Capricon 26
Capricon 26 was held over the weekend of February 9-12, 2006 at the Sheraton Arlington Park in Arlington Heights. It's the only Chicago convention that lasts a full four days.
Because of the trouble we'd been having with our van over the last few months, including the nightmarish trip home from Windycon in November, I was pretty apprehensive about the trip. The whole way up, I kept a very close eye on all the gauges, particularly when we hit a traffic snarl in the Loop. However, everything stayed within acceptable limits and we got there in plenty of time.
In order to hold down our expenses and still be able to stay the full four days of the convention, we decided to stay at a nearby Motel 6 and drive back and forth. However, finding it proved more difficult than anticipated. We had a map, but it wasn't quite as detailed as we needed, and there was a tricky little turn we missed the first time. However, once we found the place, we were able to get checked in pretty quickly and get our personal belongings into our sleeping room.
Then we headed over to the con hotel to get our merchandise loaded in and set up. We actually got set up fast enough that I had some time to write before the doors opened for the (brief) sales period that evening.
We went to the taco bar in the con suite for supper, which helped stretch our supply of supper food. However, there really weren't that many parties, so we headed back to the Motel 6 to grab some shut-eye.
Friday morning we got up and headed over to the con hotel to get breakfast at the con suite. We also used the computers in the Internet cafe to catch up on our e-mail before we needed to get over to the dealers' room and get our tables open for business.
Business was a little slow, but reasonably steady. However, I did have some time to make notes on a novel I've been working on.
When the dealers' room closed for the evening, we headed back to the Motel 6 to get our supper. Because it was so late, we decided not to drive back for the parties. So I read a book I'd found on the freebie table until it was time to turn in.
Saturday morning we headed back to the con hotel in time to get breakfast at the con suite and use the Internet Cafe to catch up on our e-mail. Then we headed over to the dealers' room to get our tables open for sales. Business was pretty good, but I still had time to make a bunch of notes on a novel I want to write.
By the time the dealers' room closed for the evening, the weather was beginning to go downhill. By the time we were finished with supper, the roads had enough snow on them that we decided we really didn't want to drive back to the con hotel for the parties and risk having a wreck. So we just stayed put, and I did some more writing.
Sunday morning we got our personal belongings packed up and loaded out so we could get checked out. Then we headed over to the con hotel and made a quick visit to the con suite to grab breakfast and use the Internet Cafe. Then we headed over to the dealers' room to get our tables open for business.
Sales were really slow, so we went ahead and started packing early. We had everything ready when the dealers' room closed, and even had the cart loaded for the first trip out. All we had to do was get the van into position in the loading dock and we got loaded out.
On the way home the "service engine soon" light came on, but all the gauges stayed normal, so we continued on the way. However, when we got home we discovered the cat had made messes all over the house. Apparently he was still traumatized over the break-in Thanksgiving weekend, and the fear of being abandoned led him to panic and lose control.
Copyright 2012 by Leigh Kimmel
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Last updated October 21, 2012.