WONDERFEST 2008

Official Site

Ok here is my tale from Wonderfest 2008 told from our perspective.

First off, this year was very different, in almost every aspect for us.
First, the show was in July, not May. Then it was at the Convention Center, not the hotel.
We roomed with a couple other guys instead of having a room to ourselves, and I didn't bring any contest entries.

The drive down was basically uneventful, except for one traffic jam halfway between Cincy and Louisville.
Wouldn't have been so bad, but is was so dang hot! The temp according to the dashboard thermometer was pushing 100 F most of the time. Really not comfortable.
The trip took about 8 hours, which is normal for the trip down. We usually aren't in a big hurry and stop a few times.

We got to the hotel a little after 5 and took up positions on our couch.
We were just hanging around and visiting with old friends while we waited for our 'room mates' to show up.
We had never met the Resin Rhino guys before, but they were looking for roomies, and we needed a place to stay. I must admit, I was a little nervous about sharing a room. Especially with someone I had never met before.
But I have to say, I have no regrets.

These two guys were a blast to hang out with. Funny, twisted, and just a little 'off'.
In other words, our kind of people.
I look forward to seeing them again next year and getting a chance to laugh with them some more.

We lugged our stuff up to the room and unpacked a little.
I've got to say, if this were a normal year, it would have been a great room.
It was on the 6th floor, but it wasn't far from the elevator, and it had a balcony, so I could step outside to smoke.

After getting the car unloaded, and visiting with our roomies a little, we headed across the street to check out the venue., and visit with others at the Lizard Lounge.
This year the hotel is undergoing massive renovations.
The hall with the dealers room is completely closed off, as well as the pool, courtyard, and the entire wing on the other side of the pool.
So the convention was moved across the street to the South Wing of the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center.
Which meant either walking or taking a shuttle over there. We got tired of waiting for the shuttle and started walking. The van ended up picking us up about half-way across the convention center parking lot.
Let me tell you, this place is huge. And bright and shiny inside also.

That picture is was taken from the central sitting area and only shows the one end of the hallway. There was another one just as large going the other way. So when I say it was big, I mean it was freaking huge!

We had fun meeting up with more old friends at the LL.
Including Qtan, SuperElvis, Fluke, NightOwl and a bunch of others. (please, if I don't mention your name, please do not feel slighted. I suck with names at the best of times. In chaotic times like WF I am lucky to remember the faces of everyone I talked to let alone names, or board IDs)
We went outside for a while and hung out with the Ledbelly guys who were on a break from shooting material for the 2008 WF DVD. We also got a kick out of watching the people start to line up for the American Idol stuff.
Seems there were going to be auditions on Monday, and sign-ups for them started Saturday morning.

After things slowed down a bit at the LL we left and headed back to the hotel.
Britny had a few things to touch up on her contest entry. During which we had more fun with the RR guys.
Then we hung out in the lobby more and ran into even more people to catch up with.

Like John and Bubba here.

We finally called it a night around 2 AM . An early night by WF standards, but there weren't as many people about. Because of the renovations, a large chunk of the attendees got bumped across the street to the Executive Inn. So not only did you have to travel to go to the show, but you also had to travel to visit some people.

After a surprising 6 hours of sleep (there have been some years where that would be doing good to get that much in 2 days) we got started on the first real day of the convention.
We got downstairs and went out front to catch the shuttle. Where we learned they moved the pick-up point to the north parking lot (which was closed off when we arrived last night).
We decided to not wait, and just walk. It was hot out, and we didn't want to be out in it more than we had to.
We got over there and were amazed to see all the people waiting to sign up for Idol.
They had them corralled in rows of barricades. They were about 6 wide and went like the entire length of the building.
After getting inside, and taking care of the admission and Brit's contest entry we sat and waited for the dealers room to open. During which time Rick happened by, and he was carrying the display pieces to go on Cultman's table for the new Graveyard Scenes bases.

We got to look at them upclose and really check them out. As well as Rick's other bases that he was brining for Cult's table.

When the dealers room finally opened and we got inside, I was blown away at the size. Nice huge isles between the rows of tables. Looked like bigger tables for the vendors also.
Spent tons of time just going around the room a few times. First time to get the lay of the land, say hi to people, and scope as much as we could. Second time to get a better look at things, and linger at tables a little longer.
With a trip or two outside to smoke and visit with more people we knew outside doing the same.
By then a few hours had passed. So we went back to the hotel for a quick snack. Not as convenient as in years passed but better than paying what they wanted at the convention. I mean the pop machines were $3 for a bottle of pop!
Back to the show for more cruising of the dealers room and visiting with people.
By this time the contest area was open also, so we got to check out all the contest entries also.
It was great to see a ton of kits sitting on the 'junior' table. Always good to see kids entering the contest.
Speaking of kids, from what I could tell, there was a steady stream of them at the Make-And-Take table also.

Then we realized we missed the only demo of the day we had wanted to catch.
The one on photography. For some reason I was thinking it was on Sunday, not Saturday.
Slightly bummed, but that was cured by more browsing of the dealers room.
Another jaunt back to the hotel for munchies and beverages had us run into the BIR guys and Saul waiting for the shuttle as well. Since we could see it coming we decided to wait and ride with them.
Seems they were heading back to take a nap. (I know. Something about this year, or just the fact that everyone is getting older, lots of people were either taking naps, or going to bed early at night. Heck, Batty Dave slept until like 3 PM Saturday).
Anyway, I am not even going to try to caption or explain these photos. I will just leave it to your imagination.

When the show closed for the day, we went back to the hotel and hung out with the RR guys some more.
Originally we intended to just relax a little, order pizza, eat, then back for the movie at the convention center that night. We were having such a blast with Brian and Baity that we almost lost all track of time.

By the time we got back across the street, the movie was already in progress, so we slipped in and found some seats. Just in time to get our 3-D glasses!

One problem with the movie. The room was a bit too small. Over the years, the movie night with Doctor Gangrene, Nurse Mon-eek, and Bob Burns has become very popular. So we were lucky we weren't any later, or we would have been standing in the back.
After the fun with the movie, and some more hanging out with the Ledbelly guys, we headed over to the Executive Inn to check out what was going on at Cult's Suite this year.
Now, that place was really 'different'. I had already heard stories, but they still didn't prepare me for what was in store. Apparently the place had been added on to several times over the years. And every time they added on, the architectural style changed. So you would be walking down the hall, suddenly the floor would shift a bit, and then the wallpaper and trimwork would change completely. Not to mention the whole place was like some crazy maze. I still don't know how exactly we found Steve's suite, but we did.
They were watching Doctor Who, we slipped in and grabbed some seats.
It's always fun to watch stuff at Cult's. The way some people make certain comments and such, it is like some surreal MSTK3 thing sometimes.
After Dr Who, we left before the next thing started. We were having fun, but didn't want to get sucked in to watching a bunch of something else. Found our way out, walked back to the West and hung out some more on the couch, and out front in the smoking area. Then off to bed.

In the morning, we had to pack up. The RR guys only had the room for the weekend and weren't staying Sunday night. Which makes sense. They only live a couple miles away, and with the show over, they can be home and sleeping in their own beds that night.
After hauling everything out to the car, we went back to the show, just after the dealers room opened.
A big surprise for us was the fact that the Resin Realities table was open. In years past, Jayco and crew didn't usually roll out of bed until after the room opened, and were usually eating breakfast when people were shopping.

The highlight of the day was the Clubhouse moderators picture.
Tom (Pun13) had been trying to get all 4 of us at the show together for this all weekend.
Well, Bill (Lugnut) found me, and we went over to John (Rayderz) table, but Tom was no where to be found.
So, we took a few pics without him.

Paul from Utratombo Creations stood in for Tom in a couple of shots. His table was right next to John's.

Tom found out about this and was not pleased :-)
So we tried again.

This time we couldn't find John. He stepped away from his table and after waiting for him to come back, we took another pic without him this time.

The second highlight of the day was the gift the Resin Rhino guys gave Brit.

We also got to catch the Mark and Sam sculpting demo on Sunday.
The only demo we caught all weekend.
It was great seeing that video assist in use. It really makes the demos that much better and informative.

After the show was over it was back to the West again.
This time we got to hang out with Bill for a while. Seems he was starving and there was no place to get anything to eat at the hotel. The restaurant was booked for the banquet, and the vending machines were in the area closed for renovation. Luckily we still had our munchies in the car. Good thing we went out there too.
Seems they were closing off the north parking lot again for resurfacing in the morning.
Any cars left in there then were going to be towed!
This really caused some headaches later that night. Since the south lot was already closed because the renovation, there wasn't enough parking left, and people had to part at the Inn and walk back over to the West.
We hung out with a lot of people, and stayed for the group picture at around 1:30 AM.

Later, we decided to go home.
It was around 2 AM. With everyone spread all over the place, there really wasn't much sense in staying till morning as we wouldn't really get to say our goodbye's to everyone. We had no room, though we did have a standing invitation to crash at the Cult Suit. Though when we went over there earlier, either everyone was gone, or they were sleeping.
We figured might as well get an early start home, and avoid all the heat and humidity.
Generally a sound and good plan. Except for the little snafu's on the way home.
First we hit a dead stop traffic jam at around 2:30 AM to 3:30 AM.
No idea why, and no apparent reason for it. I just shut the car off, and dozed for a while.
Then after we got moving again, I noticed the car wasn't handling too well. Figured the one tire I had been having problems with needed air again. I had a compressor in the car, but needed some light to read it while filling the tire. So, I picked and exit that supposedly had a bunch of gas stations and stuff.
But when I turned off, there was nothing there!
So, I kept following the highway for a while, and it was empty.
I should have just turned around and went on down to the next exit.
But that idea made too much sense.
Instead, I tried to find a different way back to 71 that didn't require back-tracking.
Of course, with no map, no compass, and no knowledge of the area.
What could go wrong with that?

Well, after turning off the highway I was on, onto another highway that I figured would take me back to 71, it kind of turned into a paved version of a goat path.
Lots of sharp twists and turns. As well as up hill and down hill stuff. And just wide enough for 2 cars.
And tons of tree branches down all over the place.
This lead me to another road, much like the one I was already on. After over half an hour of this stuff and actually finding 71. But on a road that just crossed over it, and didn't actually connect with it, Britny finally convinced me to turn around. Backtracking was never really a problem. I knew which ways I had come and how to get back, it was just a matter of being a pain in the butt, and hoping to not have to drive those roads again.
As near as I can tell, we were in this area.

That area inside 227, 467, 36, and 1112.
If I am correct in my memory and figuring, the worst part is. When I decided to turn around and back track was just short of bringing me back out on 227. If I would have kept going for another 5-10 minutes I would have been back to almost where I had started this adventure.

So, we lost another hour with this little detour. Plus the hour in the traffic jam.
So, by the time I hit Cincy, I was having major trouble staying awake. I should have been more than half way home, instead I was only a quarter of the way there.
Luckily Britny had been sleeping most of this time and was rested.
We traded and she drove till well past Columbus while I slept.
We ended up back home a little over 9 hours after we left the hotel.

Like I said.
Nothing typical about this year at WF.
Different month.
Different venue.
No entries from me.
Not even a merit for Britny.
Jayco table open on Sunday morning.
Everyone scattered to different hotels.
Left at an odd time.
And took longer to get home than to get there.

But you know what?
It was worth it!
Even with all the changes, and head-aches, it was still a great show.
The staff did a wonderful job with everything thrown at them.
They put on a great show.
And we got to hang out with a ton of cool people all weekend long.

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