We got out of the room with time to spare, and loaded Tom's car with all our gear.
Then, it was a quick breakfast in the Con Suite; bagels and fruit.
From there, I ran off to watch the short films based on Mike Resnick's stories and books. He was present, and gave some background before each film. Most were made as masters degree work by students, two were professionally produced. The first three were excellent, the fourth was strange and irritating, the last was disturbing. Not a bad mix.
I then met up with
forestcats in the hucksters' room, and she was trying to decide if she wanted to buy Resnick's convention book of all his Hugo-nominated works. Just at that moment, he walked up and I suggested that it was worth it if he'd sign it. He did, very pleasantly, and we made the purchase.My wife then got a signature from Gene Wolfe, and we gathered up Tom and headed out to Midway where we rented a car for the rest of our vacation.
We drove way out into the farmlands to meet up with Lyla and her husband; they'd just gotten (borrowed?) a horse, so there was much inspection of that massive draft gelding. Big boy. We subsequently tried to find a restaurant out that far from the city that was open on a holiday, and we ended up going to Portillo's, which was just fine. Some chatting, then back to their home, and we continued west and north into Rockford, to get a room and a night's sleep.
Today, we blaze a trail into Wisconsin...