AvatarMeet 2015 - Event Log

[Alan]

Just though I would start an event log for any of the attendees to record the coming and goings of AvatarMeet 2015.

Here's my little dit from Wednesday when we all arrived.

Well, CyanRachel and I made it to the hotel....too early. So we dropped off our bags and caught the free shuttle bus into the town centre. The town was pretty busy, sort of like an inland seaside resort. More sweet shops than you can shake a stick at. I even saw a hummig bird!

We called in at the visitor centre to grab some leaflets before catching the free bus back to the hotel.

Mikko and crew had arrived and checked-in and also booked a meeting room for the evening. We sorted out the badges and MSGs plus posters, with the amazing artwork done by Ekirä. We finished which just it time as folks started to arrive. There were two new faces to the clan - Seze and ballju, which was great.

It was all very informal and after a brief overview of the meet up from Mikko everyone just settled down for some social catch up.

A group of us went out for an evening meal before retiring back to the hotel. We ended up pausing on the way back to take a look at the stars and spotted Saturn. Then things descended into geekyness as we talked about Pluto and the space probe, how gyros work and the lovely stuff that powers it!

Wednesday will be a trip to the cinema at 10:30 to watch Avatar CE followed by and exploration of Estes Park and then in the evening we will be visiting the local observatory for some star gazing and see if we can find Pandora!

Alan

 

[Alan]

It was the first full day of AvatarMeet which was started off by a trip to the Reel Mountain Cinema to watch Avatar on the big screen.

We arrived pretty much spot on 10:30, got our snacks and moved into the theatre. The put the film on for us....but the was no sound! Several multiple attempts later they got it to work (they were playing it from a bluray). It was the collectors edition and so we all went through the emotional roller coaster that Avatar is to us.

On emerging it was just after lunch and to we ended up splitting and finding different places to eat.

Afterwards some went on a hike and a group of us had a go at some Na'vi crafts, like needs work, macramé and making necklaces.

It was quite a pleasant afternoon, and before long it was time for tea. A group of us went to a Chinese restaurant which had great food, but their service was a bit on the slow side. Unfortunately this made us a little late for the next activity which was a trip to the local observatory.

This was an amazing evening. It started off with a couple of videos and a talk about the star constellations, with the use of a huge wall layout. We were then split into two groups: one got a photo show of images that had been taken through one of the chaps' telescopes and the other went to look through the telescope. Then the group's swapped over.

Some of the images we got to see through the telescopes were of Saturn, a double star, a star cluster, a super nova and the moon. They were amazing sights. We left the observatory at about 11 pm!

And that was it for Thurs!

Alan

 

[Moco Loco]

While on the hike, I found some charcoal from a campfire and drew this on a rock

There were so many chipmunks around Gem Lake!

tiny beggars

what a small dog

 

[Alan]

Cool piccies. I haven't seen any chipmunks so far on this trip. I suppose I best tell a little bit more...

Are you all sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin.

It was an early start. Well I say early, we needed to be up and away by 08:30. The reason? Well it was volunteer day at Bluff Lake Park. This had been organised by Raiden and was a continuation from last year of our desire to do something positive and constructive in line with the themes of Avatar.

Once we had sorted out the car pool thing it was a 1 1/2 hour ride down from Estes Park to the volunteering location. On arrival we filled in the usual "It's not our fault if you injure yourself" form before the park official gave us and overview of the park and explained what we would be doing.

Basically they had planted about 100 trees and what they needed doing was some mulchy-compost putting round the trees and the a couple of buckets of water pouring round the roots.

It was a short walk to the location and so with buckets, spades and compost in hand we set to work. First job was placing the compost round each tree. Whilst this was going on buckets were filled with water from the river. It was not a difficult job, but rather tiring due to the altitude and also the humidity, which must have been at 1000%!!!

We took a short water break before being taken along a board walk that overlooked a large pond. There was a group photo before walking to the final destination and doing a bit more. 'True Love for Neytiri ' found a preying mantis, an Raiden picked it up for the camera.

Once thoroughly worn out we headed back to the start. There was a bit of car group rearranging for those who wanted to go to the zoo, head out on an adventure or go back to Estes Park. A few meals and hours later some folks headed to the party. Who knows what happened there.

Alan

 

[Alan]

Sooo...What happened today - the last day of AvatarMeet 2015?

Well, when people surfaced for breakfast (some having only gone to bed at 5 in the morning!) Aketuan organised and lead a trip up the trail ridge mountain road. This took us to about 13,800 feet above see level.

We stopped at a few places to take in the scenery before moving onto the next viewing spot. It certainly got colder the higher we went. We stopped off at one place and walked up a gentle slope to where there was some snow. However every step turned out to be a real effort and you were soon out of breath!

We made it to the visitor centre but it was rammed with fellow tourists and so we headed back down the mountain. After a pit stop at the lower level visitor centre it was time for some 'om, yom, yom' at a cafe in town.

The traffic in Estes Park was colossal and made us 10 minutes late getting back to the hotel in time for Karyu Pawl's Na'vi refresher class. This was an overview of the previous three classes with practice sessions.

There was a brief respite before the arrival of a special guest from Lightstorm who happened to be visiting Estes Park for a family event. You couldn't have made a better coincidence! This was a question and answer session covering a number of areas. I missed a bit of it as I had to step out momentarily. But it was great that the opportunity occurred. At the end of the session we gave our visitor copies of the MSGs and posters to take back to Lightstorm.

The last thing we did at the hotel before going to the clan meal was have a fun pineapple prize draw where all the attendees ended up with a pineapple related prize.

With the prize draw complete, we all headed off into Estes Park for a clan meal at a Nepalese restaurant. This was an outdoor event and quite pleasant. Our visitor from Lightstorm dropped by again in passing, whilst we weighted for orders to be taken. It was going to be interesting how they were going to split up the order into 25 different checks!

The meal was really good and a new experience for some. Eventually it was time for us to pay up, but the checks never came, so one of our number went to investigate. He came back with a message the Lightstorm had paid for the meal and a piece of paper that read: "To AvatarMeet. Thank you for everything you do. Much love Lightstorm". This brought much cheering and clapping from the clan.

Sooner or later, thought, AvatarMeet has to come to an end and we all had to say our good byes. Some retired back to the hotel for a gaming session, whilst others went to get some rack for an early start for their journeys home

So until the next meet up Irayo nìtxan ma aysmukan sì aysmukan. Eywa ngahu frakrr.

Alan

 

[Txonä Rolyu]

Wow, it sounds like it was a real blast, I with I could have been there. That's awesome that someone from Lightstorm happened to be there and pay for the clan meal! Hopefully next year I'll be able to come

 

[Alan]

Shame you couldn't join us Txona. Yeah, the meal was a complete surprise to us too. There was a massive round of applause from the table when Markì informed us all.

Alan

 

[Ja'k Dawsiin]

Hi Alan...Ja'k Dawsiin here. sadly, AF has gone the way of the woolly mammoth, but always nice to see your updates and positivity, i hope to make one of the meets one day. keep up the great work and much appreciation to you.

 

[Alan]

Hi Alan...Ja'k Dawsiin here. sadly, AF has gone the way of the woolly mammoth, but always nice to see your updates and positivity, i hope to make one of the meets one day. keep up the great work and much appreciation to you.

Aye, it's sad AF is now off-line, but at least we still have ToS and LN (and a few other forums out there).

Glad you liked the updates from the meet up and irayo nìtxan for your kind words. I appreciate them. It's just a privilege to be able to attend these meet up and I know many can't so I try to bring it to them.

Hard for me to imagine I have been home nearly a week already. Still plenty to do and think about.

Anyway, yeah, you definitely have to make it to a meet up and join your clan face to face.

Alan

 

[CyanRachel]

Yeah, wow -- it's been more than a week already since AvatarMeet 2015, but I just want to say I had a wonderful time at the meetup and spending time with my fellow clanmates again. Irayo nitxan to the Planning Team for all the work done to make AvatarMeet 2015 so enjoyable! And Irayo nitxan to Karyu Pawl and John, and to our special guest from Lightstorm for joining us!

Also, Irayo Alan for posting these great Travel logs -- they're always fun to read and relive the memories of the meetup!

 

[Alan]

Irayo nìtxan ma CyanRachel. It'll be good to look back at these little posting in years to come to see what we got up to!

My irayo nìtxan also goes to all the attendees who all make it so special to be a part of the meet up. Always welcoming and now know how to call me! Hehehe

Eywa ngahu frakrr,

Alan

 

[Empty Glass]

Thanks once again for posting these logs, Alan! Always good to hear what's happened. I continue to be amazed by the ties these events have with Lightstorm that are mutually reinforced. How great of them to take care of dinner for everyone.

(Pardon the late post; I've been away from my computer for the past month and a half. )