Ah, the end of Summer. The heat begins to die down, children of all ages sluggishly trudge back to school, the beginning of the Holiday game rush is about to begin, and Seattle, Washington becomes the epicenter of electricity use in the United States. We are, of course, referring to the Penny-Arcade Expo, which begins tomorrow. Gamervision has bounced from our safe hovels on the east coast to the Sheraton Hotel, and we are getting ready to cover the event the best anyone ever has. But how did we get here? Well, it’s a long story…


Coop:
The Penny-Arcade Expo was my first convention, so it obviously holds a special place in my heart. It was just 365 days ago when I walked through the halls of the Seattle Convention Center, meeting developers for the first time since I started my career as a gaming journalist. Since then I’ve attended CES, Digital Life, E3, and the VG Expo, and now it all comes full circle. I ended up actually getting to bed last night, which is shocking, because it might be the first time I actually got some sleep before a red-eye flight. I’m anxious, because it looks like there is going to be a huge amount of information to cover, and Gamervision sent a lot more people to the show this year than we did last, so we will be able to bring amazing coverage for all of our readers. It all begins tomorrow, so be prepared.

Sarah:
It seems like eons ago that Tim picked me up and we began our travels to the airport, which included a trip to Gamervision HQ to meet up with Nikkita and Coop, and a now-infamous trip to Wawa that I won't even get into. My computer is telling me that it's almost 7:30 at night, but it's not even dinnertime here in Seattle. After fully charging and packing all kinds of stuff to take with me on the plane (PSP, DS, DVD player, laptop), I ended up reading and then falling asleep for the second half of the flight. Now we're here, finally, this city that I have wanted to visit forever, and I love it already. Last year I was reading updates about PAX, now I'll be writing my own. I can't wait for the expo to start.

Nikkita:
I wasn't as lucky as Coop and Sarah to get any shut eye on the flight. I probably slept for 20 minutes, max, so I spent the hours game-hopping on Coop's DS as he napped like a cat, and did some heavy iPod listening, mostly of the "shuffle" variety. By the time we landed here in Seattle after a late start off Philly's tarmac and a layover in Denver, I was so beat that even the worst of Sean's jokes invoked a delirious laughing fit. It was when I stepped foot on the ground of the Sheraton that I knew it was so on! It's exciting to see other PAXers (let's face it, you can tell who they are) who are sharing the same giddiness as us, passing modestly in the lobby. I have to be honest though, I started feeling a bit competitive when I saw someone else wearing a top hat. You see, Tim had to wear the hat for his Precipice of Darkness costume on the plane, and well, his is soooo much better. It's a real honor to be here, even though I might jump out of my skin with excitement. That's a sacrifice I'm willing to make... Stay tuned!

Tim:
As I sit here in the lobby of the Seattle Sheraton, an uneasiness surrounds me. At first I can’t quite put my finger on it. There’s just a general hint of bizzarro world, or perhaps a dash of alternate universe.  Normally, an unshaven 20 something with a Zelda t-shirt, knit scarf, and top hat typing away on his laptop would look out of place in the lobby of an upscale hotel. This is a situation that would usually garner stares from traditional townsfolk passing through their traditional revolving doors on their way to their traditional family dining establishments. But not today. I am only one of thirty people furiously blogging with the lobby’s free wifi. There are beards far less kempt than mine. There are three final fantasy t-shirts, two transformers bags, and an achewood trucker hat. There is even a top top hat taller than mine. Someone behind me is quoting Futurama, and their Zoidberg impression is actually pretty good. What is this upside-down place, you ask?

It’s PAX.  And it is good.
 

Sean:
The last trip over to the office was right around 8-8:30 last night for a few things that had been left behind, and then it was back home to finish packing. And by "finish" I really mean "start". But I am so damn efficient that all bags were packed and ready to go by 10:30. The alarm woke me up at 3:30AM, and a quick shower later, we were on the road. Getting to and into the airport was relatively uneventful, but sitting on the tarmac in Philadelphia for a full hour was certainly awesome. All of that was more than made up to me by the incredibly sweet flight attendant who decided to make up for the fact that she slammed the drinks cart into my seat by buying me a beer. YAY FRONTIER AIRLINES! Grabbed the luggage off the caroseul, hopped in a cab, and a half-hour later, we arrived at the hotel. Like Coop, PAX '07 was my first foray into the world of conferences, so this is kind of like a homecoming for me. I'm so totally psyched for this weekend; meeting Hal Halpin, seeing the OneUps perform, playing Fallout 3... the hits just keep on coming! Stay tuned- there's much more PAX coverage coming your way.

Until then, take a gander at some of these pictures of us in transit:

Early morning in Philly

Coop getting his early DS fix

Is that Nikkita or Jack White?

Need a reason to go to Denver? How about public LAN booths with Team Fortress 2

Sean reads a magazine because books don't have enough pictures

Timmy stares at his hands a lot

Coop may or may not have seen a mouse

Awwww... the lil' feller is all tuckered out

Don't worry, she had a pulse

The view from the hotel. They say that greyish blob in the background is the "sky"

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