Fanfest 2017: Travel Day

Sunday was a travel day as I headed to Fanfest. Up until I left for the airport, everything went according to plan except for one little detail. I could not lock my suitcase. The little metal loops had broken and would no longer accommodate a lock. Luckily, I still had an old suitcase that had a broken handle that no longer extends I could use. Hey, one makes do.

Getting to the airport was a breeze. As in, what is usually about a 50-60 minute ride only took 35 minutes. Apparently by placing exceedingly high tolls along a 6 mile stretch of road, the state of Illinois made travel to the airport much faster for those willing to pay. I guess no poors allowed.

I wanted to time my arrival for approximately when the baggage check-in opened, but instead was the first one on the scene. Not wanting to just stand around, I found a seat and watched as people trickled into the line. I took a couple of pictures and then around 3:30 joined the queue.

The line formed early

Did I mention pictures? In addition to my phone camera, I bought a new digital camera that cost more than $35. It cost quite a bit more, but in fairness I did get $115 off. Hopefully I manage to get some good shots. I would have taken some pictures of the plane, but the windows in the waiting area were frosted. Kind of weird, especially as Icelandair has some of their aircraft painted with some nice color-schemes. CCP might want to consider hiring the designer to create some SKINs.

I'll admit this year was not as eventful waiting at the gate as previously. Last year, nine people from Tweetfleet showed up on the flight, along with CCP Manifest and Andrew Groen. I didn't know anyone and honestly didn't try to find the spaceship nerds. The closest I came was at the check-in when I talked with the guy at the counter about EVE. He's tried to play a couple of times, but never really gotten into the game. I told him a little about Fanfest and that the biggest flood of nerds would come through on Monday.

The flight itself was uneventful. Well, I guess some people might consider 30 minutes of turbulence an event, but I barely noticed. I tried to sleep for once on the flight out to Iceland, but the best I managed was a semi-slumber. Still, that's better than I usually do.

My current state is sitting in the lobby of the hotel, waiting until 2pm for check-in to begin. Since I reserved a single room, they can't fit me in. So I went over and ate breakfast at the Laundromat Cafe before writing this post.

I guess I should add one last thing. I always enjoy travelling to Europe because Kit Kats are made by Nestle, not Hershey. Yes, the chocolate is better, plus the variations are much greater than in the States. I just tried the Chunky Cookie Dough and I highly recommend it.