Texas to Minneapolis: Our Journey to The Uncanny Experience
And We're Off... Almost
It's 9:45 AM, and we're finally hitting the road! The bags are packed, Baymax is loaded up with all of our camera and tech gear, and, of course, we have plenty of snacks and drinks packed for the journey.
If you've followed our convention adventures before, you already know that getting from one convention to the next isn't as simple as just hopping in the car and going. There's a LOT that happens behind the scenes. Between trips, I'm juggling three different jobs, along with kids, pets, a house, and all the normal everyday responsibilities that somehow still have to get done. Thankfully, all three of my jobs are flexible and accommodating, because without that flexibility, these trips simply wouldn't be possible. Yesterday, I worked one of my jobs from 8am to noon, then headed to my warehouse job to pick up two different assignments. I stayed up late working on one of them so I could finish part of it and get it shipped out this morning.
Before we really get this road trip started...
We're making a stop at the post office. Because apparently, even when you're driving halfway across the country for a mutant school experience, work still has to go out.
Where Are We Going?
We're heading all the way to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for something we've never experienced before:
The Uncanny Experience.
If you aren't familiar with it, The Uncanny Experience is an immersive X-Men fan experience where attendees get to step into the world of Xavier's Institute. We're talking classes, houses, assignments, cosplay, activities, the Danger Room, panels, games, and the chance to spend the weekend feeling like we're actually attending Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
And honestly...
How could we say no to that?
Here I'll let Gigi explain and give you all the details.
Wait... We Have a Package?
We drop off the work we have at the post office and now we can start our journey. Almost...
We have a package and just received a notification from our PO Box saying we have received something, and apparently, it's not just anything.
A PR package from a brand has arrived. Now, we're already on the road, but we're still close enough to turn around.
So naturally...
We U-turn.
Because now I need to know what company sent us something and, more importantly...
What's inside?
You can't tell me there's a mystery package waiting for me and expect me to just keep driving.
That's not how curiosity works.
The Random Road Trip Question
Once we're back on the road, it's time for one of those completely random conversations that somehow only happen during a long road trip.
The question:
"You wake up rich tomorrow. What's the dumbest thing you buy first?"
Juan starts to think then answers:
"An Apple Vision Pro."
Honestly... very on-brand for Juan.
My answer?
A golf cart.
But not just any golf cart.
I want one of those little cow tractors from Cars that pulls the wagon.
Juan: "What!?"
So I pull up the reference photo.
Juan looks at me like I've completely lost my mind.
"You have a reference photo ready!?"
Me:
"Yeah, of course."
Listen.
If I'm going to become rich and make a ridiculous purchase, I need to know exactly what I'm buying.
What would your dumb purchase be if you woke up RICH one day?
Driving Into the Storm
As we're getting closer to Dallas, the sky starts changing. The clouds are getting darker and darker, and that gray sky is moving in quickly. The wind picks up, and little bits of water start hitting the windshield. Then, off to our right, there's this really cool split in the sky where the light meets the darkness. It looks like we're driving straight toward a storm. For a while, we hit pockets of heavier rain mixed with lighter drizzle.
And then...
It stops.
For almost two hours, we only get little bits of rain here and there.
It feels like we've driven right through the storm and left it behind us.
Oklahoma: A Little Lunch & a Dairy Discovery
Once we make it into Oklahoma, it's definitely time for lunch. We stop at Braum's, and while we're there, I learn something I honestly didn't know before. Braum's operates its own dairy farm and processing facilities and supplies its stores with its own milk and dairy products. Cool little fun fact to learn that I will be sure to look into more just to learn about their business.
With our bellies full, and a little break from the road, it's time to keep moving but not for much longer. We are now just minutes away from our stopping point.
Adding another passenger
It's Clocky!
We make it to her home in Oklahoma, where we're stopping for the night to get some much-needed rest before continuing this long drive to Minneapolis.
But Juan isn't quite ready to call it a night.
He has part of his cosplay that still needs to be finished. He sprayed it the night before, but some pieces still need to be glued together.
Luckily, Clocky has a cosplay room at her house with everything he needs.
So Juan pulls out the unfinished pieces and hands the job over to Clocky who waste no time and grabs the glue she needs and starts working on Juans unfinished cosplay.
While she is working on Juans cosplay, Juan is sitting there chatting away. Me? Well I have something more important going on.
Puppy Love
Clocky's six-month-old Mini Poodle and Bernese Mountain dog, Lily, wants attention.
And of course, I'm happy to provide it.
She is full of puppy energy and more than ready for some love. So while Juan and Clocky work on the cosplay, I'm getting my puppy fix. Honestly, this is probably one of the best parts of this whole trip no need to continue we can stop here...
Eventually, it's time to try to get some sleep.
But that's when another little surprise happens.
Black Cats: Stealth Mode Activated
One of Clocky's black cats decides to jump onto the bed in the middle of the night and scares me. Now, to be fair... her cats are all black so when the room is dark, they basically become little furry ninjas. You don't see them, you don't hear them, and then suddenly... CAT.
I don't mind too much, though. I'm never going to complain about a cat making biscuits or deciding I'm a perfectly acceptable place to hang out.
One More Oklahoma Discovery
It's 6 AM, and we're all up and getting ready to go.
Lily is already wide awake and running around like she has consumed three energy drinks.
She greets everyone with the enthusiasm of someone who has absolutely no concept of personal space. We pack everything back into Baymax and somehow manage to get out the door in about five minutes. Which, honestly, might be a road-trip record for us. Before getting too far down the road, we stop at Love's. Love's is one of our favorite road-trip stops, and it's kind of funny finding out that its headquarters are right here in Oklahoma.
We fuel up and hit the road with record timing.
A Foggy Morning
The morning drive is beautiful, in a completely different way. Fog is settled over everything. It looks like a giant blanket has been dropped over the road and the surrounding fields. The horizon disappears into the mist. The fields fade away in the distance, and the trees look almost like silhouettes. Our headlights cut through the fog as we continue down the road.
It's quiet. Peaceful.
And honestly, pretty beautiful.
There's something about watching the landscape change from the passenger seat that makes a long road trip feel like an adventure instead of just a really long drive.
Hello, Kansas!
Eventually, we make it into Kansas.
And WOW.
The landscape opens up into beautiful wide fields with long stretches of road and huge blue skies. It's exactly the kind of scenery that makes you understand why people love road trips.
And while we're taking in the beautiful Kansas landscape...
I'm eating Chips Ahoy cookies with an Alani for breakfast.
Clocky is napping but then wakes up and joins me for breakfast. She grabs some Cheez-Its.
So obviously...
This is a perfectly balanced breakfast.
Don't judge our road-trip nutrition
Meanwhile... The Rest of the Crew Is Coming
While we're making our way north driving, the rest of our crew is also getting into position.
We're getting messages from Gigi. She's at the airport with her plus-one and getting ready to fly in and meet us in Minneapolis. At this point, it really starts feeling like the whole group is coming together. Juan and I are several hours into the drive. We've got Clocky with us Now Gigi is on her way with her plus one. Now we just have to finish the last leg.
Almost 12 More Hours
This portion of the drive is almost 12 hours and we have no time for sight seeing.
We're on a mission. We're making as few stops as possible and keeping the wheels moving.
Our goal is simple:
Get to Minneapolis.
Get to the school.
And get our badges.
After all these miles, we're ready to finally see what The Uncanny Experience is actually like.
We Made It to Minneapolis!
Around 6:30 PM, we finally arrive in Minneapolis, and the timing couldn't be better.
We get there in time to pick up our badges. But even before we walk inside, the building catches my attention. Minneapolis has that big-city feeling, with tall glass buildings and modern infrastructure surrounding us, and then, right in the middle of it all, we come across this completely different-looking building.
The Minneapolis Club
The historic clubhouse dates back to 1908 and was designed by architect William Channing Whitney in the Tudor Revival style.
Standing there in the middle of modern Minneapolis, this older building really stands out.
And knowing what's about to happen inside makes it even more interesting. Because for this weekend... This isn't just the Minneapolis Club.
This is Xavier's Institute. The place where we're about to spend the next couple of days learning, exploring, cosplaying, playing games, meeting other fans, and stepping into the
X-Men world. After driving all the way from Texas... we're finally here.
We Made It!
And finally...
We have all made it.
Clocky is here.
Gigi is here.
Gigi's plus-one is here.
And our content crew is officially together in Minneapolis.
After all these miles, we're finally ready to experience The Uncanny Experience for ourselves.
This is our first time attending, and we can't wait to see what Xavier Institute has in store for us.
But this is just the beginning.
Be sure to check out our social pages for all of our Uncanny Experience coverage, videos, photos, behind-the-scenes moments, and everything else we get ourselves into while we're here!
From your Con Coverage Camera Girl,
Belinda G.
Bonus Content...
PR package that joined us on our trip. Texas Tea hooked us up with tea AND lemonade!
When you find Mikey at the Mall of America you obviously stop for a photo.
They told me to behave at the Mall of America... nobody said anything about not eating M&Ms
Some people take the scenic route home. We apparently take the Let's explore an abandoned train route... Yes I went in and yes I walked the whole train.
Three adults. One giant candy store. Absolutely ZERO chance we were leaving empty handed. Fun Fact a shady truck on the side of the road lead us here.
I'm still just a Toys R Us Kid at heart.
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