Yeah, Right, Whatever

Well, I've returned from the Texas Blogfest 2005. I think I could sleep for a week.

Thursday, I drove up to Dallas, met up with Spats, did a little shopping (including watching Spats spend $80 on ingredients for his "Train Wreck Stew™"), visited our host location for Friday evening, and went to the Realm™ to finalize the plans for the weekend. Got back to the hotel midnight-ish. MamaMontezz and Delftsman arrived about 2am.

Friday morning, we headed to the airport to pick up Deathknyte. Then I took DK, Mama, and Delfts to Central Market. We met up with Denita, Eric and Zane there. After indulging in some sushi and some other CM goodies, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the evening.

We headed over to Humperdinks around 4:30. Spats was already there, web cam up and running. I got the second one going (sorry, gang- I had no idea what I was doing... sorry about that whole invite thing... ) Attendees began arriving, and the fun was on! Several other people brought laptops, so you can check out live blogging entries from several sites. Susan brought all of us "Count me Red" wristbands (woohoo!) I had to duck out for a while to pick up Humble Devildog at the airport. Went back to Humperdinks, and the festivities wound down around 11:30 or so. (The Attendees: Spats, Denita, Eric and Zane, MamaMontezz and Delftsman, Deathknyte, Humble Devildog, ZiPpo, El Capitan, Andy, Martin, Random Numbers (along with Random Wife), Lady Mac (and hubby), Brian Travis, Dr. Flykilla (and sister), Alan K. Henderson, and Tig & Moona. Did I forget anyone? )

Saturday morning started slow. We loaded everyone up around 11:30 and headed over to Spats' apartment for our introduction to The Comfy Chair™ and Train Wreck Stew™. (Oh, my... that stew is good eats!) Then the heralds sounded the arrival of his Imperial Rottiness, Emperor Darth Misha I (which was a very good thing, because I really didn't want to be arrested for kidnapping, which was on the agenda if he didn't appear under his own power). Zippo brought out some cigars of unknown origin (hush up, attendees... ), so HDD, Eric and I headed out on an emergency run for other provisions. We returned with 2 bottles of 21 year old Scotch (Dalwhinnie and Balvenie Portwood) and something called Absente (no, not Absinthe). So... I had my introduction to single malt Scotch and $35 cigars. Woohoo!!! (Both were absolutely wonderful. Thank you, ZiPpo and AJ!)

After a not-so quick run back to the hotel to change clothes/primp/preen, we all crammed ourselves climbed into the minivan and headed out to Ft. Worth. (FYI, the only drawback to being wedged between Humble Devildog and Emperor Misha in the back seat of the van for the hour's drive to and from Ft. Worth was the constant "Are we there yet?" And, I would really like to know how DK managed to fall asleep in the cargo area of the van... that couldn't have been comfortable). Billy Bob's was all that I expected and far more. Chris Cagle was GREAT, and the house band was pretty good, too. I managed to drag Denita out onto the dance floor for the Cotton Eye Joe (have you forgiven me yet, D?) Got myself a new t-shirt and a couple of gifts, and I'm happy to report that everyone had a good time. (Whew... I was worried about that.) The van rolled back into the Holiday Inn Express parking lot at 2:30 am... and the chatting continued for a while longer.

The alarm went off at 6:45 am, because T1 and T2 knocked on my room door at 7am (so Pop could head out of town). Got everything packed up, checked out of the hotel, and loaded everyone up into the correct vehicle. Hugged DK goodbye, and it was off to D/FW Gun Range.

The fine folks at the range were kind enough to open up a couple of hours early just for us. When we (HDD, Mama, Delfts, T1, T2 and I) arrived, El Capitan, Andy, and the Randoms were already there. Spats and Brian Travis joined us a bit later. Much ammunition was fired and fun was had by all. (Cap and Andy both took a turn at the range's Uzi - full auto. They seemed to enjoy themselves.) T1 and T2 seemed to enjoy themselves, looking around and learning about various firearms. I decided not to shoot- I had left Mr. Friendly at home (no place to store him securely at the hotel/in the vehicle), I wasn't entirely sure about firing something new without a thorough overview by someone in the know, and I know T1 and T2 are good kids, but the idea of leaving them more or less to their own devices in a gun shop just seemed like a not-so-good idea. (Next year? I'm sure I'll make a different choice- that Uzi was very tempting).

Once every had their (temporary) firearms fix, we headed up the road for a quite bite to eat at Whataburger. This lunch break turned into an impromptu steering committee meeting for the '06 Blogfest. Woohoo!!!

With full tummies and heads swimming with more ideas for next year, we moved up the road even further to Boot Town. AJ, Spats and Delftman walked out with new (black) felt Resistol cowboy hats, and Mama made a few gift purchases for family. (I could feel my wallet quaking in fear as I wandered the aisles, noticing this or that boot, weighing the pros and cons of traditional boot v. roper, noticing some of the more unique boot styles, going through the clothes racks. No, I didn't buy anything- only because they didn't have the boots I really wanted).

When everyone had purchased everything they were going to, we gave our hugs goodbye (that was rough). The boys and I dropped off HDD at the airport on the way out of town, and we were cruising down the highway toward home. We got home around 9pm, and I was out cold by 10pm.

The De-Brief:
What went wrong: ended up not getting a sitter for Denita and Eric's son, so Eric stayed at the hotel with him.
What to add/change:
(1) We probably need to find a quieter place for our initial meet/greet. Humperdinks was AWESOME (don't get me wrong), but it was the first weekend of March Madness, and Humperdinks is a sports bar. Needless to say, it was a little loud.
(2) I worried about not having enough "stuff" to do. I overplanned as it was. More time to talk, less stuff.
(3) As we (hopefully) grow, we need to work harder at getting a hotel where all the attendees were all together, and that have some special features available to us (a blogging room, with a high speed hook-up, wifi, and a couple of machines ready to go for one).
(4) As we grow, we need to reach out to other blogging groups. The Blogosphere is more than the VRWC (pity, that), and if we're going to be a true Texas blogfest, we need to have representation from as many viewpoints as possible. We're not going to agree (duh!), but we can have civil discourse. ( Andy, you have NO idea how much I admire your willingness to go into the lion's den like that. We need to create some sort of reward for you.)
(5) 2.5 months isn't as long as you think it is. Time flies when you're trying to plan a fest. More time is always a good thing.
(6) Hugs are a thing of beauty and should be handed out frequently and with much enthusiasm.
(7) The people you talk to and become friends with online are even better in person.

// posted by Beth @ 1:21 PM |