Preparation for this trip is a fairly involved process.  In fact, it is probably about the only time that I ever think about buying things like socks, shoes, premium espresso, etc.  My normal process for going on a trip consists of tossing a bunch of random stuff into a bag 5 minutes before I leave the house and buying a bunch of stuff I forgot when I get there.  However, the epically absurd proportions of our debauchery on this particular trip required extra thought.  Contrary to my normal unpreparedness, I actually made a list before leaving.  Here's sorta what was on it...

• Bunch of identical black t-shirts
• Bunch of identical black kung fu pants
• Whatever mismatched socks I managed to dig up
• Traditional full length black leather trenchcoat
• Huge freaking bottles of Aussie shampoo and conditioner
• Four pounds of Cracker Barrel extra sharp cheddar cheese (yellow)
• Two jars of Vlasic pickles (normally Zesty, but I had to settle for Kosher)
• One jar of somewhat ok-quality black lumpfish Russian caviar
• 3 boxes of Carr's water crackers
• Cream cheese
• Wooden caviar spoon
• Sangria pitcher
• 2 12-oz bottles of Tabasco sauce to color the horrible food we might encounter
• One and a half cartons of Nat Sherman MCD brown cigarettes
• Several Partagas #4 cigars in hermetically sealed and humidified containers
• Two pocket micro soldering torches (as lighters)
• One Krups Il Primo cappucino machine
• One coffee grinder I stole from Shadwolf's roommate for the trip (and returned without his knowledge of the crime)
• One German U-boat issue K-55 utility/combat knife
• Two pounds of premium espresso beans and 1/2 pound of French roast hazelnut or Jamacian Blue Mountain
• One tower computer, Pentium II 333MHz overclocked to 412MHz
• Viewsonic P815 Professional Series monitor
• Altec Lansing subwoofer speaker system
• One pair Sony MDR-NC20 noise cancelling studio headphones with independent power supply
• Whatever portable CD player I haven't managed to break yet
• Assorted CD's, traditionally including early Prince, Frank Zappa, Wagner's Ring cycle (preferably Fritz Reiner/Chicago Symphony recordings), Kid Rock, Rage Against the Machine, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and Petrouchka (Boulez/Cleveland Symphony), Cyndi Lauper, 311, Queen, and some completely retarded disc called Songs from Outer Space by Leonard Nimoy that Max found somewhere
• One fine-edged katana actually made in Japan
• Two matched sais
• Two matched hardwood tonfa
• Muay Thai gloves, target pads and shields
• Two decks of cards (Bicycle)
• Poker chips
• USCF regulation chess set and board with algebraic coordinates
• Whatever lame comics, magazines, and that dog-eared copy of Shibumi I always have in the car for no reason
• One cheapass disposable camera to take pictures that would turn out to be really bad and uninteresting, yet still used as site filler

Usually we take 2 cars there, not really for anything more important than the decadence of going to the dining hall (1/4 mile from the cabin) in seperate vehicles.  This year, however, Max pleaded the cause of taking only my car, for the convenience of having multiple drivers (and to save wear on tear on his much-overused Escort).  naturally, if there was only one car being taken, it would have to be mine, if only because (1) I could smoke a lot on the way up, and (2) my car still smells better than his for some reason.  being a shrewd negotiator, I agreed to the unholy pact, on the condition that we make a geeky side trip to Turbine's offices, something which Max had absolutely no interest in.  Here are some of the exciting views I was treated to on the incredibly long trip up.  (Note:  I made the trip in 6 hours.  Damn Max and his old lady driving.)
 
 

My typical view of the cockpit while Max hunched over the wheel like a nearsighted octogenarian driver, somehow managing to be slow and dangerous at the same time.  Note the unimproved stock Saturn stereo system with the 5 dollar Radio Shack CD player converter, the air conditioner set to coldest all the time in order to keep us from falling asleep from the boredom of our own company, and the strategically placed cigarette, right in the path of the air currents leading right to Max's unamused face.

 

Note Max's tense neck, thrusting his head forward as if being 3 inches closer to the road might make him a better driver.  Now note the fact that Mu's hair is in his eyes the entire time as he pegs along at 75-80, the ponytailer carelessly left on his wrist, cutting off his circulation and making his ability to react to emergencies somewhat poor.  It was a dangerous trip.

 

As planned, we left late, and got lost on our way to Turbine, so the place was pretty abandoned once we got there.  Here I am trying to figure out how to best break the glass door so we could get some pics of me being thrown out by security.  Eventually Katie showed up and foolishly let us inside, where we managed to distract her long enough to twink up my character's stats.

 
 

Finally, after much trouble and tribulation, we managed to get there crazy late at night, and only began the unpacking process the following morning, which pretty much consisted of looking at our bags and the computer, then thinking about them while spreading caviar and cream cheese on water crackers.  Note the blurry view of the lake past the table full of cigarettes, beer, caviar, exotic fruit, and other camping necessities.  This is about as much of the pristine wilderness as we saw the entire trip.  Nature schmature.  The first time I went up there, I hadn't been out of New York City for 3 years.  I started to faint as soon as I got out of the car due to the air's overwhelming oxygen content.  After choking down 2 cigars in under 8 minutes, I was functioning normally.