I jammed in my earplugs and curled up in bed at 11pm, room mates wanted to do a pizza party but I was up in the morning to volunteer so passed up on that.
Rise and shine 6am me. Waddled off to the bathroom and rubbed my eye, got something black on it and shrugged it off. Meh, I'm in a city, crud happens right... so I go to wash my hands and see dried blood down the side of my face. Hello there...how'd that happen... (we may never know.) Drank way too much coffee and felt sick...
Anyway work didn't start until 9:30am, but I arrived at 830am (after loitering around outside) and loitered about gabbing with people. Wandered off a bit early to the Arcade, where my first guy was Rob from the Obon (?) Traditional dancers that were there. We chatted a lot, I cheered him on in Donkey Kong, and eventually agreed t fight him at Tekken 2. I won :D TWICE. Not like a flat out, we had a tie and I always won on the third round. It was awesome. He was pretty cute too honestly.
The arcade was pretty fun to man actually. I wish I could've snuck onto the DDR one when I was hanging out alone, because I was better than quite a few of the dancers there. Oh well. Still, chatting with people was fun. I gave my card to a spider-gwen and stared for long periods of time at the Honey-Senpai cosplayer because.... well... she was adorable (personality and face).
Next up at 11:30 I headed down to the Peace Bonding booth, which I was at for 2 hours as well. Earlier in the day while I was camping out being bored, Jessica (the coordinator) stopped by and I mentioned I really wanted to go to the Ladybug panel, and she was able to get me swapped to mod that one instead of work Information.. SO THRILLED. Though, Peace bonding I was freezing my buns off. It was a pretty cool day compared to yesterday and the AC was up high. Brrr, I used the table cloth as a blanket. I'm an adult. Was off at 1:30 so...had a half hour.
Once that was done I dashed off to the room to grab a bite (crackers and M&M's ftw), then Dashed off to the next work (2pm!) and went into the panel. I was suppose to have a chance before it started to talk to the panel hosts and get everything set up buuuut...they were already doing things. Honestly it's so hard to keep things PG!! UptovvnOtaku (part of SoulSisters Cosplay) is a magical creature. The best Cat Noir/Adrian I've ever met. (So much dab, so many puns.) Anyway, introduced myself at the end and waddled out to meet up with Dynai.
We chatted, then went to my hotel to grab starbucks and then go do photos. Dynai is a magical creature. We get along so well, it's awesome. Definitively made one great friend while I'm here. Met a bunch and made impressions, but Dynai is awesome. There will eventually be a video of me holding the monkey and probably dropping her because I laughed too much >,>.... and where I'm being sat on and we're in odd compromising positions. I'm a bit sad we didn't get selfies together. Oh well.
There was a masquerade tonight, but you had to buy a mask to be there and I didn't want to. Soooo instead I stole my roomies for some photos. Then met back up with Dynai in her formal (half done) cosplay for more hanging out. Time flew, I didn't go to the AMV contest, The Manlyness panel, Closing ceremonies, or really anything. I just enjoyed time with her (and Jordon when she'd talk/join us. But she seemed tired so napped a lot usually.) Masqurade had some neat costumes but I didn't bring any external light and was running out of natural light by then, so off we went to Chili's for dinner.
We walked in 15 minutes before close so made up a quick order of the quesadillas and drinks...and molten lava cake. Stuffed our faces full, and then Dynai'd drive me back to my hotel since it was well past 10. Fireworks were starting (not sure why) but there was some big celebration going on in riverfront park today. A wedding in the con...nuns... lots of stuff going on. (JC, the male room mate, is pacing. And it's annoying me. Pacing and drinking all of another roomies Fanta right before bed. Like, intentionally chugging it down. whatever.)
soooo I got dropped off in the room, listened to the fireworks and then started blogging. And here we are.
No photos for today, again, still. Sorry about that... but it's all cosplay related and will be on facebook soon enough anyway.
Off to see my bro in Eugene tomorrow!
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Roadtrip 1 - Day 3/4 - Spokane, WA
7/29/16 ~
I wanted to do a road trip, just get in the car and drive. And drive, and drive.... now I'm getting to, it's actually really nice.
So I left Billings at 7am and made a nice long drive, Emily was up before I left and I got to say goodbye to her, and on the road I went! Only once did I get stuck on the wrong on-ramp and headed the wrong direction. Otherwise Billings to Spokane drive wasn't terrible. It was just about 8 hours but once you cross into Idaho (which feels like FOREVER after Missoula) things get kinda non stop. Ran into more construction too.
Stopped for Gas/Coffee outside of Billings (I don't have my atlas for maps..might edit it later), filled all the way up and scrubbed my windows clean. Then filled up in Missoula and have still a half a tank left when I got to Spokane. Traffic was non-stop and it was very city and less beautiful when I exited Coeur D'alene, otherwise it's pretty with all the massive lake.
In my usual speedy style, I arrived to Spokane bright and early. As in, 2pm when I aimed for 4pm. So I got to attend the Volunteer meeting! Chatted up a bunch of people (4-6 of them?) and made friends! Meeting went well, then I loitered around and met up with my roomies. Saved the day with my credit card since debit cards never work for hotel rooms for people. They had key issues, so my key had to work.... our room is beautiful but has nothing. No coffee maker, fridge, or anything. Anyway, got the hotel room all done and then went back to the con to meet up with Dynai (and her friend Jordan) to do some random exploring and photos!
Roomies didn't know how to get to the parking garage, so I ended up navigating them back when they were in their car to the hotel parking. Hehee.
I knew who she was cosplaying as, and of course she doesn't know me. So I texted her, and then was walking through the con and saw the cosplay outfit, did the usual look up and down. She like, focuses really hard on her phone and steps into her friend and I walk up and am all "Am I texting you?" and thus we met up. This whole photography thing really has helped me extrovert.
Did the photo thing, hung out and decided we'd all go out to Sushi. Went to Sushi Masu which is a conveyor belt sushi, pretty good. Waddled them back to their car and got driven back to the hotel (which isn't a far walk, but there's a lot of weirdos).
Ummm... crawled back to the room to sleep. Probably around 11pm? Sorry this post is so unenthusiastic. Yesterday was long and exhausting!
Pictures and day 4 below the cut!
I wanted to do a road trip, just get in the car and drive. And drive, and drive.... now I'm getting to, it's actually really nice.
So I left Billings at 7am and made a nice long drive, Emily was up before I left and I got to say goodbye to her, and on the road I went! Only once did I get stuck on the wrong on-ramp and headed the wrong direction. Otherwise Billings to Spokane drive wasn't terrible. It was just about 8 hours but once you cross into Idaho (which feels like FOREVER after Missoula) things get kinda non stop. Ran into more construction too.
Stopped for Gas/Coffee outside of Billings (I don't have my atlas for maps..might edit it later), filled all the way up and scrubbed my windows clean. Then filled up in Missoula and have still a half a tank left when I got to Spokane. Traffic was non-stop and it was very city and less beautiful when I exited Coeur D'alene, otherwise it's pretty with all the massive lake.
In my usual speedy style, I arrived to Spokane bright and early. As in, 2pm when I aimed for 4pm. So I got to attend the Volunteer meeting! Chatted up a bunch of people (4-6 of them?) and made friends! Meeting went well, then I loitered around and met up with my roomies. Saved the day with my credit card since debit cards never work for hotel rooms for people. They had key issues, so my key had to work.... our room is beautiful but has nothing. No coffee maker, fridge, or anything. Anyway, got the hotel room all done and then went back to the con to meet up with Dynai (and her friend Jordan) to do some random exploring and photos!
Roomies didn't know how to get to the parking garage, so I ended up navigating them back when they were in their car to the hotel parking. Hehee.
I knew who she was cosplaying as, and of course she doesn't know me. So I texted her, and then was walking through the con and saw the cosplay outfit, did the usual look up and down. She like, focuses really hard on her phone and steps into her friend and I walk up and am all "Am I texting you?" and thus we met up. This whole photography thing really has helped me extrovert.
Did the photo thing, hung out and decided we'd all go out to Sushi. Went to Sushi Masu which is a conveyor belt sushi, pretty good. Waddled them back to their car and got driven back to the hotel (which isn't a far walk, but there's a lot of weirdos).
Ummm... crawled back to the room to sleep. Probably around 11pm? Sorry this post is so unenthusiastic. Yesterday was long and exhausting!
Pictures and day 4 below the cut!
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Roadtrip 1 - Day 2 - Billings, Montana
Cities sure are loud. Even with earplugs the flashing lights and shouts of a thunder storm kept me up all night. I forgot how to sleep through an actual storm with no side-sound. No fan, no computer, just my open window for fresh air and a storm outside. It was kind enough at least to wait until night, but still. Between being too hot for a blanket and having too many little baby bugs in my bedroom, falling asleep was a challenge. Ah, first nights. Never are they fun!
Anyway I was up by 6am, puttering about quietly with my things. Neil and Emily got themselves ready for work and out the door around 7:30/7:45, I was showered and out by 8:30. They'd convinced me to head out to Red Lodge, Montana.
Red Lodge really reminded me of home. This post is picture heavy, so head on past the cut for photos and a longer write-up!
Anyway I was up by 6am, puttering about quietly with my things. Neil and Emily got themselves ready for work and out the door around 7:30/7:45, I was showered and out by 8:30. They'd convinced me to head out to Red Lodge, Montana.
Red Lodge really reminded me of home. This post is picture heavy, so head on past the cut for photos and a longer write-up!
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Roadtrip 1 - Day 1 - Billings, Montana
There sure is a bunch of roadkill in Wyoming. I mean who tells the farmer that his cow's been hit?
What? No heads up or long time talking about this trip? Sorry, but I didn't really have anything cemented until I was practically walking out the door! My journey this time is taking me out to visit Spokane, then dropping down to Eugene to visit my bro before heading home. Unfortunately that is a dreadful drive to do one day at a time, so I'm making stops along the way!
I left this morning at 8:50am, well, at least that's when I tried to leave. I ended up getting distracted and photographing the mama mule deer and her not quite spotted baby before I left instead. Those photos are sitting on my computer at home, waiting to be paid attention to.
So really I left at 9, but who's counting?
I went with driving down Highway 34 from my home town, because it really is my favorite canyon. I figured, if I'm going to be stuck going slowly, I might as well do it on my favorite road! God, was I right though, it was SLOOOOW going! All of the RV's and trailers were out today. Eventually I made it out to I-25...where traffic was still slow. There were times we were only going 30mph!
Then it came to me, I've never driven out past the Owl Canyon exit on I-25....and really I can see why!
Wyoming boarder was full of billboards, Cheyenne Frontier Days is in I guess? Or maybe they just leave up all the stuff year round. Still, I wasn't overly impressed while driving through it. Perhaps because of the non-stop road construction that kept slowing us down, or because of the narrow 11ft wide bridge that made me pucker as I have no spacial awareness in my HHR.
Long roadtrips are fun, I passed someone hauling a horse trailer at one point, and then after stopping for my first fuel-up, passed them again while they were pulled over by a cop. Had a few vehicles I did that with during my stops!
First fuel up was a little fishy. I did it in Douglas, Wyoming. I think it was a Sinclair? All the pumps looked like Diesel so I ended up parking and going inside to use the restroom, scouting out the pumps as I did. All was good and I went to fuel up...and ripped my right hand, index finger, main knuckle open. Yay. First injury, first stop! Bleh! Didn't buy anything other than gas and hit the road again. $34 to fuel up with premium. Only lasted me 288 miles. 24MPG average. I'm not too happy with that, yeouch!
My next stop was food, by now it was 2:30 and Wyoming's stops were few and far between. So I stopped in Sheridan and made my way to Arby's, driving like a moron the entire way. Sometimes signs aren't far enough in advance to actually react to. Oops. The woman at Arby's asked my name and I gave her a dumb look, "Oh, right, my name. I know my name" actually came out of my mouth. She ended up not calling my name when my food came up, but brought it up to me. I felt silly, but that was a kind gesture I think.
Decaf Brisk tea Peach mixed with Raspberry is actually pretty good. I devoured my French Dip while watching a manager meeting go on. I could swear there was my long haired highschool aged brother in the meeting. Even his clothing style and expressions were on. Staff seemed to have personality, which I immediately liked.
I considered pushing the gas tank to Billings, but figured I'd get lost or stuck in more construction, so made another gas stop in
Hardin, Montana. There was a couple (male/female) sitting right by the pumps, smoking. I didn't want to start a fight so kept my head down, but a older man told them that was dangerous and pointed out benches. They moved, thankfully. That's only after I realized I was paying $2.77 per gallon, stopping the fuel-up at $20, which only got me 2/3rds full ontop of what I already had. Not a great choice, but I made it to Billings on that!
Arrived to my target destination with Niel and Emily at 5:15. Got myself and my things sorted in the back of the HRR and made a call to my mother to receive good news on her transfer interview!
The couple arrived right about 5:45, when they estimated they would. We freshened up our water and they took me out to Phipps Park where I got to talk with them more and learn about the two! Very neat people, he spent seven years in China, and she's on her 4th month here in the states.
Unfortunately MOST of my photos from the drive are on my phone, and I left the charging cable in the car. So you'll have to survive with just the Phipps Park pictures below the cut! And the evening conclusion!
What? No heads up or long time talking about this trip? Sorry, but I didn't really have anything cemented until I was practically walking out the door! My journey this time is taking me out to visit Spokane, then dropping down to Eugene to visit my bro before heading home. Unfortunately that is a dreadful drive to do one day at a time, so I'm making stops along the way!
I left this morning at 8:50am, well, at least that's when I tried to leave. I ended up getting distracted and photographing the mama mule deer and her not quite spotted baby before I left instead. Those photos are sitting on my computer at home, waiting to be paid attention to.
So really I left at 9, but who's counting?
I went with driving down Highway 34 from my home town, because it really is my favorite canyon. I figured, if I'm going to be stuck going slowly, I might as well do it on my favorite road! God, was I right though, it was SLOOOOW going! All of the RV's and trailers were out today. Eventually I made it out to I-25...where traffic was still slow. There were times we were only going 30mph!
Then it came to me, I've never driven out past the Owl Canyon exit on I-25....and really I can see why!
Wyoming boarder was full of billboards, Cheyenne Frontier Days is in I guess? Or maybe they just leave up all the stuff year round. Still, I wasn't overly impressed while driving through it. Perhaps because of the non-stop road construction that kept slowing us down, or because of the narrow 11ft wide bridge that made me pucker as I have no spacial awareness in my HHR.
Long roadtrips are fun, I passed someone hauling a horse trailer at one point, and then after stopping for my first fuel-up, passed them again while they were pulled over by a cop. Had a few vehicles I did that with during my stops!
First fuel up was a little fishy. I did it in Douglas, Wyoming. I think it was a Sinclair? All the pumps looked like Diesel so I ended up parking and going inside to use the restroom, scouting out the pumps as I did. All was good and I went to fuel up...and ripped my right hand, index finger, main knuckle open. Yay. First injury, first stop! Bleh! Didn't buy anything other than gas and hit the road again. $34 to fuel up with premium. Only lasted me 288 miles. 24MPG average. I'm not too happy with that, yeouch!
My next stop was food, by now it was 2:30 and Wyoming's stops were few and far between. So I stopped in Sheridan and made my way to Arby's, driving like a moron the entire way. Sometimes signs aren't far enough in advance to actually react to. Oops. The woman at Arby's asked my name and I gave her a dumb look, "Oh, right, my name. I know my name" actually came out of my mouth. She ended up not calling my name when my food came up, but brought it up to me. I felt silly, but that was a kind gesture I think.
Decaf Brisk tea Peach mixed with Raspberry is actually pretty good. I devoured my French Dip while watching a manager meeting go on. I could swear there was my long haired highschool aged brother in the meeting. Even his clothing style and expressions were on. Staff seemed to have personality, which I immediately liked.
I considered pushing the gas tank to Billings, but figured I'd get lost or stuck in more construction, so made another gas stop in
Hardin, Montana. There was a couple (male/female) sitting right by the pumps, smoking. I didn't want to start a fight so kept my head down, but a older man told them that was dangerous and pointed out benches. They moved, thankfully. That's only after I realized I was paying $2.77 per gallon, stopping the fuel-up at $20, which only got me 2/3rds full ontop of what I already had. Not a great choice, but I made it to Billings on that!
Arrived to my target destination with Niel and Emily at 5:15. Got myself and my things sorted in the back of the HRR and made a call to my mother to receive good news on her transfer interview!
The couple arrived right about 5:45, when they estimated they would. We freshened up our water and they took me out to Phipps Park where I got to talk with them more and learn about the two! Very neat people, he spent seven years in China, and she's on her 4th month here in the states.
Unfortunately MOST of my photos from the drive are on my phone, and I left the charging cable in the car. So you'll have to survive with just the Phipps Park pictures below the cut! And the evening conclusion!
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