Fest
Where to begin. There were a lot of firsts this weekend.
Friday
Ken and Heath went out to the camp grounds around noon or so. They set up a GP-Medium and another GP-Large before we got there. Well, Christel put up the large. They also had a trailer set up that is a huge wood burning kitchen.
I was so excited at work I was antsy on the way home. We packed the car like Grapes of Wrath and headed out. We got out to the camp ground after dark. I needed quite a bit of help putting up the tent. I had not even cracked it before we headed out. Like five people showed up with HUGE flashlights to of the darkness. Ken helped me put up the tent in no time. We partied until the wee hours of the morning. We fell asleep to the drone of ten generators. I'm not sure when I went to bed, but I know I missed some of the fun.
Heath also lent us a air mattress frame. That thing is worth the investment. It holds the air mattress off the floor and makes it about the same size of a regular bed. They fold up in a snap and fit in with all the rest of the camping equipment. I should not complain about the setup. Chris brought his bed. That's right. He packed up his bed, mattress, box spring, frame and all and put it in one corner of the GP-Large. Now, that is camping. We expect him to show up with his Lazy Boy and night stands next week.
Saturday
We got up at the crack of 10:00. I put on the armor that Ken has for sale. I wore it all day and nearly died three times from the heat. Ken's armor weighs about 85 pounds. He nearly took Nat's eye out with one of his armor spikes. ([from Nat:] I still can not see correctly with that eye.) We saw Nat's mom who works at the "torture chamber" attraction. We wondered around and had a bunch of fun. We hung out with the group for a while then struck out on our own. We were supposed to go to the wine tasting, but when we got there I just didn't feel like going in. There was audience participation required. I'm just not into that.  In fact, I hate it. I come to watch a show, not be the show. Anyway That was a waste of $90.
Saturday evening was another night of hanging out and having fun. Heath cooked up a ton of meat. They switch off who pays for the meat. I ate until I was sick. Forty or fifty people (including one of the local cops) came by for a bite. Ken and Chris start wrestling on the ground in the common area between the tent and the kitchen trailer. (Yes, kitchen trailer.)  They have been friends for  a couple of decades. While they had each other pinned in the dust, Nat sneaked up and goosed both of them.  Each thought the other had done it and started fighting just that much harder. It was hilarious. They where the only two present who did not get the joke until it was explained later.
Nat's brother Daniel came out after some convincing (lots of single women in chainmaille). He went to the fest with Nat the next day.
We fell asleep by the sound of generators. I did manage to garbage one of our tent's zippers on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Ken again came to the rescue.
Sunday
I felt kind of bad. I ended up staying at the camp grounds instead of going into the fest. No one seemed to mind. They all knew it was my first weekend so they cut me some slack. This gave me time to load the car and pack up the tent. Now, the tent went down in about five minutes. It took me the rest of the hour to get it back in the bag. Remember, fold, do not roll.
I fell asleep on one of the deck chairs under a tarp that had been strung between the GP-Medium tent and the trailer Kitchen. I get a phone call from Nat. She says it is raining in the fest. I look that direction and sure enough there are huge dark clouds coming my way. I'm the only one in camp so I start throwing stuff under the huge tent and packing stuff away. A bunch of stuff gets wet anyway. I was glad I had packed our stuff. It was still fun.
Nat and I drove home and took showers before picking Elle up from my parent's place. Now I'm home and I'm ready to pass out. I didn't take many pictures. I was far to busy trying to learn the ropes. There will be many weekends of photo opportunities in the future.
Good night. ... wait, something is missing. ... no generators. I'll have to put a playing card in the fan or something.