Fanboy 2015

Over the weekend, Alex and I made our way back to Knoxville, TN to celebrate all that is magical and amazing about geekdom.

 

This was our second year to attend the Fanboy Expo and this time was even more incredible than the last!

 

You see, this year Alex chose to participate in the festivity of dressing up and it changed the entries experience for him.  Instead of being just a quiet bystander, he became a little rock star (at least in his own mind).

 

The fun started off right away when we caught an elevator ride with none other than world famous wrestler and actor  Adam Copeland, whom you might also know as The Edge. He held the lift for us as soon as he say Alex and schooched over to make room for the chair. He then proceeded to smile and tell Batman how much he liked his costume and was just an all around super nice guy.

 



Of course, observing elevator manners, I did not make eye contact till we were exiting Adam was telling us to have fun. Then I realized what a perfect photo op/childhood memory moment I just flubbed up!! D'OH!! There were literally hundreds of people in his line by the time we saw him again.

 

Still, I was super impressed by how friendly and down to earth he was and that in and of itself was a great memory for me.

 

After that, the excitement just kept on rolling! (wheelchair pun)

 

There were lots of people dressed up in their Cosplay as various characters from movies, TV, and comics.  Everyone was so nice and Alex didn't quite know how to react when he was the one that people were coming up to and asking to have their picture taken with him.  Let's just say, the word "Chick Magnet" was thrown around quite a bit that day!

 

It really had a great impact on his self esteem and confidence around strangers that people actually noticed him and wanted to get to know him.  As a parent, it was a heart-strings kind of time to see my baby boy blossom like that.

 

There was one picture that was particularly touching to me and I want to share that story with you...

 

It was gentleman in a wheelchair dressed as Professor Xavier.  He was posing for photos left and right with people and so I asked him if he would mind taking one with Alex. When I rolled Alex up to him, he smiled really big and shook his hand and began to talk to him, then they posed for the photo.  As we were leaving, I heard him say something along the lines of, "And that's the reason I do this." 

 

It touched my heart so much that he felt a connection to Alex and that they had touched each other's lives in a positive way. A silent brotherhood of support.  At least that is how it felt in my mind...but, of course, that could just be what the Professor wanted me to think! (X-Men joke)

 

We met several more incredible and exuberant folks during our time at the Expo and I wish that I knew their names so that I could thank each and every one of them individually. 

 

It was such an unforgettable time and I am already plotting out his costume for next year!!

 

 Here are a few more photos from the Fanboy Expo that you might enjoy:

 

 

River Song! My favorite of the companions!

 

James Marsters



This photo made him happier than
all the rest and I still
have no idea who these
characters are, but he sure did!!

Me in the TARDIS...
couldn't resist looking
for a Mad Man in a
Blue Box.

 

HCG part 3: Random Scenes

I thought I would finish out my short series on our visit to Cowpens with just some random photos.

SPOLIER ALERT!!  THERE ARE PHOTOS OF THREE CACHES CONTAINED IN THIS POST - STOP NOW IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE OR HATE SPOILERS OF ANY KIND!

As I seem to have run out of time to do an in-depth review of all of the cool caches we saw on this trail, it seemed a fun idea to just post a few of my favorite photos from our adventure. Thanks for reading so far and I hope you have enjoyed it enough to decide to take on the Historic Cowpens Trail for yourself. At the time of this post, they had done a second order of the coins and you can still turn in your passport and get one of your very own!

Although I know there are much older coins, I believe this is the oldest one that I have actually seen in person. Jody was able to pick up several little travelers to join us on our adventure that day!

 

 

Another happy little traveler

Wannabemay grabbing the smiley and about to sign the log



Yes, we made this mini cachers participate
in finding the caches.

 

This was one of my favorite caches
on the trail...I just loved it!



Wannabemay photobombing while making the grab!!

One of my favorite stops was here at the Fabulous Big Splash. The cache was a creative hide and I loved Vegas-style sign that the business had on their front.

The best part though was meeting a genuinely sweet local man named Mathias who stopped long enough to ask us what in the world we were doing and then to share some stories of his life and his late wife and of his love of wrestling.  We had a very pleasant time visiting with him and after he told us he was a veteran, we gave him a military-themed coin we had collected from a previous cache (not a trackable kind) and once he discovered how much my son liked wrestling, he gave us a magazine from 1977 for him to enjoy!  It was only a short time, but those are the moments that make the game of geocaching worth playing!
 

This was Jody's, James', and Alex's first ever reward trail and the enjoyment of the hunt was only amplified by the excitement of reveiving their free coin at the end!  The Librarian was super helpful and shared in the joy when she gave us our coins.  Here is Jody receiving hers and a photo of the coin itself.  I love this coin and think it is absolutely gorgeous!

 

 

After a long, hot day of caching, we decided to make a detour and explore one of the nearby farm stores that where you can buy fresh homemade ice cream as well as the less well known raw milk (that was what James had his heart set on and he was not disappointed!).

 

 

I will leave you with this last glimpse of South Carolina.


On the way home, we were delighted to see that the giant peach no longer looked like a giant baby's butt with diaper rash, but that the repainting and refreshing job had been completed and it was its same iconic self again!!