Furfright 2012

[mortonfox]

To be honest, after some not-so-good experiences at Furfright 2011, I considered skipping this year. However, I discussed my concerns with kgraleopard last year and seeing as how this is the tenth Furfright, I decided to give it another chance. I'm glad I did! I see a number of changes to the way the con was run that made all the difference. Just about the only problem I saw this time was the fire alarm at 4am on Sunday, which was the fault of a prankster, not the con. I thought the dances were good this year. I liked the retro sock hop, which I also enjoyed at FAU previously. Saturday night had some good music and a fun crowd too. I also enjoyed the Thriller Crash Course on Saturday morning, even though I wasn't very good at that. I was also at the Saturday Morning Cartoons party, both fursuit parades, and the fursuit games, and got to chat with many of my friends who I only get to see at this con.

As usual, I starting driving late Wednesday night so I could get to Connecticut by daybreak for geocaching. There weren't very many new geocaches since last year, so I decided to do something a bit more challenging. I went to Giuffrida Park in Meriden to hike up to Lamentation Mountain. I don't think it was a very high mountain but there were a few steep sections and it was a round trip of over 3 miles for 8 geocaches. There were good views of Crescent Lake (from the base of the mountain) and the valley. (from the peak)

Getting home on Monday was quite an adventure because of Hurricane Sandy. First, I had to leave Connecticut by 1pm because of a state-wide highway closure. I figured it was a better idea to cut across Westchester County and cross the Tappan Zee Bridge instead of going through New York City. That route also let me stop at Palisades Center Mall for lunch and to use the wi-fi internet. It's a familiar place because I used to live in the area. (And I'm glad the mall has not collapsed from ground subsidence issues.) After that, I saw that the NJ Turnpike was closed south of exit 9, so I detoured to US-1, used the bridge in Trenton to cross over to the Pennsylvania side, and returned home via I-95, which seemed fine aside from some speed restrictions. Later, I found out that the NJ Turnpike was closed only between exits 7 and 8A, so the electronic sign I saw was incorrect, but they were probably still sorting out their info at the time.

Thursday:

Rin Tin Tin :) (Connecticut)
Green Green Grass of Home :) (Connecticut)
Good Eats Series #4 - G'day Mate! (Connecticut)
TTMTD-51 (Connecticut)
Real Brew #1 (Connecticut)
Moon River (Connecticut)
Two for the Doe (Connecticut)
East Cemetery (Connecticut)
Little Bear #2 (Connecticut)
Inept (Connecticut)
Just a Sunday Stroll (Connecticut)
Meriden YMCA - #3 Giuffrida Park (Connecticut)
Monday Mosey (Connecticut)
SBK's 2000th find Ammo Can (Connecticut)
Smith's Bounty Redux - Part 1 (Connecticut)
Smith's Bounty Redux - Part 2 (Connecticut)
A Cry of Sorrow and Grief (Connecticut)
Sanity Break (Connecticut)
Rendezvous - Cromwell CT (Connecticut)
Pirate #4-just one more (Connecticut)
Not Another Brick In The Wall PT 2 (Connecticut)
Smith Memorial Park (Connecticut)
Old Road to Crash Site (Connecticut)
Silver Secret (Connecticut)
Cross Country at Sage Park (Connecticut)
What's all that buzz about? (Connecticut)
Thank You Veterans (Connecticut)
Stop and Cache #10 (Connecticut)

Friday:

Big Guns! (Connecticut)
Christian Lane Cemetery (Connecticut)
Home of the GPS (Connecticut)
Par Fore! the Course (Connecticut)
Kim's Booty (Connecticut)
The CD Trading Post (Connecticut)

Sunday:

Nutty Knothole (Connecticut)
Spread (Connecticut)
Bluebird (Connecticut)
Scree Scream (Connecticut)

Monday:

The Pitstop (Connecticut)
New Jersey Borders Memorial #15: Paramus (New Jersey)
New Jersey Borders Memorial #2: Princeton (New Jersey)