So now we were back on the road and really tired. The plan was to drive to Kansas City and find a place to sleep, then we could go to Billy's Tuesday. First though, Big Chris wanted to stop by Enterprise Square and take a picture there. Some sort of inside joke for him and his group. We did find it and we did take some pictures (and I still haven't given those pictures to Chris, but I will). Not very impressive. But then it was closed so we didn't see much of it at all.

Then on the long trip to Kansas City, Van Horn and I had a long conversation about our group and his role in it. Apparently, he has a totally viewpoint of himself than what the group thinks of him. Basically, he thinks we're a bad influence on him and he's probably right. But then again, it's not our job to be a good influence, he has to stick up for himself. There were some things he said that I didn't appreciate and I won't repeat them here. I'll just say that after the Gen Con trip I avoided Chris for a few months.

One of the things he did say was his analysis of me and Donald (not together of course). He seemed to think that Donald had some sort of grudge against him and that I had some deep resentment against the group. For me at least his observations may have been right but the conclusions were totally wrong. And for Donald also 'cause I asked him a couple of weeks later. The mistakes Chris made are not unique. We each have a certain set of inputs and we draw conclusions which reflect our experiences. Van Horn's mistake is that he shouldn't have been drawing conclusions for everyone else. Himself, sure, he knows himself. He doesn't know us well enough to assume he knows how we really feel.

One thing I do regret is that we have been quite unkind to Chris throughout the years. He thinks we're being mean, we think it's just what friends do and therein lies a bit of a cultural gap. Really, if we knew him as well as we think we do we would have stopped teasing him long ago. At this point I don't think we can stop so hopefully he will be the one to adapt. Maybe it's working since he's been showing up a bit more to gaming lately.

Dave also brings up that point. We are stuck in the roles that we've assumed in our group. One thing I've just now realized is: so what? Personally, I like the role I have and if I want change I will change as I have changed it in the past. If you don't like your role, change it and act the way you want to act. And you have to keep at it until it changes everybody else's mind. Maybe Dave has tried to change his role in the group but he definitely has not kept it up long enough for that change to become ingrained in the rest of us.

Back to the trip. We arrived in Kansas City at around 16:00. Straight away we tried a Motel 8 but it was full. Ok, fuck that, I'm tired and I don't care at this point. I look up a good hotel and call them to make reservations, then we drive there and check in. Now, if I was more awake we probably would have looked around some more but I really wanted to get to sleep. Too bad I didn't get that chance.

We stayed at the Westin Crown Center -- the nicest freaking hotel I've ever been to, much less stayed at. It's attached to the Crown Center, which is an upscale mall. This place looked like it had everything, and with a price to match. We stayed one night and spent as much as our four night stay in Milwaukee. What the heck, it was a vacation. And I was tired.

Unfortunately, Big Chris wanted to do *something*. Something worthwhile since we were in Kansas City. Crap man! I should have hit him and gone to sleep. But nooo! I said ok and they kept me up. First we spent a half hour trying to find a place to go to. We thought of going out to eat and going to some sort of play or musical. You know, it's tough to do things at the last minute unless you're willing to spend money. Luckily, I was willing to spend the money and both Chrises were willing to help me spend it.