Tried to post this at lunch time but the forum was down... <sigh> Hopefully this time...

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Ok folks, since you seem to like part one, here goes part two.

Friday morning it was back to the office for a few hours for me but I left Cass and Kendaa with the computer and the controls to the vcr so I think they were well occupied.
Finally got off for the weekend around 10:30 rushed home and picked up Kendaa, Cass and their luggage then we headed off to... you guessed it... the airport again! This time we had to pick up Shoshana, who was patiently waiting for us (her plane landed around 10).

From the airport we headed straight into the city to meet up with Bastet at the con hotel. More hugs, squeals and introductions ensued upon our arrival. Cass and Kendaa couldn't check in until 4pm so we waited for a bit to get the concierge to hold their luggage so we could get everyone into my van for an afternoon of sight seeing. Ran into Illusia and a friend while we were waiting... I think we were scaring the rest of the guests with our antics but what else can you expect from a rowdy bunch of Amazons!

Finally managed to get the baggage taken care of and then we all headed out to see the sights. First stop, the Golden Gate Bridge... We stopped at the official lookout point for the bridge and got some photo's taken, then we all piled back in the car and I took them down to the not so official view point... Fort Point. (The fort was built prior to the bridge and now sits underneath the main support structure on the SF side and is part of the Presidio area.)

It's also at water level and, as Cass found out, the waves crash against the rocks it's built on and you get some pretty impressive swells. (I still say it is NOT my fault Cass got drenched by one!! I tried to warn her... it just didn't come out in time!!)

We ended up standing around talking for a bit to give Cass some time to dry off before piling back in the car. Everyone was getting a bit hungry so we decided to head for Fisherman's Wharf to have lunch. After a meandering drive through the Presidio army base, we ended up on Lombard Street. Of course, since any visit to SF wouldn't be complete without a trip down the "crookedest street in the world" I chose to take that route to the wharf. Much to the shock of some of the others, we actually managed to make it to the bottom then had to park so Cass and Kendaa could take photos.

Finally it was off to lunch. If you've ever been to SF you know that parking is a nightmare there, especially around the wharf, but this time they must have heard the Amazons were coming because we had no trouble finding a good spot. We ended up having a wonderful, long lunch in a restaurant called the San Franciscan... with a gorgeous view of the bay and Alcatraz from our table.

After lunch we walked down to Pier 39 to view the Sea Lions (years ago they took over one set of boat docks and the folks who run the piers decided to leave them there and built special platforms for them to sun on). After a lot more picture taking it was time to head back to the car and then the hotel. With a stop at Chocolate Heaven on the way, of course.

I finally had to drop everyone off at the hotel then head back home where Robinsnest, Marit and Apollena were waiting for me.

In honor of Kev's appearance at the con we decided that it would be appropriate if we watched "Lawless" (I was the only one who'd seen it at that point). We chatted and watched video's until late then finally got ourselves to bed... We had to get up early in order to get to the Breakfast in the morning!

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Saturday morning was a race to get ready and get on the road. We ended up taking two vehicles since Apollena, Marit and Robinsnest weren't planning on attending the convention on Sunday and I was. After quickly jotting down directions to the hotel we were finally off.

Everyone was already in the restaurant when we arrived (I think they started early ) but we had NO trouble finding them. (One restaurant... one large rowdy group... who else could it be??? ) The food was typical buffet stuff but who had time to really eat?? We were all too busy hugging and chatting. It was truly one of the highlights of the weekend.

As others have mentioned, Cass did a fantastic job on the folders, magnets and name tags and Whisper's games were truly inspired! For once I was actually part of the winning team for the game with the nuts... oh, in case no one remembers to mention it, the character name our team spelled out was (appropriately enough) ARES!

The two hours we had for the breakfast just seemed to go by way too fast and before we knew it it was time to head for the convention. Robin and I collected my van and drove to the con center then went out to wait for everyone else. There was already a line starting to form when we arrived. We stood around and talked some more while waiting and finally about 12 pm they opened the doors and started letting folks in.

Of course the first place I headed once I got inside was the picture table. That was a bit disappointing, especially for a die-hard Iolausian. There were a couple of new pics of Herk but none of Iolaus. Then to top it all off, two of the new pics of Smithy weren't there. I've gotten used to seeing the rest of the merchandise being all Xena but the picture table was really bad this time too. <sigh>

Not much else to tell until Tim came on... I've been to several of these cons and most of the stuff they had going on I'd seen a bunch of times before so I spent most of the day wandering around catching up with friends.

As others have said, this con was really poorly attended which really surprised me. There were a lot of Gold Circle and Preferred seats that stayed empty for the entire thing. I also saw a lot of folks sitting in gold/preferred with seat badges that didn't match where they were sitting. I don't think the one poor usher that was working this con even tried to keep up with folks... as long as no one complained he wasn't going to say anything.

Timothy Omundson was the first guest and I really didn't know what to expect. I didn't watch Xena last year and had only caught him in the opening two episodes of Xena this year so I wasn't really familiar with his character.

He seemed a bit shy and nervous to me at first but he quickly got the hang of things. A couple of times he (and the rest of the guests) had a hard time hearing the audience's questions but he did a good job answering as best he could. He was really funny telling the story of his first trip to the Xena set and the practical joke Ted Raimi had gotten Lucy and Rene to play on him.

I don't remember much else that he talked about... like I said in my first post, I'm always so busy taking photos that I never take notes and I have a lousy memory. I know there were some questions about his character but I really don't remember them or his answers.

As usual the time each guest is given was way too short and before we knew it, Tim was being shooed off the stage and it was time for Kevin! I have to give Creation credit here... their choice of music for the Ares video was inspired... I've seen it several times now and I still love it! "Bad to the Bone" is perfect!

Then it was time for the man, himself! this was the first time I'd seen Kev on stage since he'd cut his hair (from the pictures I've seen of Orlando I'd say he's let it grow out just a little) and it really looks good on him.

What was really interesting for me seeing Kevin at this con was the contrast between this one and Warriorcon (his first) which I also got to see him at. Kev seems much more relaxed on stage and answering questions from the audience now. He still has that easy going manner and charm but he doesn't seem quite as easily embarrassed as he was then... I guess I'd have to say that he takes the questions more in stride now.

Again, the lousy memory and busy camera kicks in, so I don't remember a lot of what he talked about. I do remember someone asking him something about the TV movie "Lawless" that he'd done and his surprise that we had seen it already. I did have a question of my own that I was trying to ask him, but unfortunately they hurried him off stage before he could get to me.

Next came the autograph session and boy was that a fiasco. Because the crowd was so small Creation announced that everyone who wanted one should be able to get an autograph but they they didn't stick around to make sure the line was kept moving. It took almost an hour for them to go through the first 6 or so rows. They ended up having to delay the cabaret by 15 minutes in order to get through just the folks with Gold and Preferred tickets. {{{{Kevin and Tim}}} for agreeing to that!

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Well folks, this thing has gotten so long I'm not even sure it will post so I'm going to end it now. I'll do the cabaret and Sunday in another one later if you all still want to read it!