Zub Tales

I made it back from Atlanta in one piece. I can’t believe that the road trip and everything else actually went almost entirely as planned.

We were stopped at the Canada/US border for half an hour or so. I was worried they’d want tons of information on Gala’s internship, but it turns out they were more worried about me trying to live in the US illegally. In the end, we were let through, but I found the whole thing a bit amusing.

Driving down to Atlanta went quite well. Gal and I missed a turn off in Detroit… that took us on an inadvertent tour of the city’s slums. AFter a few U-Turns and some directions, we got on the I-75. From there it was relatively smooth sailing minus a few traffic slowdowns and nasty rain in Ohio.

Friday morning we made it to Stone Mountain, Georgia and the White Wolf offices. Most of the gang went out with us over the weekend for drinks, some dancing and playing pool. It was actually more low key than normal, which was probably for the best. I don’t think my body is ready for con-season just yet.

Saturday afternoon, Brian took us around Atlanta to some cool shops and neat places. We ended up wandering the stores of the Atlanta Underground and I found a nifty Magic shop that sold magic tricks and taught people how to use them professionally. That was a real blast from the past for me… When I was in Grade 5-6, I thought I was going to grow up to be a Magician or something. After a few demonstrations by the guy running the store, I broke down and indulged in buying a few tricks. It should be fun relearning some magic and playing with that over the summer.

Sunday was our strange quest to the Renaissance Fair. Mike and Justin hatched the idea to crash the Georgia Ren Fair while wearing silly hats and getting hideously drunk.

4 of the brave morons who attacked Ren Fair Georgia.

Although we’d predicted a multitude of freaks would be out in abundance and that we’d be tossed out within an hour or two of arriving, we actually stayed the whole afternoon and had a pretty good time. We were rowdy, stupid and decently soused. Even American beer can taste okay when you need something cold to keep from overheating.

Justin and Mike demonstrate the proper White Wolf fencing technique.

The sun was blazing, and I think the alcohol mixed with the extreme heat slowed down our rampage. By the time we left, everyone was pretty exhausted. Oh yeah, the freaks were out in full force, but really no worse than any convention I’ve been to. Lots of costumes and yelling of “Huzzah” and all that stuff…

White Wolf owns their own pool hall/bar now, so that gave us a good HQ to work from for our weekend entertainment. The bar (called the Independent) serves Strongbow to boot, which instantly raises it several more points in my eyes.

Monday morning I packed up and dropped off Gal at the office. We’d both been going so fast all weekend that we’d barely had time to realize how soon I’d be gone. When she finally saw me off to the car, it hit me quick just before saying good-bye. Even though I thought I wouldn’t cry… it rushed up inside me and we both just held each other and sobbed. I don’t care how unmanly or teenage-romance novel shitty that sounds. I held her tight and had a real reminder of how deeply I feel for her and what we have together.

I made excellent time back to Toronto. The scenery flew by and I drove the entire day barely stopping or feeling tired. The Canadian border was a breeze on the way back, even with a trunk full of White Wolf books for the Udon boys and me.

I woke up this morning to the emptiness of not having her at the apartment. For all the hooplah I’ve made about personal space and having time to myself lately… now it looks like I’m going to eat crow. It’s too quiet and I don’t know if I’ll get used to it. I can’t wait to hear about her adventures down south, though… should be a blast.