…I must start with my own interests: I have been a Star Trek fan for roughly 25 years. (I am also a Star Wars fan…let the debates ensue.) I have been trying to gently encourage my children’s interest towards these same stories, with little success; until recently. Last year my daughter suddenly expresses a desire to start watching Star Trek; this of course is after watching J. J. Abrams’ redux, but she decides she wants to watch in order of series release; in other words, starting from the Classic Trek. Okay, I’m down with that – ecstatic, in fact. At time of writing this entry (May) we’ve gotten to season 6 of TNG and season 1 of DS9. Now my ST/SW geekiness is not reserved for the movies/tv series; I have all the novels, too.
My daughter comes to me last fall, well after we’d started watching the series,and says she knows where she’d like to go for her grad gift trip. Las Vegas. I’m a little surprised at this, but okay, and ask why Vegas. She says, “I want to go to the Star Trek Convention.” I’m pretty sure my eyes popped at this; in my head I’m thinking ‘but that’s MY trip!’ But okay, that’s fine; I ask her if she has a travel buddy in mind who would be able to go with her (she’s only 18 so we won’t let her travel alone outside the country just yet). She says yes, I want you to go with me. My response: me?! She says yes. Long pause…Are you sure? This is your grad trip, do you really want your mother with you? She says yes. Now, inside I’m flipping out; my daughter’s grad trip is my dream come true.
It gets better. The tickets come on sale, we go online to choose our package (Gold), and before I hit the confirm purchase button I look at her and ask her one more time, “Are you sure you want me to go with you? It’s okay if you’d rather travel with one of your friends. Because if we agree now that I’m going with you and we buy these tickets there’s no turning back.” She says, “Yes, I want you to come with me!” I ask why? She says, “Because I think we’d have fun together.” I’m telling you, my heart just burst. I have no idea what I did to deserve this beautiful person in my life. She has turned our gift to her into a gift for me. So we’re making it the best we can, in recognition we may not get this chance again for some time to come.
We’re going for the full four days of the convention, plus the early registration the night before the first day. And in costume (Jess at least; for me it depends if I can find suitable costumes for my less than desirable frame). Then we’re going to spend a few more days going horseback riding, visiting antique book stores, going to see a show, etcetera. And, if we can swing tickets, we’re going to drive to LA for a day to see The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson while we still have the chance (he’s supposed to be leaving the show in December).
I honestly don’t know which of us is more excited!
Update: Yes, we’ve scored tickets for Craig! Leaving a couple days earlier than originally planned to accommodate that part of the trip as Craig is on hiatus in August…
Guigon Travels 