Max Riffner

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IndianSummerCon

Our FallCon trip was plagued with bad luck, but we all agreed that it was a great con despite the unforeseen aggravations of viruses, bad directions, and Mother Nature.

One of our guys got really ill about two hours into the car ride up, which was two hours longer than it should have been. And I’ve said it before but it bears repeating: Google Maps sucks so bad. We were wandering the streets of St. Paul for two hours looking for our hotel.

The next day saw us walking into a blast furnace. It was apparently a record day for heat in the Twin Cities, which meant that the State Fairground building where the con was set up in was about 20 degrees hotter than outside. I pretty much perspired all day. By perspire I mean dripping with sweat. We got lost again in St. Paul looking for a bar and settling for an Old Chicago. Getting back to the hotel and seeing our sick friend wheeze and cough was enough for us. We left early Sunday to avoid the oncoming heat again (which apparently rose to the previous days levels) and to get our buddy home so he could rest.

But would we do it again? Absolutely. Without a doubt, the artists and fans attending FallCon were great, despite the crushing air in the building. The FallCon organizers were wonderful and made sure that we felt welcome, even going out of their way to make sure those of us sitting behind the table got water. I really liked the local vibe of the artists there; there was a real sense of community that I appreciated. This was just a bad luck year, and all of us who drove up seemed to think that this was a fluke. So in other words, we’ll be back!

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