Right before I split off from the group to rest up at the hotel, I stopped to feed the birds by the water.

We found a chocolate shop while wandering Seattle. I have no idea what relation that has to this bear sitting on a bench in the middle of the store. Honestly, it looks kind of grumpy. And how often do you think they clean it? Ever?

One of the perks of Hotel Vintage Park was a complimentary goldfish placed in your room on request. Just ask as the desk, and they bring up the fish and make sure to clean and feed it every day, leaving you to enjoy the soothing swimming.

Her name was Syrah! I wonder if she minded being placed right in front of the TV.

After arriving in Seattle-Tacoma Airport, it was a straight shot on the light rail to our hotel in downtown Seattle. Our empty suitcases were waiting to be filled with swag!

When we weren’t playing Divekick, Yi and Fred watched Star Trek while I dozed.

As we were waiting for our plane at JFK, I spotted two of the creators of Bastion and Transistor: Logan Cunningham (left, narrator) and Darren Korb (right, audio director). When I went to ask for a picture, Logan recognized me! We’d met a couple of times before at past PAXes on both coasts, and I was delighted to know he still knew my face.

Heck, I’m impressed anytime a dev remembers me. They see so many faces during these conventions and have so many conversations, it would just be a giant blur for me.

Logan happily chatted with me for a bit as we introduced our friends to each other, and snapped a photo before boarding.

We took advantage of a kitschy photo monitor by our gate to snap a few pictures of us looking like tourists, despite the photo being labeled with a city we already live in, as we’re waiting to head to a city on the other side of the country.

I half wish this photo could show us all on a boat headed to NYC, so we could literally fob it up.

The Stuy Squad managed to all get on the same morning flight out of JFK. Fred cleverly wore a shirt from last PAX (East), one which I tried to win through a scavenger hunt myself but not before they ran out of stock.

This trio of Walter White, Gus Fring and Hector Salamanca was the perfect cosplay group if all you wanted to do was remain still, look unhappy and yet be completely badass and attention-grabbing. Hector would occasionally ring his bell, to the delight of the crowd. I can only imagine what awesome swag he kept hidden in that Pollos Hermanos bucket.

The guy in charge of the Madame Tussaud’s wax figures was a little apprehensive when I said I wanted to get creative with my photo, and heck, so was I. The last thing I wanted to do was to topple over Nick Fury and incur the wrath of S.L.J. himself.