digitalpress
08-13-2002, 05:47 PM
Well, I'm back. Miss me?
Sorry about the site AND the forums. As luck would have it, our forum admin Larry (retrogmr) was at CGE2K2 and if you hadn't heard, the server suffered a simple power outage, unfortunately there was no one on to turn the damn thing on. Sucks, but we're back.
Let me begin by saying that CGE2K2 was an incredible success. Though we didn't quite reach the 'growth' numbers we'd hoped, we did grow a teeny bit, which is incredible given the nation's economy and the fear of flying brought on by 9/11. Well over 1000 guests and a bit higher than last year's attendance.
I'm still a bit groggy, just got back in this morning but let me share with you a few of the highlights of the trip TO CGE... from New York to Vegas, over 2900 miles total - via a 17' U-Haul truck.
EPISODE I: The Trip
We didn't get out of NY until late afternoon on Monday, since we had to pack the truck up with stuff from both my house (museum items and the kiosks purchased at PhillyClassic) and John's (7 arcade machines), but we did manage to make it to western Pennsylvania by nightfall. We were beat from the moving of heavy objects and called it a night around 11pm. Just before pulling into the hotel, we noticed a faint aroma of anti-freeze. It dissipated as quickly as it appeared, and we were on the alert.
At the break of dawn we were back on the road, but hadn't gotten much further than eastern Indiana when we noticed the antifreeze scent was back and this time it wasn't going away. It wasn't long before a fine mist was pouring through the vents under the dash and near the defroster. It looked like a scene out of Mission Impossible, really. Scott surmised that this was a heater problem, since a trickle of liquid was also streaming from the passenger-side floor. We pulled over, and there I witnessed his truly MacGyver-like skillz.
He cut the coolant hose running to the heater and routed it around the unit, clamped it back into the circuit and we were off again, with only about an hour lost in the process. The mists subsided, there were no more smells (outside of the normal men-trapped-in-truck variety), and we were back on the road.
If you read the CGE forum then you know about the bigger breakdown in Illinois. We were waved off the road by civilians shouting out of their window. We pulled over with them and they explained that they saw one of our back tires flopping around like a rag. It was BLOWN. We could not afford to ride the heavy truck with just one wheel on the back driver side, so we pulled over and waited for the U-Haul people to come and repair it.
It was a long wait. 4 hours or so were lost.
Once we finally got back on the road we hit traffic immediately - the interstate in Illinois is a MESS, and we lost more time thanks to some construction and an opposite-side of the road accident, but after another 2 hours or so we were making progress again. By nightfall we had only reached Des Moines, Iowa and stopped there for some rest. We were about 8 hours behind schedule.
The next day (Wednesday) was all about catching up. Through Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado, we cruised. One of the trip highlights was driving into the Denver area during a massive lightning storm and stopping at the peak to eat. If you've never driven through I-70 Denver, you've never seen the most absolutely gorgeous interstate drive in the country. I've been along the Pacific Coast's rich scenery but it's nothing compared to the majesty that is the rockies. Mountainside communities, highway-side rivers, and ski lodges surround the winding roads of central Colorado. I think Scott is going to be moving there permanently. We camped out in southern Colorado (Grand Junction) where we also surmised that Colorado women are the hottest in the nation. Hence, I think I am goint to be moving there permanently as well, after my ten-year contract with my wife expires this November :)
We really needed to be in Vegas on Thursday and Scott took the entire drive through the desert as we crossed Utah and southern Nevada en route. Somewhere along the way we discovered what was to be our longest distance between two rest areas: 106 miles in central Utah. It's more than JUST a desert. It's a goddamn graveyard of nothingness. We had Vegas to look forward to and DEVO playing in the background so there were no worries.
We arrived in Vegas late that afternoon and with surprising energy. We helped a bit with setting up (though the volunteers who arrived earlier that day had taken care of the pipe and drape set-up) and met some of our forum members. I met Mat (Mayhem) for the first time, and Larry (retrogmr), Dave W (Portnoyd), Dave G (Arcade Antics) and Matt (Tempest) were already there by the time we got into town as well. A dinner, a hearty handshake, and the "trip" was over.
The rest of the pre-show details.... to be continued.
Sorry about the site AND the forums. As luck would have it, our forum admin Larry (retrogmr) was at CGE2K2 and if you hadn't heard, the server suffered a simple power outage, unfortunately there was no one on to turn the damn thing on. Sucks, but we're back.
Let me begin by saying that CGE2K2 was an incredible success. Though we didn't quite reach the 'growth' numbers we'd hoped, we did grow a teeny bit, which is incredible given the nation's economy and the fear of flying brought on by 9/11. Well over 1000 guests and a bit higher than last year's attendance.
I'm still a bit groggy, just got back in this morning but let me share with you a few of the highlights of the trip TO CGE... from New York to Vegas, over 2900 miles total - via a 17' U-Haul truck.
EPISODE I: The Trip
We didn't get out of NY until late afternoon on Monday, since we had to pack the truck up with stuff from both my house (museum items and the kiosks purchased at PhillyClassic) and John's (7 arcade machines), but we did manage to make it to western Pennsylvania by nightfall. We were beat from the moving of heavy objects and called it a night around 11pm. Just before pulling into the hotel, we noticed a faint aroma of anti-freeze. It dissipated as quickly as it appeared, and we were on the alert.
At the break of dawn we were back on the road, but hadn't gotten much further than eastern Indiana when we noticed the antifreeze scent was back and this time it wasn't going away. It wasn't long before a fine mist was pouring through the vents under the dash and near the defroster. It looked like a scene out of Mission Impossible, really. Scott surmised that this was a heater problem, since a trickle of liquid was also streaming from the passenger-side floor. We pulled over, and there I witnessed his truly MacGyver-like skillz.
He cut the coolant hose running to the heater and routed it around the unit, clamped it back into the circuit and we were off again, with only about an hour lost in the process. The mists subsided, there were no more smells (outside of the normal men-trapped-in-truck variety), and we were back on the road.
If you read the CGE forum then you know about the bigger breakdown in Illinois. We were waved off the road by civilians shouting out of their window. We pulled over with them and they explained that they saw one of our back tires flopping around like a rag. It was BLOWN. We could not afford to ride the heavy truck with just one wheel on the back driver side, so we pulled over and waited for the U-Haul people to come and repair it.
It was a long wait. 4 hours or so were lost.
Once we finally got back on the road we hit traffic immediately - the interstate in Illinois is a MESS, and we lost more time thanks to some construction and an opposite-side of the road accident, but after another 2 hours or so we were making progress again. By nightfall we had only reached Des Moines, Iowa and stopped there for some rest. We were about 8 hours behind schedule.
The next day (Wednesday) was all about catching up. Through Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado, we cruised. One of the trip highlights was driving into the Denver area during a massive lightning storm and stopping at the peak to eat. If you've never driven through I-70 Denver, you've never seen the most absolutely gorgeous interstate drive in the country. I've been along the Pacific Coast's rich scenery but it's nothing compared to the majesty that is the rockies. Mountainside communities, highway-side rivers, and ski lodges surround the winding roads of central Colorado. I think Scott is going to be moving there permanently. We camped out in southern Colorado (Grand Junction) where we also surmised that Colorado women are the hottest in the nation. Hence, I think I am goint to be moving there permanently as well, after my ten-year contract with my wife expires this November :)
We really needed to be in Vegas on Thursday and Scott took the entire drive through the desert as we crossed Utah and southern Nevada en route. Somewhere along the way we discovered what was to be our longest distance between two rest areas: 106 miles in central Utah. It's more than JUST a desert. It's a goddamn graveyard of nothingness. We had Vegas to look forward to and DEVO playing in the background so there were no worries.
We arrived in Vegas late that afternoon and with surprising energy. We helped a bit with setting up (though the volunteers who arrived earlier that day had taken care of the pipe and drape set-up) and met some of our forum members. I met Mat (Mayhem) for the first time, and Larry (retrogmr), Dave W (Portnoyd), Dave G (Arcade Antics) and Matt (Tempest) were already there by the time we got into town as well. A dinner, a hearty handshake, and the "trip" was over.
The rest of the pre-show details.... to be continued.