After Vegoose I stuck around Vegas for a few days then headed east to Albuquerque for the Association of Ice Cream Vendors Convention. Now, it’s sounds pretty dorky but getting together a whole bunch of people who love ice cream is much more fun than your average convention. Before I hit the road I needed to part ways with the remaining ice cream from Vegoose. I called up the Las Vegas Rescue Mission to see if they’d be interested in some free cream. Nate and I rolled up just past nine at night and dropped off a few cases of Mochi and a bunch of treats that didn’t fly so well over the weekend. We then headed back to the LV Convention Center parking lot to catch some Z’s before I was to head out at 4 in the morn.
At 3:45 in the morn i heard and felt the truck shake. I glanced up to see a couple security guards checking us out and placing a ticket on our window. They were a bit startled when I rolled out of the truck half awake, “you’re sleeping in that thing?” Thankfully it was only a warning and since it was just about time to drop Nate off at the Airport and get Bessy on the road we started that day a bit early.
The day was long and relatively uneventful. Driving 60 miles an hour across a desert that you’ve driven dozens of times just isn’t that exciting. At around 7 that night I rolled into Northern Albuquerque and got a room at a Super 8 so I could get all cleaned up before hitting the convention the following day.
The next morning I drove the truck up and wandered around in awe at how beautiful the
Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort is. It’s sits beside the Rio Grande about 20 minutes north of town on 500 protected acres of Tamaya land. The main reason I was attending the convention was to eat ice cream. I wanted it all, even the new no-sugar added Absolutely Free Ice Cream. Actually, I wanted to check out the exhibits and meet people who have surrounded themselves with ice cream for much longer than I.
The convention was quite small, maybe a couple hundred people, yet it was spread out over four days. It felt like a vacation. The last night I crashed in the truck in the parking lot then awoke to some fresh coffee and pastries. The convention ended with some more time in the exhibition hall and that’s where everyone really pigs out. I tried the new Hot Tamale popsicle that’s gonna hit the streets in time for summer. Frutiki had some great fruit bars and the new/old Froze Toes were the buzz for the truck owners in attendance.
Knowing the drive home was going to take at least 16 hours, i hopped on the road early and started retracing my desert steps back west. The ride seemed much longer heading home and the first night I made it to just before Kingman, Arizona before pulling off the road a bit and star gazing before some sleep. The following day I was home and the previous couple weeks all seemed like a blur. I’m slowly catching glimpses of what the future might hold and i can’t wait. Travel the world giving away FREE ice cream, Nationwide 2006….Worldwide 2007.
