KingCobra_582 writes...

THE GATHERING REPORT, PART II

MONDAY, JUNE 25TH, 2007

The last day.

Where the hell did the time go?

I went to the Dealer's Room to pick up what I thought would be my winning bid, but (my confidence seemed to be getting me absolutely nowhere this year) Doppleganger had apparently outbid me for it at the last second. I was disappointed, but it's not the end of the world. Congrats to him. :)

Especially with that Gargoyles handheld I bid $40 for.

"Look at this guy. The game is like sex to him!"

LMAO.

A Fan paid us $130 for his share of the room and checked out before Closing Ceremonies.

Speaking of Closing Ceremonies, they were, as usual, fast and bittersweet. I always hate having to say goodbye to certain people, who I consider friends, for a whole 'nother year. There were a few awards. Lots of pictures.

I saw Thom off with a picture and a hug as he left with Patrick Toman for the airport. I hope he got home alright. I still don't fully trust planes.

The con was now ifficially over, but we weren't. Not yet. 3:30 PM meeting in the lobby for us remnants who went out for a game of Laser Tag and Dinner. The original plan was for a trip to Dollywood, but the lousy weather screwed that up, and just when I was in the mood for a nice rollercoaster too. Damn it.

Greg W. and I had played 2 more games of Air Hockey there, but didn't get to finish game #2.

After Laser Tag came the dinner. And it was decided we would all walk about a mile or so to Corky's BBQ and Ribs. I had a Bacon Cheeseburger, a Root Beer without ice, (don't ask) Mozzarella sticks, and fries. Got into a movie-themed discussion with Jeb, Halloweenking, and one other guy (sorry I don't recall his name).

Found out Greg's favorite movie is 'Office Space'.

Nobody, not even Greg W. himself, wanted to go to Baskin Robbins afterward, like we had planned to. So Vid The Kid, Halloweenking, and I let everyone else return to the hotel while the three of us continued our quest for tasty frozen desert. Halloweenking, conveinently, already had his car parked by Arby's, so we drove back to the hotel from there before going our seperate ways.

Vid The Kid and I decided to relax in the Jacuzzi a little while later. We had just gotten out and were drying off when Greg W. walked by, slapping me on the back in a friendly manner, and asking how we were. I said fine and asked what's up. He said work, and then, when I suggested jokingly that it was on the next con, he responded, with a air of amusement, 'No, just work.' Must've been for the upcoming Spiderman cartoon, I reckon.

Ran into Halloweenking again and played some Air Hockey with him. Unfortunately, we couldn't find the puck and by the time, there was only enough time for us to be tied 1-1 before the game automatically ended. Crap.

I'd also had to call front desk and tell them 'never mind, we found the disc'.

TUESDAY, JUNE 26TH, 2007

Spent most of the day at the Smokies again. I wanted to just chill out in the room and watch TV all day, but David was insistent, so I shut up and we went. This time, we saw Fontana Dam, and Clingman's Dome, in North Carolina. Took more pictures. Got back to the hotel that evening and spent the rest of the night there.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27TH, 2007

To quote Mace Malone from 'Revelations', it was "check-out time".

Woke up to watch Angel (Season 5, episode 2) before falling asleep again (during which I'd had a dream-within-a-dream about being on a College swim team and somebody drowned, or something. Weird.) and waking up at 10. I wole David up and we started packing up.

We left a $1.25 (cheap, but it was all we had) tip for the housekeeper and went to the front desk to check out. I was slightly antsy about our car's coolant issues, but I kept my anxiety to myself and focused on thinking about how the hotel hadn't been quite as grand as I expected. I'm not on the con staff or anything, but I remember thinking how unlikely it was that we would ever hold a con at the Grand Resort, much less in Pigeon Forge, again.

Never did finish that last game of Air Hockey against Greg Weisman.

I look forward to it someday.

And, yes, we made it home. Left at 11:30 AM and finally arrived at our house at 6:13 PM. No stops, just one time for gas before we'd left Tennessee, one time for a Fazoli's lunch in London, Kentucky, and one time when we got pulled over for speeding (eep).

And with that ends Gathering.

See you in Chicago in '08.