"Report from a Happy Go Fest Attendee"

#PokemonGO: I was at Go Fest all day yesterday with my wife and our young son. And we had a blast.We arrived at the park at shortly after 9:00 to find the line already massive, down the blocked, and looped back to Buckingham Fountain. But we anticipated as much. We weren't going to line up at 6am and wait 4 hours for the line to start moving. We met up with some friends I've chatted with on Discord and other local subreddits, and had some great chats while waiting for the line to move. We got into the park at shortly before 11, just in time to start the first challenge window.Important to understand that I've been to a few Conventions before, so I was prepared for poor cell service. And honestly it was basically on par with PAX, if not better. At least at Go Fest I was sometimes able to get in, and occasionally able to message friends on GroupMe. Couldn't get into Reddit though.After a few attempts to scan our QR codes, we were in, and immediately headed to the Instinct lounge, where we caught a few grass and electric types before the window closed.Between the first and second windows, we wandered around a bit, and saw that there were signs for each of the types in the challenge, so that we knew where to go to get certain types later on.Through the whole day, we both had difficulty logging in, staying logged in, and participating a lot while logged in. However, especially when we left crowded areas, the app seemed to work better. Both for the app, as well as the internet in general.The lines for food were particularly long, so we were in a rough area for the second challenge window, but still managed to catch a few things. Right after we finished food, we walked around to try to swipe some pokéstops, as my wife's primary goal was to fill up on 2km eggs. During this time, we also caught Heracross, and our first Unown! So happy. That was my main goal for the day.During the last challenge window, it appeared that Rock type was the last big one we needed, so we headed to the sign we'd noted earlier, and caught some Geodude and an Onix. Surprised to see that there weren't many people around the area.After the last challenge window, I headed outside to meet up with the Silph Road crew to pick up some swag I'd ordered earlier.When I got back, shortly before 5, the host came back on stage to let everyone know that the challenges had all been successfully completed, and that we would all be awarded Lugia. Understandable that they didn't try to have a mass raid against, given the cell issues were still rampant.They also let us know that Team Mystic had done the most catching and as such, Articuno would be the next legend released. Of course when she said "In third place is.... Team Instinct!" We cheered. We're proud of our team.Also, the Niantic CMO came on and let everyone know again about the refund and how that would work. As well as how the event would be extended, both distance-wise and temporally. Which was exciting as I wanted to get more Heracross candy.After the final announcement, we headed back to the hotel room, as it had been a very long and hot day, and we all needed some air conditioning and supper. As we reached our hotel, I caught a Porygon with a Pinap, at the same time as my buddy Porygon gave me the last candy I needed to evolve it! Which, along with Unown and Heracross, brings my Pokédex to 235!I had hoped to be able to meet Nick from TrainerTips, Reversal, or Mystic7, but unfortunately their lines were too long. We did however get to meet John Hanke which was an unexpected surprise and very cool.In the end, it was an incredible day. We were outside all day, walked a ton, relaxed in the shade, met some other Pokémon fans, and caught some crazy things. The entire thing was well worth the trip.Edit: For those wondering, we traveled 4 hours by car and 18 hours by train. via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2tr5WFS