Or "The Grand Evening Out"

Everyone woke up early again and we went down for breakfast at the Holiday Inn before packing up and traveling to the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Once again, we got in early and snagged a parking spot that was even better than yesterday's. I cannot stress the importance of this enough.

First up, the martial arts panel. There's even more to fight choreography than I realized, so maybe it's time to start taking akkido courses at the Nat when I get home. It might help me move better both in and out of the suit. So many commitments, so little time. After that, we did some convention hall recon before we had a bit of lunch, watched some corny short films.

That was followed by the costume parade orientation. We lucked out and were able to check in a bit early, so we unpacked and set about preparing Baragon for a test sortie. I left the green room and managed to get into a fight with one of the Godzilla cosplayers, resulting in a rather amusing reenactment of the bout from GMK. I took up my stance but got shoved over by Godzilla and wound up struggling on my back! I eventu We did a spin of the main convention floor and even squeezed through the vendor crowd...although by then I had attracted the squee, and Legrand was off doing a panel. Oops. On the plus side, I had a close encounter with the Squee, so it's all wonderful.

After that, my sister took the mosasaur partial for a spin and we wandered the con hall, during which time we caught up with Legrandzilla at his table in the vendor hall. We even ran across one of those 1.2m MireGoji plushies, although it was far beyond our budget and the transport capacity of the car. Then we spent a few minutes at the yokai panel before we returned to the room.

Time for a quick dinner. The pizza was much better tonight as we were able to beat the rush into the restraunt, and even had mushrooms. We were next to a young cosplayer and his father and shot the breeze for a while.

6PM - Green Room Prep. An hour was spent in preparation, followed by what seemed like an eternity in the hall queuing up for the parade. My sister was always there to act as publicist, life support, and spotter. Without her, none of this would have been possible. We even got to meet LeGrand, picked up a ton of compliments, and posed for many a photograph. I think I even met <da:KaijuSamurai. (Matt Frank) along the way and got a lot of motion coaching help from someone whose name I can't remember...but their help really ensured that I could sell it.

Then came the big event--the Cosplay Parade. The crowds. The cheering. Those lumbering steps up the ramp. I got my chance to really strut my stuff, and who knows how many photographs were taken of me in the suit. I crouched down, roared, and shook my head. It was...an *experience*.

So now I sit here in the hotel room at the Crowne Plaza, doing my best to wind down from one of the best days of my life. To those of you who encouraged me to go to G-Fest, you were right, it's not going to turn me into a chiphead. It's a chance to be something that I'm not, even if it means being sweaty and standing in line until my legs want to turn to jello. It's still rad.

You know, big Gfantis plushies seem like they'd be a fun thing to make. Although maybe that's just con buzz and sleep deprivation talking...zzzzz...long road ahead...zzz...