Ah, ChaserCon…what happens in Denver, stays in…oh screw it.
It is officially weeks after ChaserCon, my first real exposure into the world of Storm Chasing and I must say, damn I am still recovering. As I woke up the morning of Thursday Feb 11th, I realized I would soon be able to say I am no longer a NSCC virgin. I finished packing headed to Hartsfield to catch my flight to Denver. I decided to upgrade my seats, because hell, why not, I haven’t had a vacation in many years, why not live it up. I love getting to my seat and being asked what would I like to drink…hahaha, if she only knew. No Captain, so I settled in with a little Bacardi and Coke and prepared to travel across the country. I had never been to Denver, so this was exciting. Landed in Denver without incident and decided to wait around for friend, Kris Hair since his flight was arriving later than expected. After many long minutes trying to catch the shuttle, Kris and I met up with Ben Holcomb, David Drummond and Andrew Glenn who graciously came back around to the airport and picked us us and drove us to the hotel.
Checked into a great room. Lucked out and scored a nice king sized bed with a refrigerator, microwave…I was in heaven! Made my way downstairs to the bar and met up with Scott Bennett, Steve Miller and Bob Hall and discovered that Scott and Bob were doing a liquor store run…success, and even scored a “People of Wal-Mart” photo opportunity. Next came an interesting and entertaining evening with the guys for me. I made Danny Neal’s weekend by having his bag hand delivered by a cab by Amtrak, since they lost his bag-or better stated…didn’t even put the bag on the train. I was glad I was able to help him out, it was funny watching how amazed everyone was that I actually pulled it off. Boobs, poles and “dancing” entered into the picture and ended the evening with a get together in Steve Miller and Hans Schroeder room.
Awoke Friday, way to early for my taste and headed downstairs to the “breakfast buffet.” I put that in quotes, because yeah I am sure it might have been good when it was originally brought out and not 4 hours later like when I ate it. A whirlwind of activity surrounded us as we were getting the ChaserTV table set up. I was a folding maniac and got all the T-Shirts folded for the guys, while socializing with all that mingled around the vendor room. Friday night included a great dinner at Famous Dave’s with the gang and an early night to bed.
Saturday was a big day, watching Jon Davies, Josh Wurman, Tim Marshall present was amazing. Getting up close and personal with the DOW 7 truck was extremely cool. Even got the chance to do an interview with The Weather Channel for a special they are airing the beginning of April, no I am not sure when…so don’t ask. Also had some great discussions with others including Brandon Ivey, Shawna Davies, Bill and Anna Stromberg. After a well deserved nap, we all went to Texas de Brazil for dinner. Wow, if you haven’t ever been to a Brazilian steakhouse, it is something you should do. All I remember is bacon wrapped this, bald eagle with chinchillas and dolphins on a stick. But wow, did I walk away from that place fuller than I felt in a long time. And from comments I have heard, it was definitely an upgrade to the dinner that I could have had if I stayed back at the hotel. Now, living in Georgia, I am used to weird weather but waking up to the ability to get a tan during the day to snow that night was a big stretch for me. A group of us hung out in Scott Bennett and Ben Holcomb’s room for the night.
Denver was great! I had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed myself. There are things I will do different next year, now that I know. It was nice getting to know the people I have talked to over the last year.
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