If you're going to San Francisco Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair...

So I went to San Francisco, California for the last weekend in June, to attend the Evolution Expo started and run by Julie Caitlen Brown (I know her from Babylon 5, Na'Toth).  My nephew Erick joined me.  It was Very Fun.  There weren't very many people there, though.   Here's a brief synopsis:

 Cute bag, huh?

Thursday

• Arrive at airport.  discover Erick will not be joining me until Friday (oops)
• Take shuttle to hotel and check in.
• Decide to take a nap before getting dinner.
• 11 hours later...  I swear there's something in those matressess that make me want to sleep.  Too comfortable.  I should look into buying one for my home (at over $1000 I think maybe not)

Friday

• Decide to see what the Fitness Center is like in this Marriot hotel.  It is fabulous.  I do a complete workout.  My trainer was very proud.
• Have breakfast at the hotel.  Very tasty, but about 5 times what I'd pay anywhere else.  Decide not to go back.
•  Get ready, put on Serenity T-shirt for the first day
• Go get in registration line to pick up my badge and stuff.  Except there isn't a line.  There's one other person, and it doesn't look like the staff quite know what's going on yet.
• Get my stuff and sit down to wait for the dealer's room to open.  Meet Johanna, the other person that was in line.  Have a nice talk about cons and things like that.  Make friends.Dealer's room opens.  We head over, stopping by the dealers booths in the hallway first.  Not many of them.  That should have been our second clue.  The lack of people at the check-in line should have been the first.

The Framed Picture that the dealer wanted me to buy.










 

• Go into the Exposition Hall.  Look around.  There are maybe 12 dealers.  See the Autograph tables all set up with lines and everything.  No one is there.  See the photo booths across the room.  No one there either.  The poor dealers are bored and sad.  They talk to us.  This freaks me out but Johanna runs interference for me.

• Get to go see the brief planetarium show by the local science center.  Decide I really should make plans to go to the Science Center next time.
• Go get my picture taken with Wendy Lawrence, Astronaut.  She was just great.  Later I got our picture signed by her.
• Lose Johanna somehow, so I go get lunch.
• Return and go in to see Garret Wang (Voyager, Ensign Harry Kim).  He was great.  Very funny, some really good stories
• Erick finally arrives!!!!!  We go to the room, he takes a few minutes, then we take him to lunch. 



John Rhys-Davies, of course!




• Return, go see Kevin Sorbo and John Rhys-Davies.  Later get picture taken with John.  He was very sweet.  Very cuddly.

• Go get dinner.  Return and watch The Three Musketeers in the room until Concert Time.
• 10:00pm, go to concert.  Spock's Beard was first.  They were good, but appeared to be mostly instrumental.  We did notice their lips moving, but we didn't hear any vocals.  
• Jefferson Starship!!!!!  They were fabulous.  Even if they did all look like they should be in a retirement home instead of on stage at midnight.  But they were so wonderful.  Grace Slick is A-MAZE-ING!!
• Bed time.  FINALLY!

Spock's Beard

Jefferson Starship!!

Saturday

Erick, Yoda, and me

• Sleep in. Well, ok I'm still on Eastern Time so I still woke up early for me and decided to go do kettlebell swings at the Fitness Center.  Yes, they had kettlebells.
• Walked to Starbucks for breakfast.  It was ok, but seriously, Starbucks is not a good place for breakfast.
• Return to our room for me to change into my Jedi outfit.
• Took Erick through the Dealer's room.  That didn't take long.
• Got my autographs from Kevin Sorbo, Jason Momoa, and John Rhys-Davis.  And Garrett Wang.  So excited
• Went to John Rhys-Davis' panel, then to two of the Hard Science lectures presented by Dr Christopher McKay (no relation to Dr McKay on Stargate Atlantis) and Dr John Jaquish.  Dr McKay runs the rovers on Mars, Dr Jaquish invented a machine that cures osteoperosis.  Amazing.

Dr Mckay

Dr Jaquish

• Returned to the Main Stage to see the last bit of Ty Olsson, who was so funny.  Mostly returned to see Amanda Tapping and Jason Momoa though.  They were fabulous. I love Amanda Tapping; she's an incredible woman.



Amanda Tapping, Jason Momoa, and Ty Olsson who crashed their panel (no one minded)




• Stayed to see Garrett Wang again.  Erick didn't get to see him the first time.

• For dinner walked down to the Jack London Pier.  It was so very nice.  Went to see How to Train Your Dragon 2 as well.  That was really good.
• Walked back to the hotel; Stopped at a grocery store so we wouldn't need to run for breakfast in the morning.
•  tried to decide whether or not to attend the costume contest that started at 10:00pm (they had events for the Elite and Gold members Friday and Saturday evening, but nothing for us general peons).  Fell asleep.  Guess I didn't go.  Oh well.  I heard it was fun.

Jack London Square. It was a gorgeous day.

 Sunday

Jason Momoa.  Yes, that's a painting of him as Khal Drogo

•  Sleep in again.  No workout on Sundays.
• Dress in my Witch costume.
• Avoid the dealer's room - well, walk in to show the one dealer my outfit.  She was great, and had a beautiful necklace with a rocket and a Jupiter stone that I bought.  Totally went with my Jedi outfit.  Not so much with my Witch outfit
• Talk to one of the dealers outside the dealer's room.  He thought I looked like I did Wiccan ceremonies.  I told him I just like Harry Potter.
• Go to all the panels on the main stage: Tim Russ and Garrett Wang, John Rhys-Davis, Ty Olsson, Amanda Tapping, Jason Momoa.

• The next panel was brought together by Gene Roddenberry's son, a bunch of people in the space and technology business. One of whom runs a company that's trying to get back to the moon.  I need to send them my resume.

The Roddenberry Panel

Punky Brewster - uh, Mayim Bialik

• Then the final panelist was Mayim Bialik.  Punky Brewster has a degree in neuroscience.  And she currently works on The Big Bang Theory.  She was interesting, but I do believe she's had it too easy.  She thinks getting a job in Hollywood is as simple as asking for one.  After Garrett's stories about how he went to auditions for a year with nothing, I think she has been very blessed.
• Finally done, I changed, then we went for Chinese.  We were two blocks away from China Town in Oakland.  It was so yummy.
•  Returned to the hotel.  Packed, I went to bed. Erick watched another movie.

The last shot of everyone involved.  They did a great job for a first-year con.

Monday

• got up and worked out again.  I miss that Fitness Center.  I want one in my house.
• The rest is pretty standard - we checked out of the hotel and then we got the shuttle back to the airport.  Erick's flight left a lot earlier than mine.

Alcatraz - crossing the Bay Bridge, on the way to the airport

So that was my trip.  Ok, so maybe not so brief.   It was fun though.