FruCon II
Feb. 20, 1998
1,000 miles
5 states
2 countries
1 weekend
Returning home from my first Moxy Fruvous concert, I decided to check out their website to see if they had any other concerts planned in the area. To my dear excitement, I saw they had a number of concerts scheduled two weeks later in Toronto (I know, that's not exactly in the area, but whatever). I called Vickie and it was decided in those few minutes that we would be going to Canada.
As the days passed, we learned more about the events scheduled for that weekend. We couldn't get over the fact that there was a convention for the fans, aka FruHeads. A good laugh was had about this. But, the fact there was a FruCon gave all the more reason to our trip.
There were a few obstacles, though, concerning the trip. 1. We had no idea how to get to Toronto. 2. Parents. 3. Vickie had a dance ensemble performance on Friday night. 4. I had duty on Friday night (8pm-2am). 5. we had a staff meeting on Sunday night. Talk about problems. Ha! It was because of this trip that I became friends with mapquest.com. Aw yeah. This site rocks. The parents problem was covered cause I just didn't tell them that I was going to Canada. Very simple. I didn't lie...just didn't tell. Vickie couldn't get out of her dance thing, but I got out of duty. We decided that I would rest so I could drive the first 4 hours of the trip. The plan was set: leave on Friday night/Saturday morning for Canada, spend Saturday at FruCon and the Fruvous concert that night at Lee's Palace then drive home Saturday night, making it home in time to rest before our staff meeting. College kids. They're crazy.
Ok, so Friday night came. Bo, were we prepared. Hah! Thanks to Vickie's ensemble members, we had plenty of munchies to last us for a week. The back seat of my care was overflowing with food, drinks, books (so we could study, of course!), pillows, blankets, and coats. Being set back due to giving our residents a ride to Sheetz and back, we were on the interstate by 3am. Awww yeah. Just Vick, me, and the open road. Fruvous was playing and nothing was stopping us. Before we knew it, we were in Pennsylvania...and it was Vickie's turn to drive. And, I passed out in the passenger's seat.
Hours later, I woke up to the sun rising and we were driving around these little towns in the mountains. If you have experiences the bitterness of Amy, I must say that it dwindles in comparison to Vickie. She was puffing away on a cigarrette andyou coudl tell she couldn't wait til I woke up. We were still in Pennsylvania. That day my feelings toward PA turned strongly negative. Driving in that state sucks a big phatty and I'm leaving it at that.
Anyways, so we're drving and driving and driving. I want to say that around 10:30am we pulled over at a McDonald's in New York for a rest stop. I asked how much farther we had to go to get to Buffalo. To our elation we learned we were just outside of Buffalo. Pure excitement took over from there on out. When we got into Buffalo, we did hit a snag...
We're driving in February, still part of winter. Snow is on the ground and obviously you'd expect more to come. When in the north, you prepare for snow almost every day during the season. Preparation means putting volumous amounts of salt and sand on the roads. The ones that weren't prepared were the two Virginians. My care ran out of windshield washer fluid and so after about 2 minutes of driving, I couldn't see out of the windshield. There's Vickie and I driving through Buffalo, NY with our heads hanging out the window...looking fo an exit with a gas station...and not a single one in site.
We crossed the border after the security check: "Where are you from?" "Virginia." "How long do you plan on visiting?" "Just for the day." After a long look at us, "Ok, enjoy your stay." Tee hee. About a couple miles (I should say kilometers) into Canada, we saw a sign for a gas station and so we pulled off the QEW. I was concerned because 1. we didn't have Canadian money and 2. I dind't remember enough French from high school to ask the guy for some windshield washer fluid. It was all good, though, cause the guy knew English and they took American money. Ya, I know. I'm a damned stupid American. Turns out that Quebec is the French-speaking province and we were in Ontario. I learned my geography real well during this trip.
We got into Toronto around 1pm, picked up our concert tickets, and headed for a place for us to freshen up. Only I didn't want to go anywhere cause I'm scared we're gonna get yelled at for just using the establishment's restroom facilities. The compromise was made on going to an American fast food place--Taco Bell. Aw yeah. So, we run in there (my head was hagning low), brushed teeth, washed faces, and used the toilet (I'm sure you wanted to know that). We were ready to take on Toronto.
Back on the streets, we set out to find the FruCon headquarters. After asking about 15 different people, who sent us in a millino different places, we found our way to FruCon. After paying the fee, getting the nifty blue pass thing's, we were off to discover the fun offered by the FruHeads. And, so, we settled for watching the videos of Fruvous appearances. Eventually, everyone crowded into the main room to wait for Moxy Fruvous's appearance.
While waiting for the guys to show up, we got a page out of the book that was being made for Fruvous. On it Vickie wrote out a poem concerning my sad and dreary life before discovering Moxy Fruvous. I supposedly had no friends, no life, and remained in my room most of the time. Isn't that nice how Vickie wrote so kindly about me?
Murray, Mike, Jian, and Dave finally came out and they all gave speeches. What I clearly remember Jian saying is, "you all scare us." Nothing can be farther from the truth. Yes, I was in the crowd, but we happened to be there just by chance if you think about it.
continued
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