atlanta

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ATLANTA ARISE!

Being the next part of my US trip.

As BotCon wound down, we began to get organised to leave. M_Sipher was driving us, and his car was a standard sedan. Thing is, with all our BotCon haul, we were packed in like sardines in the back, and the boot of the car was full to capacity. We'd had to rethink our packing once or twice to maximise our load. Hoop was shotgun, while Lith and myself, as the smallest members of the group, were packed into the back along with much of the booty we had no room in the boot for. Also, please note: keep a pair of shorts SEPARATE when packing.. jeans are in no way suitable for being packed into a car in the sun.So, having said goodbye to those friends of ours who were up and leaving themselves, we set out southwards.

The Siphermobile, in all it's glory.

Who is driving? OH MY GOD! SIPHER IS DRIVING!
HOW CAN THAT BE!?

Like a monkey in a safari park, Walky loves to climb on cars. So keep your windows up.

Sipher has the best taste in music. We started our trip with The Aquabats' "Vs. The Floating Eye Of Death", and also got to hear some Man or Astroman?, Madness, an audio version of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode "Untamed Youth", and a good amount of They Might Be Giants. I'm surprised Lith survived the three guys singing along with TMBG with her sanity intact.

We stopped for fuel and some snacks, and went into Meijer. We all were wandering through the toy section, chatting about various figures, like the Reboot line, when we realised Z@nd@r was with us. Since we had no idea where he had come from, my guess is he stowed away in the car somehow, maybe the glovebox. We gathered our supplies, and headed to the car. I was polishing off my bottle of Pepsi Blue, when Hooper_X offered me my first Twinkie. I already knew roughly what was in them.

The devil cake.

[Finback]: Uhhh, are you sure? I've got a lot of sugar in me right now. I won't take responsibility for my actions when I get all hyper.
* Hooper_X gives me Twinkie.

Eeeee. Not... bad. In a "I can handle eating one of these probably every six months or so" way.

Onwards we drove.

Eventually, I decided to consume my BotCon exclusive lollipop. Mmmmm. We didn't know the flavour at the time we ate them, but they were white grape flavoured. Tasty, though. Plus, I had no idea if customs would actually let me take it back into Australia. And it was sugar.

Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots

Me defeating Prime.

We stopped in Kentucky to stretch our legs, and visit the bathroom. When we left, I was most impressed by the mountains. Lush, and heavily wooded. Very pretty.

Lithrael couldn't wait.

All up, the drive took us something like.. 14 hours. But given we stopped a few times, and got food, it was probably more like 11 or so. It was really good fun, in a cramped, overheated way, to spend time roadtripping with some great friends.

We stopped for dinner late, about 9pm, and Hoop got to see (and comment on snarkily) about a mallrat (we ended deciding mallvoles or mallemmings were better terms) wandering around in little cut off jeans-shorts, with the fly and buttons wide open. I had a big slice of pizza, which I shared with Lithrael, since she had so much fried rice and wanted something a little diverse.

Our pre-dinner entertainment was Hooper_X and Dance Dance Revolution.

We drove deep into the night, stopping in at Siph's to unload a bit of stuff, giving Lith and myself a little more room. We arrived late, grabbed the basics out of the car, and crashed, not awakening until midday (later for some) the next day. That last day was spent lazily playing with toys, watching videos, and eating heartily. Sipher and Lith decided to stay one more night, and the next morning, we helped them load up their respective vehicles, and all said our goodbyes, and moved out in convoy, Lith and Siph home, Hooper and myself onto other adventures.

Sitting in a gas
station somewhere.

I was still setting
the camera up.

Whee! The Awesome Foursome!

Siph leads the way.

Wednesday, we had arranged to head into Atlanta, and meet with a good friend of ours, Abby. We met up and went for pizza, which was quite tasty, and then wandered some of the shops around the place. There was some weirdly cool things there. A Hawaiian shirt, covered with old B-movie monster film posters... for about $54US. Ow. Likewise with one made of covers of old issues of Playboy. Godzilla drink toppers! Tiki lights! I ended up buying a bright green drinking mug based on the Easter Island heads. I love it so. Hoop had to go to work, so I went with Abby back to her house. We watched some tv, then went to a manicure appointment she had, and then met her parents. We chatted for probably two hours about all kinds of stuff, and then they took me to dinner! :D We had Italian, one of my favourites. I didn't even get to eat half my meal because I kept being asked questions. :) Abby ran me home, where I crashed out fairly soon after.

Abby and Hooper_X

Abby and Fin.

Thursday we had planned to go to a museum, but both Hoop and I overslept. I awoke thinking it must be 8:30am or so. It was almost midday. So we hung around the house, watching GI Joe episodes, and having a few laughs. Hoop went to work in the evening, and so I jotted down a rough report of BotCon, and updated my journal I was keeping, adding reminders about stuff to do when I got home, and some sketches.

Friday we woke up, and got ourselves ready to go, since we were going to see this museum, before I had to catch the train that night. If you'd like to read my small report on the Fernbank Museum, click here.

After that, we headed back home to get my stuff ready to leave, and so Hoop could head to work. His parents ran me to the train station, where I had an eight o'clock ride to New York. Thanks again, Mr and Mrs. Hooper_X (names changed to protect the innocent)..

Sixliner doesn't like you.

I couldn't believe this:
a toy Macrauchaenia.

I am the SKA BOSS.

Two bruthas.

<--- Click here to return to BotCon Day 3. Click here to go on to New York. --->

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