jeffpaulsen

Damn fine event, even if it is far away. Six hours if you can make it nonstop without traffic, but with stops for gas and dog maintenance, it takes us longer.

Thursday
We got on the road noonish, and made OK time. There was no car trouble, but the "check engine" light came on in Albany, and stayed on. We re-tightened the gas cap, confirmed there were no obvious problems with the appearance or performance of the engine, shrugged, and kept on going. Arrived about the same time as TRMs, and got the tents put up in decent time. I made an effort to be patient, and was much happier for it.

Friday
Ula fought in the war. I stood out in the parking lot for a while with Olin and directed latecomers to the right place. A pack of ladies set up for vodka and lemon shots in my camp, and toasts were proposed. In the aftermath of this, there were empty vodka bottles totaling over a gallon, lemon rinds scattered around, and a mound of lemon-soaked sugar. Also, various duchesses and vicountesses got their drink on. Friday night was Steingrim's birthday party, where I made some attempt at a dramatic reading of Gerhard von Nordflammen's "Queen's Tail". MUCH THANKS to everyone who read (red6count  and phoame , couldn't have done it without you) and everyone who watched. We had lots of fun with it. In bed by 1 am.

Saturday
Hung out behind court with the usual suspects. Ned had a bottle of vodka. I attempted to save her from it by drinking a reasonable portion, but I didn't take any heroic measures. We were quiet by An Tir hanging out behind court standards, got shushed a couple times, and got glared at by Westies.

TRMs were gifted with puppet effigies of themselves, which was cool and a little creepy. If I had been HRM I would have moved behind the throne, and had the puppet do the rest of business. This is one of many reasons why I am not in a position of responsibility within the society.

There was a party over at the West tent, which was pretty well rocking. Met a lot of cool people, all of whom see my wife all the time, but rarely see me.

Got some great pictures which I will post later (and two hundred to just ditch).

Sunday
Really wet, although not super cold, and you couldn't really say it rained exactly. It more just settled out of the air. Had to pack up the gear wet, which messes with trailer weight and balance, but not too bad. "Check engine" light is still on, no other symptoms. Fought with traffic on the road from Reedsport to Drain -- there had been a two car rollover, with cars needing extracted from the ditch, entire population of the nearest village checking everything out. This delayed us about an hour. Home by 9:30.