Pictures? Click here to see the entire convention pictures.

Well with Vijay in the car, we were ready to start the long drive into Georgia. Whoever though a state as small as Georgia could take an excess of two to three hours just to get through it! We were very lucky not to hit Atlanta at rush hour. That would be alot of bad luck. Along the way up and back down from Indianapolis we occasionally had a few squish bomb and bouncy (super) ball fights in the van. Basically, for anyone not aware of the crazy stuff we do together, we throw soft plastic balls at one another trying not to hit people in the face. Pegging the driver is off limits too. Although it can be a wake up call for the driver.

Speaking of bad luck, we hit Tennessee pretty late off our schedule, I'd say around 10-11ish in the evening. I think we were still on I-75 or I-24 or some other interstate. Doesn't really matter. But all of a sudden it got really cloudy and started raining. Our farmer's almanac was wrong about today's weather conditions going to Indianapolis from Florida. Nothing sucks more than pelting rain, lack of daylight, and alot of semis boxing you in on a steep mountain road. Anyways, Heidi was driving and she saw a bunch of leaves twisting around in a circular fashion. She quickly looked above into the sky and she like punched 100 MPH at that very second saying a few words that I can never say here on the Pojo.com site. She swears that she saw the formation of a tornado. At the time I thought it was her lack of sleep, caffeine, or all the other bad luck she was enjoying. But uh we stop at a hotel in Kentucky somewhere for the night and wake up to a newspaper stating "LARGE STORMS IN TENNESSEE, TORNADOS." I suddenly have a lot of faith in Mrs. Craig's driving abilities.

Following continental breakfast, we hit the road again for the rest of the trip through Kentucky and onto Indianapolis. 3:00pm we show up at our reserved hotel room in Indianapolis. Heidi booked the room online from Expedia. Eric, Vijay, and myself start unloading the van for our room. Once settled in the room with our baggage and all family members, I ask the burning question that everyone was probably to tired to ask... "Where's the fridge?" Everyone frantically looks for it in the now VERY small hotel room. I suppose the entire party was too fatigued to even notice that the walls looked crappy, the beds were smaller than the hotel we stayed at in Kentucky, and the hot new video game system connected to the television was the Nintendo64.

ACK! Vijay gets on his cell phone and starts calling his friends who have also trekked up from Florida to see where they are staying, discovering that one of his buddies is staying at a hotel for the same price as our little shack with a fridge, microwave, and very spacious room. Sighs of relief are heard once Vijay relays the message that there is still space left at that hotel. Heidi calls up Expedia with some sappy story that her and her husband rented this room and he cant even fit in the beds and the bathroom was dirty and there was no fridge, the only truthful part. Expedia offers to refund her money or book her another hotel. For The Love Of Christ No! She takes the refund and goes up to the front desk telling them that we are leaving and retells the story in all its glory. Meanwhile, we repack the van again. I get back to the room with for the last piece of luggage and I notice the van keys there... they have a little button that unlocks and locks the doors as well as one that sounds the van's alarm. Fun. Eric, Vijay, and Miranda were sitting in the car waiting for the rest of the party and Heidi, Orion, and myself decide to set of the alarm. You could that van honking and wailing from the lobby. The doors unlocked and locked over and over. And one person just happened to be next to our van unloading his car. He told Vijay to take out the battery, that's how you fix that problem. ROFL!

Once again, our crack headed crew of Pokemon players heads out towards our next hotel. This time, once we arrive, we don't unload until we see the condition of the room. It was perfect for the price. Once unloaded, Vijay runs off to go see his friends in the same hotel and Heidi and myself stop at Super Target down the street to supply ourselves with more food for the room. Meanwhile Eric, Miranda, and Orion start a super ball fight in the room. We get back and it looks like world war three with all the balls everywhere. No prob as long as the people staying to the right of us don't complain to management.

Then once we think our bad luck ends, the toilet overflows. Joy. Heidi runs up to the front desk asking for someone to clean it up. Unfortunately the maid staff wasn't in the hotel this late and she said that we would have to move rooms... again. Heidi replies with a big fat "No, if you have a plunger, I go fix the problem." And she fixed the problem. Then had to get a mop. She is like super mom. Most mothers would be like "AHHH! Its a turd!" but no, not Heidi. Relieved, Heidi then tries to put her valuables (not cards) into the safe. Safe doesn't work either. Did I mention that we've had extreme bad luck?

Not as much as the GenCon management and staff probably had organizing the event this year in Indianapolis. I had the misfortune of waiting too long to get my badge shipped to me in time, so I had to go pick it up from the Pre Registration Booth. Heidi and myself walk in there and although the Pre Registration line was short and sweet, ANYONE who did not register had a line longer than any theme park attraction. We heard that the entire new registration system crashed completely that day. I feel very very sorry for those who had to wait in that line. I know BondiBorg was one of those individuals. Takes alot of guts man, I would've bought a hundred to sell to folks. Seems were not the only ones plagued by bad luck. We then run to the press room and I pick up my badge with some press releases from various companies.

Back at the hotel, the room starts into final deck testing. Heidi was very concerned about the Team Championships, having never competed in one. Vijay and myself pair up together against Heidi and Eric to run one final team match. BTW, Vijay had some friends that had to wait in line too but he spent the entire time there asking people for DBZ Packs that came in every free gift bag. One of the pictures in the album shows some of the left over boosters. Crazy stuff. Completely ready for the first day of GenCon to start tomorrow, I was ready to try my best, meet some folks, and then break a few keys.

-GymLeaderPhil