Big Honkin Trip Report...

Let's see if I can post while LJ is being a bit wonky. Every time I click to see one of my filters, it says- "too busy, try again later", then click a second time, and it's perfectly fine. Other people have been complaining about LJ eating long posts, so we'll see.

Last time I posted, we had just completed our move upstairs and we were about to get on an airplane. I despise airplanes, but this one was nice enough not to crash. On May 19th we flew to Chicago to spend a couple days with Luke's sisters. We had a really nice time catching up, and Luke was even given an impromptu birthday party, he turns 50 later in June, and we probably won't get back to the midwest again this year. On Monday the 21st, we took the bus up to Madison, where my family lives. We picked up our rental car (not red!!)
I made my cookies for the bakesale in my parents kitchen. Monday and Tuesday were spent catching up with my family.

Early (for us) on Wednesday morning, we checked out of our hotel on the east side of town, and checked into the Concourse, where wiscon activities would start on Thursday. We had the car till Thursday, so we went off on our own. It was warm, sunny and quite breezy. We went to Tenney park and walked all around. Tenney park is the first place we went when Luke first came to visit me in Madison three years ago. We walked all over, out to the end of the breakwater, we played on the swings, and saw lots of ducks and fish in the lagoon. I got a slight sunburn. We went back to the Concourse to rest for a while, then we walked to the nursing home to see my grandma. Then down to the convention center and the other lake. We had an early dinner at Bandung, a wonderful Indonesian restaurant, then we walked back to the hotel and spent a few hours in the hot tub. As nice as it was to see our families, and as wonderful as Wiscon was sure to be, we were so happy to have this day between, a day all to ourselves.

So Thursday, we were rarin' to go, first up, lunch with brisingamen and peake. Still with car, we ventured to the Indian buffet on Odana road. Yum. It was hazy and humid, and the wind was whipping, it looked like a storm would brew up later. I was hoping for at least one rip-roaring thunderstorm while we were in the midwest! Later, we took the rental car back to the airport, and ran into whumpdotcom, cynthia1960, spacecrab and others going to Wiscon with whom we shared a shuttle back to the hotel. After hanging out in the bar for a while, I went to hang out in the lobby. It was pouring outside, but I didn't hear any thunder. After dinner with intelligentrix, we went back to the hot tub.

Friday, bakesale prep. Moving stuff into the bakesale room (which conveniently adjoins our sleeping room), getting the room organized (with the help of several strapping hotel employees), finishing my signs, and hanging signs in all the usual spots. I had time to see a bit of the Gathering this year, and I even entered my tattoo in the "Show Us Your Tats" contest! I was crushed, *CRUSHED* I tell ya, not to win, although it was my own fault for slipping out before the final judging. Luke and I did dinner at Kabul by ourselves, then hit parties.

Saturday, 7:30 wake up call, ugh. But the early start means things are well in hand at 11:30 when the bakesale starts. I never sent out an informational e-mail this year, so there were somewhat fewer things brought in. What I had however, was great! My favorite was Gail L.'s rootbeer cake. Amazing! We sold everything by 4:00. Later we had dinner with Peter, Simba and voidampersand at the Orpheum. It was expensive, but fantastic! Later, more parties...

Sunday, rdkeir and I did the LJ party shopping early, as he had a panel he wanted to be back for. It was good, I had time to put up posters, ice the coolers, and to visit with Simba while we ate Saturday night's dinner leftovers. No last-minute rush. Sometime on Friday, I picked up a dress at Ragstock to wear at the party. It fit, it looked fine, it was $5, I didn't care. We got ourselves ready, put food in bowls, popped the first bottle of champagne, and the party began. It was over in a blur just like that.

Monday, slept late of course, usually we at least make it to the wrap-up panel, but not this year. Dinner, hot tub...

Tuesday was a hard day. We had no choice but to fly through Chigago because we made our reservations so late. We were expecting the worst after everyone's reports from last year. We were an hour late leaving Madison, but since we had a several hour layover in Chicago, we didn't miss our plane to Seattle. The flight itself was one of the worst I've ever experienced. The screaming child, the gum snapping lady (both right next to us), and hours of turbulence that felt like riding a bucking bronco at 35-some thousand feet. Have I mentioned I'm terrified of flying..?

So here we are, back in Seattle. I'm about to go on an LJ adding spree. I met some interesting folks at Wiscon this year, and usually, I'm too chicken to add people, even though I'm the one throwing the LJ party. I'm even going to add some people I met and thought were cool *last* year. I've been reading reports in wiscon. I have strong opinions about some of the subjects raised, but will keep those to myself for now.