haha, love those directions "hit PCH, then turn south"
We don't have an IPMS chapter near enough to us to attend every month. I really wish we did, though. Like you, I heard all of the horror stories about IPMS members. I avoided attending contests and Nats for years because of them, in fact.
Then, around the time that the Nats were held in Va Beach and Columbus, Ohio, we started attending the shows "in our radius" and those two Nats. And I have NEVER bumped into a single person that fit any of those stereotype stories in these six or seven years, after dozens of shows.
No rip-off vendors, no "smelly guys", no "loud rivet counters", etc,,,,,,,,,,heck, I make a joke out of it,,,,,called an online friend over whom we had just met in person for the first time,,,,,you should have seen his face when I pointed at a Naval diorama and told him it was inaccurate (I could tell what he was thinking,,,,,haha),,,,,,,,then I told him that the Navy BrownShirt was performing actual work and "they never did any of that",,,,,,all 5 of us near there bust out laughing, and then complimented that dio. (They all knew I was a Blue Shirt Marine)
I think a room with 12 or 20 modelers in it every month would be a blast,,,,,but, most of my neighbors are cows and horses,,,,,so, the annual contests will have to do for a while longer.
Rex