I awoke that morning at 6:30 am in somewhat of a zombie state. My headache from the night before had not gone away and I was stuck 7 foot off the ground with no way down. I considered jumping, but didn't want to jostle my brain any further. I made it down eventually.
I crept around the cabin as not to wake my sleeping roommates and started the coffee. It took 4 yrs to brew but was worth the wait. While waiting I searched out the back window into the woods behind our cabin for any signs of life. There was a flock of those vultures that seemed to be fighting over a decent meal. They were really flaunting for eachother. I never found out who won the treat.
The cabin came alive as everyone woke. We had coffee and a nice morning chatting. Kelly and I took turns looking out across the lake with the binoculars. She called them binos I called them binocs. Either way, we were super bad ass in our search efforts.
Showered, dressed and packed up we headed to the lodge for check out and to obtain our admission tix. After that, we headed to a spot called Mr. Lee's for breakfast. Good diner food. Good prices.
The conference was in full swing by the time we made our way back. There were vendor tables in every room from the window to the wall (til the sweat drops down my ......) I was in awe. I wanted to visit every table and meet every person. And I did, sometimes twice, maybe three times. Among the people in attendance were a few I had recognized from either hearing their names or seeing their faces on the web. (is it dorky to say web?) I'm not big on autographs. I mean if Tom Cruise offered me an autograph I'd tell him to "no thanks" then I'd ask if he wanted my autograph.
Anyway, I noticed Loren Coleman almost immediately. While I'm not big on autographs I was kicking myself for not bringing my book 'Bigfoot: The True Story of Apes in America'. I would have had him sign it. Sure, he's an author in a field that I'm interested in. I admire that. Right? So I decided to at least let him know that I had his book, that it was very highly suggested to me, that I haven't read it yet and that I left it at home. TaDa! I assured him I'd read it soon. It was very nice to meet him. I passed Mr. Coleman a few more times throughout the conference and he'd say "You have my book at home." I'd say "Yes, yes I do."
We made our way around all the vendor tables and met people and snagged up super cool swag (booty according to your preference). The speaker line up was awesome. The speakers I was able to sit in for were Thom Powell (easy listening, supah dupah funny guy) as well as Mark Maisel and Dr. Russ Jones's (very well informed guys and willing to share the deets) with a cameo by Jim Sherman (produces insane recordings). I also watched a bit of the auction. There were some really neat items up for bid. I had so much excitement I lost track of time. I wanted to make sure I introduced myself to the people who had been so kind and I set off. I made it a point to introduce myself to Marc Dewerth. He had done such a great job keeping everyone updated via of email and fb and the outcome was wonderful. I was glad to have found place/event where all of the info and mementos I craved were readily available. I also met with Sybilla Irwin, Joedy Cook, Eric Altman, Elusive MN.Brt (Abe), Jim Sherman, Mark Maisel and had lovely talks with a lot of other kind folks who didn't offer names but were encouraging and kind just the same.
It was nice to see that regardless of what the general population thinks of the bigfoot phenomenon, it's real and it's here and people are taking it seriously. I respect these people. I'm not sure of all the stereotypes surrounding the bigfoot community, but the people I met were kind, intelligent, funny, dedicated and determined. I think as far as stereotypes go I was probably the kookiest, whack job there. But I hid it well, I think. I look forward to attending many more conferences and in the meantime I hope to set off on my own journey into the wilds of the bigfootery world.
lol Great Stuff!
ReplyDeleteThank you. :)
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