Regis and Jon's Excellent Adventure

By the Blessed Virgin Moose, it's been a long weekend, but damn if it wasn't fun. I'll be posting a separate tournament report later (maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow); here's the Reader's Digest version of the trip beyond the tournaments themselves:

Jon was supposed to come to my place around noon on Friday, called at a quarter after saying his departure was eminent, and finally showed up shortly before one. Or, one could say we were on Regis Standard Time. We stopped in Casper, where I enjoyed some Hot Dog on a Stick in front of Jon, who had his wisdom teeth out at the start of the week and could not join in the stick-based deliciousness. We needed to snag some new sleeves (as we were thus far limited to reflective sleeves we had on hand, and reflective sleeves aren't legit in tournament play), so we found Dave's Darts and Billiards and stocked up before continuing on to Laramie. Jon slept a good chunk of the way. After checking in with Slackers, we met up with Dillon and Mara at their place and pretty much ignored everyone else there as we resleeved our decks for Saturday and made some last minute changes. I made a run to Staples to get the new rulebook and forms for Wyoming States printed off and we got to bed before midnight.

The original plan for Saturday had been to leave Laramie around eight, leaving way more time than necessary to reach Fort Collins for the expected 10:30 opening of Gryphons Games and Comics. However, Staples didn't open until nine and I didn't want to have to fly back from Colorado without seeing Benny Boy, so we hit Staples right after it opens and picked my stuff up before venturing south into Greenland.

I'd forgotten how drastic the change on 287 is when you cross the state line - holy smokes. It rained most of the way down, but we pulled into the parking lot pretty damn close to 10:30 only to find the store dark and a small group waiting under the awning. Apparently the owner forgot to come in early, so we introduce ourselves and chat for a bit before deciding to fill out decklists in the car. I'm almost done with the first one when the store opens up.

The tournament was a lot of fun, and as expected I came out in the middle of the pack - not bad for my first constructed tournament in eight years. When it's over, we get ahold of the good sir Ketron and meet him at Mugs; from there we walked to a pub (the name of which escapes me) a few blocks away. I have a Punjabi pale ale and highland cottage pie - very tasty. Jon chats up the waitress to delightful effect as he injects his insulin after dinner. We walk back to my car and give Ben a somewhat poorly mixed CD of "Jawas," a song we recorded in the dorms on my old 4-track (I might put it up here after re-mixing it).

They were apparently drawing Powerball when we hit the gas station, so were were denied lottery tickets. I did, however, nail the amount to prepay - thirty bucks put the fuel gage smack on the full line. Jon plays a recent Hanson CD on the way back to Laramie - it was better than I expected, but that's pretty faint praise. Oh, and it was foggy for most of the drive. Back in Sobotkaville, people are playing Soul Caliber 4 as Jon and I make some tweaks to our decks for Sunday and I go over my spare decks with Roman, who is learning the game and would be borrowing them.

Before hitting Slackers on Sunday, we get some copies of command cards and decklists made at Kinkos. The Colorado crew shows up a little later than I'd hoped (my drive time estimate was to/from the edge of Fort Collins, not the south side), but we manage and earlier start time than the previous day. Turnout for the first round was only one less than Colorado States, but Dillon and Roman bail to play D&D after the second game and leave us with eight. The tourney goes smoothly and everyone has a grand time.

I'd had my hopes up for some green chile at El Conquistador following the tournament, but they were closed - lame. Jon and I settle for Wingers and, following a run to WalMart and bumping into the Black Pope, we hit The Library and meet Corley for a microbrew and Olympic women's gymnastics. Careful attention to ages is paid in an effort to minimize creepiness.

I finally get a quick game with Dillon back at his place, and narrowly win after losing my Reactor Terminal and then drawing up most of my cards trying to find it again (in my defense, it had been a long day at that point). One of my super tech moves was to Trap Door my Greedo to the Rancor Pit where he was eaten, then retrieve him with a used Double Back (courtesy of All Wrapped Up (v)). I then demolish Jon's Skrillings with my Ewoks and we call it a night.

Dillon and Mara were still asleep when we left, so we left them a note thanking them for their hospitality, even if they wouldn't let us sleep in their bed in the event of a bad dream. Jon slept most of the way back. 487 was down to one lane for two stretches, so the drive back to Casper took almost three hours. The last stretch was uneventful and we made it back safe and sound.

It was great to get out of town and see the Laramie gang - I'm already looking forward to doing it again.

Sound the attack,
Regis