Wanda Woman Gets Geeky at Maker Faire

[Wanda Woman]

While many of y'all were having fun at the Gumball Rally, the Boy Wonder and I ventured to San Mateo for the 2009 Maker Faire. What's Maker Faire? It's sponsored by Make magazine (makezine.com: MAKE: Magazine)
and is billed as the largest DIY technology festival for geeky people who like to tinker in their garages, take things apart, and put them back together to make new things that light up, make sounds, are remote controlled, and/or are just generally technologically cool.

We drove WEST (thanks, HL!) of Bakersfield to pick up the I5. We were barely under way when we saw this on the side of the road.


HOLY CATS! Is that a giant cow?? We flipped a U and went back for a better look.


Allrighty then.





We had to stop at one point because two horses had escaped from their corral. There were a half dozen people trying to catch them. The horses were darting back and forth across the highway (good thing everyone stopped!). I tried to get pics, but those horses were just too fast and unpredictable. After about 15 minutes, they seem to tire of their escapade and trotted back home without any guidance from their owners. Watching the whole event was like being at a drive-in movie. Moving on.


We drove north on the I5. Good thing I had a venti coffee, because this was the unchanging view for many a mile.




I kept seeing this sign along the way. I think some farmers are making a statement regarding the need for larger water allocations to grow crops.



We stopped in Gilroy (mmmmm, smell that garlic!) and had lunch at the Black Bear Diner.





There was a bit of a bear theme.









In case you wanted to know what bears read.















We had a nice lunch, but the highlight was dessert. The waitress came out with a palette of sundae toppings and piled them on at the Boy's direction. Mmmmmm!



Next up: we arrive at Maker Faire!

[Wanda Woman]

We arrived early on Saturday morning for Day One of Maker Faire.

You know it's going to be a good day when there are cupcake cars in the parking lot.



Follow those cupcakes!




There was a Radio Flyer wagon car. We got to see it drive around the parking lot.




I'm not sure what this doggie chef mobile was.




We were greeted by a robo-giraffe. He even walked around!



We saw this chariot being pulled by a walking robot.



It's Barack Obama! (Last year it was Governator Ah-nold.)



There was a giant Mouse Trap game, life-size!



Every few hours, a bowling ball would be launched and, just like the board game, you'd watch to see how far along it would get before something went awry.




There was an area devoted to steam power, where "steampunks" reigned supreme. Steampunk is a sort of Victorian era meets Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, with folks wearing Victorian outfits with lots of technological inventions attached (especially anything made of brass).

Here is a steampunk motorhome.



You could go inside it.



There are some people on the very top of it. It was a little scary to go up there. You had to go through an opening in the ceiling and up a straight ladder.




Steampunk snail!



En fuego!



A steampunk photographer.



More to come.

[gRuMpEe]

Great TR WW!! I love the cupcakes...looks like you and the Boy Wonder had a blast!

[Melonballer]

Awesome stuff! Keep it going. I like how you photographed the journey too.

[yoyoflamingo]

Amazing so far WW! I want a cupcake car....and a sundae like the boy wonder had!

[Stitchy]

I just wonder...what happens if you are driving in your cupcake car...and you tip over?



MORE pictures, please! YAY!

[NeverNeverland]

You know.. to miss the Gumball Rally (and seeing the Yoyolands ) you had to have a pretty good reason.... and i'd say this was it!!! That looks like such a cool and amazing event!

[sir clinksalot]

I just wonder...what happens if you are driving in your cupcake car...and you tip over?

I would assume the 5-second rule would still apply.

Great pics WW.

[All4dISNEY]

Cup Cake Cars?? Who thought of such a brilliant thing? Wait til Kathleen gets a look at those!!

Gr8 TR WW!

[Wanda Woman]

There were battles to watch.

At the "Battle Pond", everyone had to wear protective goggles.



People make remote control ships based on famous naval battles. The ships are sized in relation to one another and are actually armed! They shoot at each other until one side is sunk or time runs out. We watched a WWII battle.




There were also battling tanks.



They were like big desert tortoises.




There were lots of robots.









And even R2D2.



R2D2's handler had a cool shirt.




This was a giant hand that was dexterous enough to pick up a parking cone.




These little bots scooped up disks we tossed to them.



There were home-built rides. This one was pedal-powered. You had to sign a waiver to ride.







There's still more!

[Stitchy]

I would assume the 5-second rule would still apply.

Oh my gosh! LOL




Great pics, WW! Looks like you had a great time!

[Wanda Woman]

There were interesting things to do. This was "Mouse Maze". You put a fuzzy mouse head hat on and a pair of earphones and took little baby steps around an open area. If you heard music, you were going in the right direction. If you heard cats, you had to back up and try a different way. It was funny to watch people's eyes glaze over in concentration.



There was a gig-an-tic Lite Brite.



This was a cross between Thomas the Tank Engine train tracks and Tinker Toys.



The San Francisco Exploratorium brought several fun exhibits. This one makes smoke rings, but teamwork is required.




There were 'Poseables' scattered around the fairgrounds. They were jointed so you could be creative with them.




Some boys were a little too creative.



Legos were well-represented. Here is a Lego Jeep. It's "available for parties" dontchaknow.



Happy 10th Birthday, Legoland!



There were lots of Lego Mini-Land scenes set up, some with animation.

This was a church wedding. I decided it was Dusty and Fishy.






This was a GREAT way to light up your bike at night. You could even draw your own picture and they would display it on the bike wheels.




You could be a twirling bird.




A Disneyland-like ride for plush pups! It moved back and forth along the track.



And fire sculpture!




Coming up: vehicles and people-watching!

[Stitchy]

That mouse maze sounds cool. I bet it was hilarious to watch!

[aashee]

Absolutely bizarre! I loved the trip report. Never heard of the event but looks pretty awesome to me.

Thanks for posting!

[PEZZ Lightyear]

This report is awesome-tastic!