Otakon 2007, Day 0

*Introductory note: we just sorted out Internet connections in the hotel. Day 1 is now pretty much finished, but I’m going to go ahead and chronicle Day 0 first. It’s that good.*

And so it begins.

I’m still sitting in the passenger seat of Bill’s VW Golf in Ottawa. In a few minutes we will embark on our grand journey to Baltimore and onwards to Otakon. To infamy!

We have snacks and water and ice and we’re headed for the border. Ah, road trip.

I fear for my life.

* * *

Sometime before noon.

We’re at the border. Bill’s changing his money.

It’s been raining torrents sinced we left. We’ve been struggling to keep the windshield defogged.

I got a chance to stop by my parents’ place in Belleville and say hello. I surprised them, because I didn’t know if I’d actually stop. I didn’t want to get my mom’s hopes up. I ended up fixing their DVD player. Nice visit, though, however brief.

* * *

13:30.
Nedrow, in the Onandaga Nation Territory.

We stopped in at a Pizza Hut for the buffet lunch. We were going to stop in Syracuse, but we couldn’t see anywhere obvious to get off the road.

Buffet! They actually have a chicken and tomato pizza in the buffet. Not just the usual Hawaiian and Deluxe and Pepperoni.

I’m overhearing a guy on the phone talking about how good his salad is and how somebody is taking a “consensus” about local Onandaga Nation health care. Or something.

We made it through the boarder without too much trouble. Bill actually mentioned that we were going to an anime convention and the guy gave a smirk.

* * *

18:33
Stopped at a Wegman’s outside Baltimore.

I figured we’d stop a few times more, but we’ve pretty much driven straight here.

We decided to stop at a suburban grocery store to pick up fruit and things we can’t carry across the boarder.

Since I’m here, and since I forgot my toothpaste, I decided to try to find some that didn’t have sodium lauryl sulphate.

SLS apparently causes canker sores, which aren’t fun. I hate those.

I guess the labelling laws are different in the US, because Canadian toothpaste doesn’t seem to require full ingredient lists. US toothpaste does, so I was able to find Rembrandt toothpaste that’s SLS-free. it costs $7 per tube, but maybe it’ll work out. I don’t think I’ll be stocking up, though.

We’ve been listening to Eddie Izzard pretty much the whole way in. [That](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rYT0YvQ3hs), of course, is [awesome](http://www.aboyandhiscomputer.com/show.php?ItemID=2329).