In an attempt to sort of keep up with my convention report this time, I'm going to at least post about the day of traveling while I have the time. My flight out to Chicago was on Wednesday at about 11:30am. I was fully expecting insanity at the airport the day before Thanksgiving, so I got on a train that would get me there just about 2 1/2 hours before my flight. I wasn't didn't check luggage, which meant that I could avoid the first line of madness, but I knew that security was going to be a nightmare. And I have a rough time with security on a good day. I inherently end up either having my bags searched, me getting patted down, or the agents questioning me about all sorts of stuff. Well, I got to the security line, and thought I was in the wrong place. There were so few people there. I put my bags on the scanner and waited for the inevitable TSA horror story grope pat down. And what happened? I walked through the metal detector, the guy said, "Have a happy Thanksgiving," grabbed my stuff, and was done. On the worst travel day of the year, I had no problems whatsoever. Which never happens to me! And they completely ignored my trio of sonic screwdrivers, my flask, and the pair of scissors that I fully expected them to confiscate. Where was my craziness?
So I ended up killing a lot more time in the airport than I had expected, got on the plane, and next thing I know, I'm in Chicago! Where I managed to find Maureen and Linda almost immediately (and if you know O'Hare, that's an accomplishment!) and then found Carole and MJ and went to the hotel to drop off our stuff. On our way down to meet up with Jen and MJ in their room, we ran into and possibly horrified Tommy Knight, and started one of what will probably be weekend long jokes. And no, I'm not explaining on here, cause type just won't do it justice! Anyway, we finally headed out to get dinner at a fantastic Japanese buffet, sat in traffic for ages, and eventually made it to the liquor store. Where I proceeded to spend way too much money on alcohol, all of which will be worth it. One bottle of whiskey, a 12 pack of Heinekin, a baby bottle each of Rumpleminz and Goldschlager, and a bottle of Absinthe. Yum.
Then we went to see Harry Potter, which I enjoyed, but not nearly as much as everyone else has, it seems. Granted, I only saw the first two movies, and I don't really remember the books all that well, but it was still fun. Finally we stopped at Meijer on the way back to the hotel, to pick up miscellaneous little things that we'd forgotten or chosen not to bring. And then I collapsed into the bed. And now it's Thursday, and we're ready to go! Bring on Chicago Tardis please!