Monday, June 29, 2009

NW YT Gathering fun.

Because I have this car from Ford, I have felt this constant urge to take full advantage of its benefits. In the past month I've driven all around Washington state, to mid-Montana and back, and just this weekend I went down to Portland for 2 days for the 2nd annual NW YouTube Gathering.

Alex and I left reasonably early on Saturday and drove straight down I-5. It took us about 3 hours to cross the bridge into Oregon, and then we had a bit of a parking adventure because I hate trying to park in big cities without spending a ridiculous amount of money. Finally we found a garage on Alder street that promised a flat rate of $10.95 for the whole day, we parked, and used my phone GPS to find the Pioneer Courthouse Square on foot (The GPS didn't really like this very much).

We caught the group just as they were leaving the square, and I was shocked at the number of people that were there. Last years' gathering took place at the Family Fun Center, and had about 25 of us. This year, the entire group, walking together, took up about 2 city blocks. It looked amazing.

We did the standard no one can make a decision because there were too many of us thing, where one person would finally say "okay let's just go!" and we'd walk for a few minutes and then just form another congregation a few feet away once everyone realized we still didn't have a destination. That's always fun.

We fially decided on the mall food court, where I enjoyed half a subway sandwich, some cards tricks courtesy of YouAverageAdam and CadeGoesToCollege, and a piece of Kayley's oreo brownie, and then we went back to a shady park. But not before half the group danced off in a congo line through the mall while the unamused, sarcastic, reluctant ones of the group (including myself, Kayley, Sweetafton23 and a handful of others) walked slowly behind and pretended not to know the rest of them.
Some police officers thought they were a moving protest. xD

The rest of the day was comprised of music in the park, lots of fun chatting, a caravan to Powell's Books (the biggest new and used bookstore in the world) and an unsuccessful trip to Voodoo Donuts which then turned into a successful trip to a nice, roomy, air-conditioned Gelato place.

The last parts of the day included a marathon shopping trip in Buffalo Exchange with Alex, Kayley, Denis, BooShoe37 (Matt) and YourAverageAdam and a game of rock band back in Pioneer Square where the boys got to let out their inner rockstars or whatever it was they were doing. Pretty Fly for a White Guy was pretty rockin'.

Also, when we went back to the parking garage, they only charged us $5! Whoo!

That night Alex and I stayed the night at my Uncle Dale's house and that was nice. I got to chat with him for awhile and then we got to sleep in a free bed and had free breakfast made for us the next day... heck yes.
Also my cousin Ashley came over with her new baby Ava whom I hadn't met yet and I got to hold her and stuff.. she's only 5 months old and she's adorable. :D


The next morning we got to day 2 of the gathering around noon. This day's location was the Oregon Zoo, and I liked this day more because there was one central location and it was easier for everyone to stay together. We saw a bird show where a bald eagle flew dangerously close over our heads while we sat on the grass, we ate some crappy fried food, we watched a seal eat a bunch of dead fish... typical fun day at the zoo.

Later we all met again at this grassy area where what started as a group picture with 5 people all wearing blue shirts turned into a violent and epic game of Red Rover that was, in hindsight, mildly supportive of segregation because we only allowed people with Blue and Red/Pink shirts to play and all the yellows, oranges, greens and browns of the group had to sit out and watch and take pictures. All I have to say about this game, aside from Michael Aranda getting some amazing slow-motion footage, is that nobody won and my arms are very sore today.


We saw bears and beavers and eagles and owls and all sorts of other fun things, but the best part of the day was just getting to spend so much time talking to all the cool people who came to this gathering. I met a girl who also goes to UW, I met a girl from the UK, and I met loads of people whose screen names I recognized from YouTube comments. It was a fun day. Being around so many genuinely nice, fun people just makes for a good weekend.

So thank you, everyone who was there. I can't wait for next year. :D

16 comments:

loveacrosstheocean said...

Ava is so freaking cute! I'm glad you had such a lovely weekend, and maybe a lot jealous of your fantastic Fiesta and the free gas that accompanies it.
<3

Ravenclaw2313 said...

Looks like you had quite a blast. So this may be a stupid question but how do you find out about youtube gatherings? Besides messages from when you go I've never heard of any other ones. I'd love to go to one in the midwest. Also Ava is adorable!

Justin said...

I'm glad you had a lot of fun kristina. It was so awesome being able to play rock band in front of everyone like that. Zach adam and I had wanted to play right before we started our walk toward the park that we went to but I'm still glad we got to. It made the experience even more memorable being able to play with alex too.

Sam said...

I'm glad you had lots of fun! And I am also quite jealous of your nice car and free gas ;D

janitorbud said...

that baby is so cute!
i want to meet youtubers!

Melody said...

There better be another Portland gathering next year. I am from Southern Oregon but haven't attended a single gathering in my 3.5 years of YouTube membership. Blah! If there is one in 2010 I'd probably be able to go with my (future) husband. Wee!

Anonymous said...

wait wait...
alex is wearing a WHITE shirt?!
why is he playing??

...that IS alex, right? Because my eyesight hasn't been the best these past 24 hours...

Bianca23 said...

Ava is so cute! I wish I had a little niece like that.

Good to hear that you've had a really good time at the YT gathering. I wonder, when is Alex going back to the UK? Don't get me wrong, I want you two to be together forever ;) But he's in the US for a while now, so I just wondered.

Unknown said...

Sounds like so much fun. I wouldn't know what to do with that many people just wandering around lol.

nicoleeeyyynyquil09 said...

sounds fun. i'd feel weird going to a gathering since I dont make videos but it would be cool.
california is just a bit too far from Oregon at the moment tho so oh well.

:)

Samantha said...

I wish I could have been there! I'm glad you had fun. <333

Karli said...

Wow I feel so cool to be subtly mentioned in the famous Kristina's blog! haha.

And yes, that was the most epic Red Rover game I've ever seen, very entertaining.

Rachel said...

AW! Look at the cute baby! Ava is ADORABLE! I wish there was a gathering in Tampa or something. It looks like fun. [=

Unknown said...

To this day I don't really know how that photo turned into the battle that it did – so random! It was great to see you again, Kristina. (: As always, so much fun at NWYTG! Can't wait til next year, (;

Ravenclaw2313 said...

This is a note to the person above. Your name is Mallory? That is awesome. I'm Mallory too and I don't meet many others...ever. Not a big deal or anything but I wanted to mention it.

SnakesAndWorms said...

I could have kicked myself for not being more ambitious at the gathering, I guess I just don't do too well in large groups.

Well, it would good to at least see you though.