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Sunday to Tuesday
(Please Note: for all "location photos", the small superimposed photos are screenshots. I take no credit for them, they are merely to draw parallels between my location photos and the show. All non-screenshots were taken by me.)
Tuesday was glamorous.... I studied all day. Though, I didn't accomplished much; in fact "studied" is a bit deceptive since I was also watching my Rookie Blue DVDs... but I WAS on vacation! :p In hindsight, I'm glad I had a quiet day because the rest of my trip was pretty crazy, in the best way possible . . .
Wednesday
After I was replenished in the animal shaped snack department, I got word about where RB was filming! So, I hopped on a couple buses, met an incredibly kind bus driver, walked for 10 minutes and ta da... I was at Cherry Beach!
All told, I was so tickled that I hadn't gotten myself ridiculously lost, that I almost missed this sign:
I was still too far to see much at this point; there were two cruisers but as I was zonked out in front of that sign (doing internal happy dances) they drove away so I didn't get pictures. I arrived in the late afternoon and it looked like they were packing up. I was absolutely terrified of getting in the way so I kept my distance and sat at a picnic table. Finally, I remembered I'm a well spoken young adult (who is currently organizing a city-wide event for crying out loud - Thrill The World, check if there's an event in your city, you won't regret it! :p) I seriously needed to snap out of my funk... so I quashed the fangirl behavior and then things went swimmingly!
Although I saw a few cast members leaving, I didn't want to bother them. I did meet one of the extras, who was in uniform, and I spoke to a crew member (who looked at the fanbook!). Both of them were lovely people and I'm so grateful that they took the time to chat with me! I was also shocked at how fascinated I am by the behind-the-scenes aspect; maybe it's just because I love the show so much, but adding the other dimension and getting a real idea of how it gets on screen is so cool!
I left Cherry Beach feeling incredibly thankful! I didn't want to get my hopes up about my remaining days so I focused on how great my trip already was. Every Rookie Blue "experience" was amazing in its own right, so I would have been content going home had this day been the most that happened. It was awesome that I got to show the book to someone who has a hand in making Rookie Blue, and I think it's fitting that the first person who saw it wasn't a writer or a cast member, because it was made equally for absolutely everyone.
Something else from my brief on-location visit: even when I was being embarrassingly introverted, perched at that picnic table, everyone that walked past me smiled or said hi. It was obvious they were all involved in the show (going back and forth from vehicles, equipment, etc) and it blew my mind how nice everyone was! I realize it could have been a number of factors, but I still got the overwhelming vibe that everything I've heard about the Rookie Blue crew is 150% true - everyone is awesome!!
Thursday
This was the day I had been waiting for!!! The group of us fans who had coordinated our trips were (almost) all in Toronto! @sillygyrl8 picked me up bright and early and we headed over to their hotel to meet @vixenali81 and svugirl! And thus began our "Rookie Blue Locations Adventure" (we didn't call it that, I completely made that up.... :p)
My favourite reaction was from an man waiting next to us at Arrivals while I was holding the sign... I saw him mouth "dummy" as he read it then he looked up at me and scowled. I completely understand that out of context we seemed rude but thankfully @tatum197903 understood and appreciated our gesture! (And when we told the cast we met the next day, they got a kick out of it too).
After a long day of watching filming from afar, (and freezing my toes after the sun went down), we were in desperate need of a break and food!
After dinner, what was supposed to be @sillygyrl and I dropping off the others at their hotel rapidly became the best RBparty (so far...)!! We got out the laptops, fired up the fanfic, showed off our various RB desktop images/phone screensavers/etc and talked until 1am. For most of us, fandom activities rarely happen with real people. Therefore, having others to share it will, who all have such a strong appreciation of the show, was an incredible experience! It's also one of the many reasons why I miss those girls SO much now!
Friday
We met Ben first and he chatted with us for a while. He also looked at the fanbook in detail and had wonderful things to say about it, which was an incredible compliment!!!
The rest of the day was comprised of lots of standing around, but it went by so quickly because we met cast and other fans came and went. As far as fans, I met @StarryDreamer01, @dubbcee, @areyoutrue & @Bobbycad. Once again, I was blown away by how amazing everyone is! I am so proud of our fandom, and I consider myself lucky to be part of such an incredible group of people!!!! Meeting the other fans and feeling that unique sense of community was one of the best aspects of my trip!
As can be expected when meeting people you've only known online, I think we were all a bit nervous going into this trip but it really was great! Anything negative was vastly outweighed by what a great time I had and the lasting friendships I made!!!