Sadly, I doubt we'll be able to get the Mustang.

[gridlore]

We were watching Kochak: The Night Stalker after doing some demolition of the living room section of Offhand Manor. We don't actually have a living room, but we've sectioned off about half the front room with the futon. The area with kshandra's computer, the TV, and all our bookshelves is the living room. It works for us.

Anyway, I love Kolchak. While watching this episode - Firefall - when I remembered the Chicago, where the show is set, is soon to host a World Science Fiction Convention. Thus, a plan was hatched.

We're going to Chicon 8. And for at least part of the con, I will be dressed as Carl Kolchak. I might even volunteer to work for Publications. Which would be pretty awesome.

My wild-eyed plan is to take the California Zephyr out; and I'm sure kevin_standlee will be organizing a group excursion on the train. Then fly back.

2022 is close enough to our 30th anniversary for it to count as that big trip. Saving now!

Comments

[dewline]

I got hooked when I was a kid in Saskatchewan. We'd just gotten cable in our city, and CBS had select episodes on their Friday night Late Night Show.

TrainCon 2022

[kevin_standlee]

[Note that icon is from the Great Hall of Chicago Union Station.]

We definitely hope to go to Chicon 8 by train, and to encourage others to take the train with us. There were a bunch of fans riding the California Zephyr to the previous Chicon. I think most of them either flew back or returned by the same route. Lisa and I (using Amtrak points, which at that time counted the same for a trip between any West Coast points and Chicago) opted to take the longest possible single-train trip on the Amtrak system: the Texas Eagle/Sunset Limited (Chicago-San Antonio-Los Angeles), the only three-night trip there is. (We took coach seats from LA back up to Emeryville.)

I hope you can make the trip with us. Assuming DisCon III happens in person, we also intend to take the train there, via Chicago on the CZ and then on to DC on the Cardinal, which will be a new train for us.

It's never too soon to start planning TrainCon. The main complexity here is that it's the same year as Westercon 74 in Tonopah!

I love your idea to attend as Carl Kolchak; if you can work on the newsletter, that's even better!

Re: TrainCon 2022

[gridlore]

Awesome. Since the Amtrak website is not overly helpful, how much would a roomette on the Zephys run one-way, Emeryville-Chicago?

Re: TrainCon 2022

[kevin_standlee]

With the caveat that the current Amtrak web site assumes that they'll still be running only 3x/week -- I hope that will go back to daily by 2022 -- booking a trip from EMY to CHI for comparable dates in 2021 yields a price for two adults in a roomette of $1028. That includes train fare, accommodation, and all meals.

[freyjaw]

I used to watch Kolchak with Mom back in the day. We were in the south suburbs of Chicago when it was on, IIRC.

I always loved Amtrak. One of my cousins is an engineer with Amtrak, lucky sod.