97 Days to GaryCon! Little Things You Need To Know Before You Go.

It's always the little things that serve to derail things when you are on a trip. Especially the ones that never occur to you until you get to your destination. You can remember to bring extra pairs of underwear, your phone charger and spare cash. But some things won't occur to you until after they have occurred.

The Lodge at Geneva Ridge is a great place to stay and has been a gracious host for GaryCon for the past four years. But there are a few things you should know about the place that could make your stay a bit more enjoyable.

The Fridge Will Be Turned Off
More than likely, your room will have a fridge. This is good as more than likely you will buy food to eat while at the convention and need a place to keep it. However you need to know that when you get in the room, the fridge will be turned off. Well, turned down is more appropriate. It's most likely an energy saving protocol for when the room isn't occupied. But if you buy a small tub of pre-made tuna salad to eat on Friday, you may want to remember to turn the fridge on if you want it to last that long.

They Only Have Down Feather Pillows
If you're like me, you are an intelligent and rather handsome fellow. But you also paid for those benefits by rolling Allergies on the Flaws Table multiple times. My allergies include things like dust, pollen, and down feathers. The latter of which is important as those are the only kinds of pillows The Lodge has. That means I have to bring synthetic pillows with me to the hotel. This wasn't difficult when I lived within reasonable driving distance of the hotel. But nowadays I have to fly to GaryCon and need to make arrangements to borrow someone else's pillows (usually my brother's) for my stay.

The Hotel is a Bit of a Drive from Downtown
Yeah, this is a biggie if you need to run out and buy groceries or pillows or anything else. Nothing is in walking distance of the hotel. This is great for a relaxing vacation where you need to get away from it all. But if you do need to go back to civilization for something, you better have a car or arrange for a ride. And if you do have a car, be prepared to get asked for a ride by others.

There's a Pool
This last one isn't a snag as much as it is a missed opportunity. Nothing better than a quick swim after spending all day in a room rich with stale pizza and gamer B.O. And nothing worse than realizing that there's a large swimming pool, and you didn't think to bring a swimsuit.

Overall, one of the best ways to avoid this small pitfalls is to ask ahead from people that have attended before. The GaryCon webpage is a good place to start. Or you can ask your question in the comments below.