jcollie719 | Sotto voce but still had a great time (Reply)

The cold I caught over the weekend went away, but the remaining stuffiness and extra phone shifts I did Monday and Tuesday gave me laryngitis. My metal shoe horn didn't arrive before I left home.

WEDNESDAY

I originally planned to leave for Furry Fiesta at 5 AM, but I waited until just after 6 AM. I refueled my car at a station near home, then drove to Raton for a quick breakfast. I drove several sections of old Route 66 between Santa Rosa, NM and Amarillo, TX. I skipped a couple of longer sections since I was behind schedule.

In Amarillo, I visited the Cadillac Ranch art display and left a little graffiti on one of the cars. Next time I visit, I need to have a pair of rain boots and a plastic bag since the ranch can be muddy/wet.

I stayed at the Hotel Vernon overnight.

THURSDAY

Checked out around 9 AM. I got breakfast in Wichita Falls (Chorizo taquito from Whataburger) and arrived at the hotel in Dallas around 12:45 PM. That night, I went to a Tom Thumb grocery store and got a few items I needed, including sandwiches to have for breakfast.

FRIDAY

The Super Sponsor Dinner was at Medieval Times, where diners can watch jousting matches happening in front of them. Getting off the bus back at the hotel, I fell when I didn't realize part of the sidewalk dropped down. Thankfully, nothing was broken. That night, I went to Fox & Pepper's after-dark show. Bucktown arrived that night and said hi to me at the show.

SATURDAY

I skipped this morning's Reunion Tower fursuiting event since I wanted to sleep a bit longer. I got in suit around 10 AM then went down to march in the fursuit parade. The "ace" dog tags I wore weren't as visible as I'd thought, especially when I'm only going by for a second or two in some videos.

SUNDAY

At the greymuzzle meet, Corsi played his parody song "Sympathy for the Greymuzzles." One of the attendees was a 60-something fox suiter with an electronic-controlled upper jaw that "snarls." The con's charity initially raised over $26,700, but the attendees' last-minute donations raised that to over $29,400. I ended the night in the hotel cafe, with a buffalo chicken wrap and some bourbon pecan cheesecake.

Attendance this year grew 25% over last year, with 4,844 attendees and 710 suiters in the parade.

MONDAY

I checked out and left Dallas an hour or two later than I wanted. I skipped visiting Groom on Route 66, but I stopped and tagged one of the vehicles at the VW Slug Bug Ranch in Conway. I skipped the Route 66 drive between Glenrio and San Jon. I got home around 12:40 AM.

SOME NOTES I MADE FOR NEXT YEAR

Split drive home into two days as well. Split driving time almost equally between days. Try to limit driving to sun-up.

Don't bring mini-TV or DVR if I'm splitting a room with others.

Try to room with a handler and/or close friend.

Get satellite radio subscription for car/home. Cell data service non-existent in parts of CO/NM/TX.