Pennsic Report - Part 1
Aug. 11th, 2008 10:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
felis_lupusPart 1 of how many, again, not sure, but probably more than just one. I can't sum up the Week of Wonderful in one post, and I'll be off to bed soon. Laundry is done, tent floor is drying, and I don't want to go back to work and the real world tomorrow. I miss the pavilion again, even with the constant drone of I-79...
To Do before the next camping event:
1) Figure out a bed, raised if possible, folding would be good... a sort of medieval futon...
2) Fix the darned floor. Am tired of fussing with a ginormous tarp and a two-piece canvas (though this would make it more difficult to wash... maybe stick with two-pieces, but trim to fit and make some way of connecting them when they're laid down. Also, mark where the poles and stakes go so we don't have to fuss with it quite so much.)
3) New tent stakes. Metal. Should have bought some while at Pennsic, every time I thought of it, though, the thought of lugging a bag of heavy iron stakes back to camp in addition to the rest of my gear made my brain melt. This is why we have the internet (or friends with forges...).
My Contubernal showed up while I was still making pickles on Friday (12 good jars of dill spears... yummy, I hope.), but I finished that up at a reasonable hour and we packed the car, made a half dozen stops on the way to his and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aiennanakiir's house (last minute food shopping, drop off keys at work, drop off sewing machine for cleaning, etc), and had an evening of Muppets and corgi snuggling. Was Good.
Next morning, we left for the Kennebunk rest area in time to get there and meet Max, Mickel, Alec, and Ninian by 8, had breakfast, and headed for points West around 8:30. Several stops along the way, including a wonderful, wonderful one in Syracuse for a late lunch withsprirtwolf, who I should have just kidnapped and dragged along with us to Pennsic. :) Taking the Northern Route through NY, though more expensive tolls-wise, was definitely a good move. Plenty of places to stop, and the drive was much, much prettier. Arrived at the hotel in Meadville, 45ish minutes from site, around 10:30, for a last night in an actual bed and climate control.
Headed to Slippery Rock on Sunday morning, after a lovely breakfast and quick shopping stop for pillows etc that folks had forgotten back in Maine. Onsite by Noon. Sunny sky, coolish temps, nice breeze. So many tents. So much canvas. Wolgemut playing right by gate. So cool. Much gawking on my part as we drove to N-19 and found Gamol Gat. Vincent and I were basically set up by 2:00, I think. The benefits of a double-bell wedge. The Seige of La Rochelle was due to begin at 4:00, so Max, Vincent, and I stuffed ourselves into fencing gear (clean for the last time...) and headed to the battlefield. Saw Guthfrith and Isobel, friends from Runtallan on the way there, very excited. They weren't at GNEW this year, and I missed them. Arrived at the field and mustered with the rest of the Dragoons and Privateers, prepared to charge the castle. This took longer than expected... When we did get going, it became apparent that it would have more appropriately been named the Battle of Le Hold. Spent more time down on one knee than I did fencing/running around the castle. Bombs add a level of complexity that's just not worthwhile, or need to be re-examined. It was fun, but not as much fun as I'd been led to expect. Attacked, defended, and then all us peons got to fight the Dons and Whitescarves, which was a lot more fun. No RBGs, no bombs, just swords and other various pointy bits, and all the high ranked folks holed up in the turrets, kicking our butts. :) Much more better.
Returned to camp tired and hot, but happy. Had dinner, finished organizing the tent, admired the lovely sunset and moon, and then crashed.
More later...
ETA: One stop in Massachusetts, I think, yielded excellent results on the Food end of things. There was a Farmer's Market at one of the rest stops, and there were folks selling Honey. Raw Honey. Good Honey. These folks, in fact. I highly recommend the pure Buckwheat Honey.
To Do before the next camping event:
1) Figure out a bed, raised if possible, folding would be good... a sort of medieval futon...
2) Fix the darned floor. Am tired of fussing with a ginormous tarp and a two-piece canvas (though this would make it more difficult to wash... maybe stick with two-pieces, but trim to fit and make some way of connecting them when they're laid down. Also, mark where the poles and stakes go so we don't have to fuss with it quite so much.)
3) New tent stakes. Metal. Should have bought some while at Pennsic, every time I thought of it, though, the thought of lugging a bag of heavy iron stakes back to camp in addition to the rest of my gear made my brain melt. This is why we have the internet (or friends with forges...).
My Contubernal showed up while I was still making pickles on Friday (12 good jars of dill spears... yummy, I hope.), but I finished that up at a reasonable hour and we packed the car, made a half dozen stops on the way to his and
aiennanakiir's house (last minute food shopping, drop off keys at work, drop off sewing machine for cleaning, etc), and had an evening of Muppets and corgi snuggling. Was Good.Next morning, we left for the Kennebunk rest area in time to get there and meet Max, Mickel, Alec, and Ninian by 8, had breakfast, and headed for points West around 8:30. Several stops along the way, including a wonderful, wonderful one in Syracuse for a late lunch with
sprirtwolf, who I should have just kidnapped and dragged along with us to Pennsic. :) Taking the Northern Route through NY, though more expensive tolls-wise, was definitely a good move. Plenty of places to stop, and the drive was much, much prettier. Arrived at the hotel in Meadville, 45ish minutes from site, around 10:30, for a last night in an actual bed and climate control.Headed to Slippery Rock on Sunday morning, after a lovely breakfast and quick shopping stop for pillows etc that folks had forgotten back in Maine. Onsite by Noon. Sunny sky, coolish temps, nice breeze. So many tents. So much canvas. Wolgemut playing right by gate. So cool. Much gawking on my part as we drove to N-19 and found Gamol Gat. Vincent and I were basically set up by 2:00, I think. The benefits of a double-bell wedge. The Seige of La Rochelle was due to begin at 4:00, so Max, Vincent, and I stuffed ourselves into fencing gear (clean for the last time...) and headed to the battlefield. Saw Guthfrith and Isobel, friends from Runtallan on the way there, very excited. They weren't at GNEW this year, and I missed them. Arrived at the field and mustered with the rest of the Dragoons and Privateers, prepared to charge the castle. This took longer than expected... When we did get going, it became apparent that it would have more appropriately been named the Battle of Le Hold. Spent more time down on one knee than I did fencing/running around the castle. Bombs add a level of complexity that's just not worthwhile, or need to be re-examined. It was fun, but not as much fun as I'd been led to expect. Attacked, defended, and then all us peons got to fight the Dons and Whitescarves, which was a lot more fun. No RBGs, no bombs, just swords and other various pointy bits, and all the high ranked folks holed up in the turrets, kicking our butts. :) Much more better.
Returned to camp tired and hot, but happy. Had dinner, finished organizing the tent, admired the lovely sunset and moon, and then crashed.
More later...
ETA: One stop in Massachusetts, I think, yielded excellent results on the Food end of things. There was a Farmer's Market at one of the rest stops, and there were folks selling Honey. Raw Honey. Good Honey. These folks, in fact. I highly recommend the pure Buckwheat Honey.
