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Tennessee

The Tennessee Road Trip
         At some point during 1997
Nashville, Tennessee
(1st of its kind anywhere in the world...)

by Pandorasbox

Once upon a time, there was this bunch of semi-drunk, crazy people standing around yappin'  in a VR bar. As they passed the time flirting outrageously, dodging whipped cream, and attempting to teach the Puffin to dance... one of them suddenly had an loony idea.

"Hey - I wanna meet her and you wanna meet him and they wanna meet me, so why don't we all just kinda pick a spot in the middle and hang out?"

WELL, now. THERE was a concept. Discussion became quite lively on the subject. Dates were mentioned. Sites were pondered. By the time the unfortunate PandorasBox stumbled into the bar, the committee had examined a map and chosen Nashville as being suitably equidistant.  (Though why anyone would want to go to Nashville in late November remains a mystery.) Since Pan suffered the distinction of being the only one about who had a rough notion of what was IN Nashville, she was elected to hunt down a hotel. Note -- never choose a hotel that claims to have a bar but fails to provide a picture of it on the website.

As the fateful date approached, the list off attendees grew... Likeness, Red Janis, Princess Passion, GentlemanJ, Koolhaas, CaRyan and RippleMDP were making plans. PandorasBox was doubtful - she'd have to rent a car. SeeRay, Lilli, Steppi (AKA PaPu), Sharsee and Procras108er were also unsure... scheduling was tight. Bribes, trade-offs and downright arm-twisting ensued....

The day arrived. Pan drove her rental car 3 hours to Nashville. When she got there, she suddenly realized she had no idea what names to ask for at the desk. How embarrassing. Entering the side door, she spotted a petite blonde sitting in the lobby and wondered, "Could that be Princess?. What am I gonna do - walk up and say, 'Excuse me - are you by any chance PP? Or Princess Passion?' ". * One sounds about as bad as the other if she turned out to be a stranger. *  She wandered up to the desk watching the blonde to see if she showed any interest in new arrivals... and suddenly found herself stammering to the desk clerk. "Uh.. I am looking for ...the Tiki party? *gulp* Or Imagicans?? Names?? Ummmm well...I don't know their names...." <crowd forming behind desk looking terribly amused and wondering what sort of fruitcakes were staying there THAT weekend>

The clerk pointed at the blonde and said, "Well, she was asking the same thing - was that who you were looking for?". Now there was nothing to do but wander over and say something.

Three seconds later, it was all hugs and laughter and luggage piled together as they waited for rooms to be ready and/or new arrivals. :-))

Half an hour later, Gent and Red Janis stumbled off the airport shuttle bus and into the lobby. Hugs and more hugs ... and surprise! Rooms were ready!! Off they went to a tiny little party room to settle in. Awkward conversation for a few minutes... then things loosened up as everyone dug out their favorite CDs and clamored to play DJ. They knew Koolhaas was still due any minute...and no one knew when Ripple would arrive. Likeness and CaRyan were due in later that night. Suddenly a head peeked around the corner, looking doubtful. It was our man KOOL!! Silly grins all around!!

Having had another round of hugs, they decided to wander back downstairs in search of... well, the bar. It was not open. Pan proceeded to march out to the valet and immediately demanded to know the whereabouts of the nearest liquor store. She then turned around and announced, "Foraging trip! Everybody in my car!" (The group was overwhelmed by her hitherto unbeknownst leadership skills. And yes, you CAN fit 5 grown people into a Geo. You better be pretty darned friendly, though.)

They descended upon the liquor store like locusts. Pan wrestled her purse back from Koolhaas, who had decided he looked fetching with it during the car ride. Gent headed straight for the tequila *big surprise*. Gent also poked fun at Pan for purchasing 2 1.5 liter bottles of wine. *She had the last laugh the next day when he had to return to liquor store for MORE tequila* >;-P

Back to the hotel. Time for some serious partying. They threw the music on and met Puffin and Jake, whom Red Janis had faithfully recreated in stuffed animal form. (Well, ok - so Jake was a hand puppet and they had to stuff a Coke can up his tail to make him sit up properly on the desk/bar.) Gent sat on the bed between Pan and PP and got repeatedly THWACKED for his shamelessly tasteless sense of humor. Gent also made the mistake of picking Pan up and forcibly dragging her back into the room for a photo op - and in the process had nearly gotten emasculated. *serves him right*

After a few hours of nonsense and pizza, they wandered down to the PATHETICALLY small bar off the lobby to watch for new arrivals.

Upstairs in the room again, the crowd babbled itself silly. *Ring ring* Telephone! What? Sharsee and Procras108er were in the lobby! An emissary was sent to fetch them! WOW that tiny room was getting crowded - thank god for deodorant! More hugs!! Things were really rolling now - Red Janis demonstrated a curious style of tequila drinking from a too-full-to-even-be-picked-up shot glass. Dancing ensued....

Next morning found Pan first up, rousing Ripple for coffee. Ripple had crashed in the party room - he told her tales of dodging paper cuts from the night before. The Tiki banners Gent had taped to the walls kept falling on him in the middle of the night. The two were discovered by rest of party staring at coffee maker like 2 desperate junkies waiting for a hit. (Much has been made of a certain person's coffee addiction since then. Especially after she was caught hugging her mug like a life preserver at breakfast the next day.).

After breakfast, the hunt was on for an Internet cafe. Phone book research revealed only one possibility - right across the street from the liquor store. *how handy!*

Within minutes, AW was installed and the "Road Trippers" were searching for net citizens with whom to share their discoveries. This turned out to be a bit awkward, since most of the regulars were IN Nashville at the time. Nevertheless, word spread and soon there was a VR party in Imagica, too

Having laid the groundwork for contact - they scurried back to the hotel to devastate some pizza and wait upon the arrival of SeeRay, Steppi and Lilli.

Lo and behold - near 5 p.m., came the call from the lobby! They were there! Room numbers were supplied and the group waited in breathless anticipation.

They entered.

Introductions were made again...Lilli does a wonderful job of guessing who is whom right until she gets to Pan. She looked puzzled. *Apparently PandorasBox did not look like she expected...it is likely Lilli was expecting a fire-breathing she-dragon, and not the timid waif that greeted her.* <I heard that - shaddup - no one asked yer opinion.>

They all set off to dinner across the street - and discovered during menu perusal that Lilli and PaPu had to return almost immediately. Since Steppi needed sleep on the way back due to an early morning departure the next day for parts unknown, and Lilli was unfamiliar with a stick-shift ... that meant SeeRay had to go back also to drive them.

Massive bummer.

Ever heard of the barter system? Over lunch, SeeRay's continued presence was bought for the price of one rental car. The ever self-sacrificing Pan swapped her car for him. * When she retrieved the vehicle the next day, Liili and Steppi had expressed their gratitude by leaving the volume at full throttle - nearly blasting her through the windshield when she started the car*

At any rate - being well fed and having settled THAT question, the group once again traipsed back to the hotel.  Once there, they gathered for what turned out to be a true learning experience.

Steppi taught them "The Luck of the Irish". For those who have never had the pleasure of experiencing this particularly humiliating exercise - it consists of having the participants recite an ever-expanding list of 10 tongue twisters, preferably while somewhat intoxicated. By the time one reaches the famous "fig plucker" line, one is fortunate not to have suffered at least 3 crippling self-embarrassments.

Shortly after, Lilli had everyone submit to having their pics taken. She took great care to make sure that every possible grouping of attendees was photographed. * Too bad she forgot to make sure the film was in the camera - not one pic survived hehe*  Then, after many hugs and a few tears, a sad goodbye was said to Lilli and Steppi as they departed for home. Their stay was far too brief. :-( 

Shortly, the crowd decided to drag their new hostage out to show him the Cybercafe they had found. They  scrambled into the available cars to make the trek to the cafe - and the liquor store. (Couldn't forget the liquor store, now could we??) CaRyan demonstrated a new driving technique that involved crossing 2 lanes and cutting in front of Pan's rental car to make a left turn that nearly forced her to return to the hotel for a change of underwear. The bemused cafe staff watched as all 13 internet junkies took turns logging in to spread rumors about each other and generally run amok. SeeRay generously allowed everyone to use his ID - that nice bold print did wonders for everyone's ego. As a matter of fact - Pan got a little carried away and did the unthinkable - she used SeeRay's steel-toed boots and ejected a smart-aleck Wolfneyetna for hassling her, right in front of God and everybody. *Some claim the power went to her head, can you imagine?*

Eventually the group bade a fond farewell to the cafe staff, went across the street to ransack the handy-dandy liquor store again, and returned to the hotel.

At this point SOME people chose to depart to explore the wonders of Nashville. Names will not be named, but they were the same two people who had claimed it would be a "couple" trip and since they were "singles", they'd probably be abandoned most of the time in the party room while all the others were off smooching or some such nonsense. It will be noted that these same were the most notably absent during a good portion of the festivities. *I would tell you who it was, but she might kick my butt*

The rest of the group had a marvelous time playing party games that Sharsee and Procras108er had brought with them. One called "Catchphrase" worked something like a cross between "Password" and "Hot Potato" and involved the men and women dividing into teams and trying not to get caught with the timer in their hands when the buzzer went off. Between rounds they would occasionally beat on the walls for one couple or another as people retired for the evening. Deciphering the clues amidst all the giggles was quite a challenge.

Finally the last of the hard-core party animals left the room and poor Ripple was allowed to catch a few hours' sleep.

The next morning, the group straggled in to breakfast at the restaurant downstairs. Pan staggered in dead last and the entire table hurriedly shoved every coffee urn to her end of the table and snickered as she blearily nursed what caffeine remained to be had.

As they sat at the table and discussed departure plans, it was plain that not one would have traded that weekend for anything. The experience of putting faces with all those virtual names, learning what each person sounded like when they "LOLed", sharing tickles and jokes and anecdotes without the constraints of one's personal typing skills - these were things to be cherished. When breakfast was reluctantly ended, there was a mass of hurried hugs, kisses and not a few tears. Plans were brewing for another reunion even as that first one was ending.

And so the story of that first Imagica Road Trip comes to an end.


There is no way to tell you of all that occurred that magical weekend - and this story is far too long as it is. Just remember one thing...if you ever have the opportunity to attend a Road Trip, if there is any way at all you could possibly make it there - DO IT. Words cannot tell you what fine people these are - and how much the gift of meeting them will mean

PandorasBox