intact still. It was an enjoyable and eventful room party full of sitting on couches and on each other, sharing Youtube videos from our phones, Astro wearing Cami head, money falling out of Astro’s hat, money being thrown at Astro, 2am deserts room service, money falling out of Astro’s hat again, “just a little bit of peach”, serious flopping, and discussions about Lucario’s hips.
RD FINALLY shows up and regrets taking so long to get to the best party. I introduce my “long time buddy” Durj to RD who just movie talk the night away. As the party draws to a close, RD whisks me away and tries to get me into other room parties, which have been mostly shut down. Except for the underwear parties. :| I say bye to :linkTenebrisRex for the fifth time since I kept running into him the whole day (after Procyon introduced us), return to the hotel room and try to coax Procyon off the floor and into a proper bed. Which he does, eventually.
SUNDAY
Wake up, pack up and move out because it’s suddenly SUNDAY. I buy something from Starbucks for the first time in my life and keep Procyon company as he tries to recover from the night before. I decide to explore a bit, run into Durj who leads me to Astro and allows me to store my stuff in his car. Kilometers and Astro go skydiving, I regret missing out on go-karting (I blame RD again), I wear big fluffy paws and seriously paw at Procyon, sit down with people I think I know but may not remember me and doodle until everyone starts to leave. I kinda squee over Tachi’s doodles and probably draw the best Yoshi of my life for him, which was actually still pretty bad. A silly doodle for Durj and a random Gabumon later, I’m giving awkward goodbyes and having my final BLFC dinner with Astro and Mari. Soon, the three of us are on the road and we’re GOING TO CALIFORNIA. We drive through the Sierra-Nevada with pretty nice views and zoom through Sacramento without saying hello to Hordan. :3
This ends the BLFC Report.
MONDAY TO WEDNESDAY
I stay at the AstroDuck Hotel just outside San Francisco while Astro is at work (many many thanks Astro and Mari for your hospitality if I have not thanked you enough yet! :3). I play with Astro’s wooden blocks, try to befriend cat, drink tea from a beaker, setup a Raspberry Pi media server, check in on IRC, and call my mom and wish her a happy birthday. A relaxing, peaceful day before I decide to venture into the great outdoors and walk for hours trying to reach the Googleplex, passing by many neat things along the way (SEE PICTURES). I return just before sunset to let the duck into his own house, have a fancy dinner of pizza and wine and watch Captain America on the (mostly) functional media server.
Visit downtown San Francisco the next day, spend most of the day at the Exploratorium just being fascinated by everything as if I was ten again. Meet up with Tachi who shows me the arcade machine museum and gives me a tiny glimpse of his vast video game knowledge. I feel young and ignorant having missed out on arcade machines as a big part of my childhood, but luckily Tachi manages to talk about z-buffers in home consoles and I feel old again. I introduce my “long time buddy” Tachi to RelaxingDragon, who talk the evening away about famous furries over dinner. I’m just amazed at how the community is so connected and interlinked and listen with interest. RD drops me off home and I invite him over as a thanks. I’m not sure if Astro appreciated it since RD tried to convince him to go to every furry outing that will ever happen.
Take train back to SF the next day, walk forever to reach Strawberry Hill at Golden Gate park, bus around like I know the city inside out and meet up with Airyu. I totally don’t hold her dresses as she finishes up her shopping then go to the Japanese Mall, do an embarrassing photobooth thing, STRESS OUT because of time constraints, ease a bit when eating a crepe with icecream which was like the best thing I had. Rush hour traffic home, leave Airyu behind at the train station at the last minute (her train was arriving later), but I still felt kinda bad for leaving her since her phone was dead too! Astro is in a meeting so it’s an excellent time to drive me to the airport, yipping in agreement with his co-workers on occasion. Short flight to Burbank, long wait for the shuttle to finally start driving to Procyon’s house. Spend the night as his place on minimal, communist grey, inflatable mattress and covers. I also eat his humus and tortilla supply, salvaging some cardboard and napkins as a makeshift plate.
THURSDAY TO SUNDAY
I help poor Procyon pack the rest of his apartment into his car, ENGAGE ROADTRIP MODE. But stop at In-N-Out Burger first and regret not knowing about the “animal style” option before ordering! The rest of the trip is a lot of driving and a lot of parks, better described with the posted images. Here’s a breakdown of locations that can be followed along in the 300 image imgur album:
• Joshua Tree National Park, CA
• Hoover Dam, NV/AZ
• Las Vegas, NV
• Zion National Park, UT
• Grand Canyon National Park North Rim, AZ
• Vermillion Cliffs, AZ
• Mojave Bridge, AZ
• Horseshoe Bend, AZ
• Four Corners, UT/AZ/CO/NM
• Mesa Verde National Park, CO
• Great Sand Dunes National Park, CO
• Independence Pass, CO
• Aspen, CO
• Maroon Bells, CO
Joshua Tree NP probably had the warmest and clearest weather, followed by many cloudy and rainy days traveling to Colorado. Even snow on the climb to the Grand Canyon! I was prepared to wear shorts the whole trip too! I eat meals that are like four times as big as what I’m used to and scamper up many hiking trails. We also encounter weird things on the way like constant “gator farm” advertisements along the highway, silly billboards, and an alpaca store. I keep my eyes open for any fox-related things too.
MONDAY TO WEDNESAY
Arrive in Aspen for Procyon’s science con where I stay as a guest in his free rented condo. I’m left alone to roam the town while science con happens, weather FINALLY clears up after a light shower and we get a functional room key. I relax a bit in the room and chat online with Shade99 and some family. For dinner, I have mac and cheese with “Colorado’s best bacon” and some blueberry beer that Procyon sneers at. Procyon pays for all my expensive Aspen food and suggest we go watch a movie, which I had to act fast and put my paw down and pay for before he decides to pay for that too! We watch Mad Max (how romantic!) then we make our way to the condo in the rain.
The next day we visit the final park for the trip: the Maroon Bells. We hike through mud, rain and snow (which was the first time during this whole trip I was unprepared, mind you), Procyon educates me on types of animal poop and we observe a minor avalanche. The views of the lake and mountains were of course fantastic. Dinner is the largest fish sandwich ever which exploded all over my plate before I could put it into my maw, followed by beers and a final trip recap at the noisiest pub thing.
An early morning trip from Aspen to Eagle Airport, where plans are delayed due to pilots requiring some minimum hours of sleep before flying again, a quick but meaningful goodbye and I’m off on a propeller plane to Denver! I manage to pass the hours in Denver before flying to Chicago, where I DASH for the last plane to Toronto and I’m home (my luggage wasn’t able to keep up though and got stuck in Chicago for a day).
Overall, the trip was okay, I guess. ;)
Thanks for sharing your memurries, I like hearing about foxes :3 *wagwagwagwagwags*
Which three names did you not recognize? Also foxes are always great to hear about. :3
Well done indeed.
And I have SO MUCH regret in not getting to the smart party sooner. I honestly had the best time of the evening chatting there.
It was good having you around! And I got to do it in two different states, which is even more great. You'll have to come around here more often. Or just move here outright. Either are acceptable.
You were a most excellent tour guide in both states, showing me the crazy and intricate side of furry and the interesting side of SF! Also there are things in motion that may result in a (temporary) work placement in the SF area, but I won't really know until late summer. :3c
Well, I certainly feel like I've been there now! Thanks. ;3