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| Buckle Up Kids, It's Been A Few Weeks |
So.
A few weeks ago I stopped updating.
I can explain.
So much has happened! I mean it! A lot!
At first, I wasn't posting because I was busy busy busy prepping for King Richard's Faire and the road trip leading to it! So much crochet! Tea-staining! Planning! Packing!
Then I was on the road. That will be its own section, trust me.
Then I was at the Ren Faire! So much fun! So many exciting things!
And then I was on the way home!
And then I was home, but exhausted!
And then we had a tropical storm!
And now here we are!
So first things first - Ren Faire prep was hectic.
I had two pouches and an undershirt to crochet, tea-staining to attempt on one pouch and the undershirt, frantic packing and repacking and unpacking and repacking again (I really did try to travel light and still ended up with two bags plus a tote full of snacks), and yes, anxiety, because I cannot enjoy anything without nature's caffeine (adrenaline) making my heart squeeze and pound.
Turns out I was maybe a little right to be anxious, because it turns out RVs hate me just as much as any other electronic.
We were maybe 2/3 of the way to our campground when the skies opened up, pounding heavy and hard on the car with raindrops so frantic and oversized I was convinced they were hailstones for a hot minute. That would've been fine, honestly, if the RV didn't quickly stop working, causing us to coast to a stop along I-95, where we would not be able to move from for over 8 hours. Turns out that Good Sam's RV Insurance isn't worth the half second it took for me to type their name. They left us disabled and stranded for twenty four freaking hours. The Massachusetts State Troopers, on the other hand, got us moved in like an hour.
So yes, we missed our campsite. And my poor friends, who were in charge of all the logistics, had to spend nearly the whole 24 hours we were stranded desperately trying to get a hotel, a rental car, a tow truck, etc. And fate and crappy call centers fought them every single step of the way.
Shoutout to the exhausted, overworked AVIS/Budget guy who ended up having to rent us what we strongly suspect was the van he had been using for his own family, because that poor guy got just as shafted as we did, since the dorks at the call center rented us a vehicle that did not exist on his lot. In fact, no vehicles existed on his lot. Hence the probably-was-personal van.
That being said, while waiting for the tow truck to take the RV to get fixed, we went on a little road trip to a mall where we tried Mochinuts for the first time!
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| A Three-Pack of Oreo, Fruity Pebble, and Matcha mochinuts |
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| A fried mozzarella stick with French fries |
Mochinuts are, apparently, donuts made with mochi flour, which makes them delightfully crisp & chewy and just all-around tasty. The Oreo was my favorite - it was intensely chocolatey on the top, not overly sweet, and that chew was super satisfying. The Fruity Pebble mochinut was also fantastic, though the cereal was a bit dampened (big surprise, it was like 86% humidity that day and hot as hell). Unfortunately the matcha mochinut was... stale-tasting, which disappointed every one of us.
The fried mozzarella sticks were practically a religious experience, though.
See, they're called Cheesedogs, because they're the exact same size and shape as a corndog (which they also sell and are also delicious). Which means they're BIG. Yes, I was murmuring Big & Chunky in my head the whole time I was eating the one Z got for us to share. They can come with different toppings - the one shown above has French Fries and my buddy T got that one. Our friend S was the one who got the mochinuts! But Z & I had a cheesedog with crushed ramen noodles on it.
100000000/10 strongly recommend. I went from feeling exhausted, overheated, and ill to feeling deeply satisfied and happy in only 4 bites.
You know what's not satisfying?
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| Spending six bucks on this junk. |
I like cotton candy as much as the next fatty, but these kiosks are a waste of your time (something like 7 minutes) and money. It was roughly the size of a tennis ball when it came out, screwed up several times, and tasted like chemical farts.
Minus five stars.
After the trip to the mall, we picked up J, who had taken the task of making sure the tow truck came for the RV, and we all went to a motel. It was a nice little place just outside Carver, and while there was a little nonsense with the showers, it was very very good to not be stuck on the side of I-95.
We even drove to a place for some shaved ice!
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| The views in Marshfield, MA were spectacular |
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| 100 flavors!!! |
If Z & I hadn't been 100% stuffed with mochinuts, cheesedogs, and Sweet Frog frozen yogurt (and pineapple Dole Whip), we'd have tried a lemon-lime ice or possibly a plum-grape ice. As it was, T got a Pretty Princess and it looked fantastic (it was pink & purple!).
We finally retired for the night in fine spirits, ready for our adventure at King Richard's Faire the next day!
The Faire....
My God, that was the Faire to start with, in my opinion. None of us had ever been to one, and among the five of us we had T in a cloak, S in a lovely black dress & cloak, J as an absolutely precious gnome (we're talking full-on, unintentional Nana cosplay from David the Gnome, 100% homemade), me in my emerald green Torvi top from Holy Clothing (plus crocheted accessories), and Z in his shockingly comfy outfit of a cream-colored cotton top and a pair of white linen pants with very thin gray stripes (plus the crocheted bag I made him!).
Of the 5 of us, I think Z was the most comfortable the whole day - it was upper 70s and 86% humidity.
None of us got heat exhaustion, however, because 1) we all hydrated obsessively (don't use the tap near the Mud Show, it's rusty, use the ones near the Privies near the Queen's Stage!), 2) most of us were wearing at least one breathable garment, and 3) the whole of King Richard's Faire is in a forest (except for the jousting field).
The temperature difference between the sun-soaked parking field and the pine-shaded Faire was nearly like air conditioning.
If you've never been to a Ren-Faire, King Richard's is... a great introduction. You enter through a portcullis after being greeted by the Royal Court, and you're immediately in dappled shade with what feels like a true medieval village! There are permanent buildings for every shop, some done in that Tudor architectural style that everyone thinks of when they think Ren-Faire, and others in adorable fantasy shapes (a kiosk shaped and painted like a mushroom was selling tails, ears, and other costuming supplies; one hut was shaped like a witch's pointed hat with the tip curled slightly and had a stained glass window with the Hylian crest on it!).
If you're into leather, there are at least 3 shops there to cater to your needs. If you want weapons and armor there are several places, including a working blacksmith! If you like pottery I saw a few spots for it, including one that let you do your own Raku pottery! You could hatch your own dragon egg to win a prize in a little house that had a dragon shop in it! You could have the Washing Well Wenches help you find missing party members! Do you want elf ears? There's a lady who has every kind of ear known to fantasy. Do you want an ocarina? There's a very sweet lady who sells ocarinas (you'll know her by her excellent playing and the Triforce branding on her signs).
And of course let's not forget the food.
My god, the food.
So I'd heard that the turkey legs were huge.
We were undersold.
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| Our turkey leg probably weighed at least 2lb And was mostly meat. |
I 100% recommend the food. We didn't have anything that wasn't delicious - the turkey legs are sublime (they truly do taste somewhat hammy, but there's still that turkey undertone and they're meaty as can be!), the bloomin onion was crispy and hot, the Cobbler's Corn is a Mexican Street Corn that Z & I each had an ear of and could have easily eaten six or seven more lol. S got a caramel apple with all the fixings and it was a whole, cored & sliced apple in a bowl with hot caramel in the bottom instead of being a sheet of sticky stale caramel wrapped around a stale apple on a stick like I'm used to. We also had some candied nuts (The King's Nuts), and those were delicious - we had cashews & almonds.
The food is pricy, but... not as bad as at the Maine Lobster Festival, to be honest. You get good value for your cash, and the water taps are free, so you don't even need to pay for water if you don't want to.
Pro Tip: Don't buy your food tickets at the gate if the line is long, there are plenty of kiosks in the first few hours where you can pay your cash to get your food tickets. Each ticket is worth $1, and turkey legs were 17 tickets, so be prepared.
Still, that's a 2lb in-character meal for 17 bucks, so uh... worth it in my estimation.
After you eat, you should definitely check out the many shows in the area - Jacques Ze Whipper was at the Faire when we were (in fact, that vid was taken while I was there!!!) and his shows are always worth the while!
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| Yes, He's cracking a flaming whip. Yes it was incredible. |
He's got a friend named Ses Carny who runs the Torture Show on the Queen's Stage, which involves knife-throwing and fire eating, and that was a great show, too.
I had a very sore throat on Monday because of screaming "TORTURE!!!" back at him lol.
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| I Am A Great Photographer LOL |
Now, after Ses's Torture Show was...
A dog trainer.
J really loved the dog trainer's show, because he had very cute Jack Russell Terriers.
Z & I were in awe of the guy's show for... entirely different reasons.
I'm sure he's a great guy. He went to Clown College around the same time as Penn Jillette! He's been training dogs since the 1970s!
He's the reason Z & I were paralyzed with giggles for an hour and a half that night.
I do not recommend hysterical laughter.
Sure, we both felt some catharsis from the giggle fit, but uh...
It's scary when you cannot. stop. laughing.
Anywho...
We were all excited to see the Jacques Ze Whipper/Ses Carny Secret Show but...
The sky had other plans.
We received a deluge reminiscent of the one that disabled the RV, forming ankle-deep puddles in minutes. I'm pretty sure almost everyone fled the Faire at that point, and we were soaked 100% of the way through. That night I learned that, yes, Holy Clothing does indeed bleed. Fortunately it didn't bleed onto Z's white shirt and pants.
We voyaged back to the hotel in shockingly high spirits, Z & I were overcome by the giggles, we slept, and then we went back home.
The ride home was shockingly smooth for having to drive over 220 miles (365km or more) before 4pm.
It was close, but we made it (after quickly dropping Z & I off at my house so that the van could get to the AVIS/Budget center nearest us).
And thus I was home.
And I crashed.
Boy did I crash.
I crashed so hard that I basically did nothing until recently when Lee decided it wanted to try to visit.
And boy do I not like rain now.
We overprepared for Lee, I'll confess. We bought batteries, we battened down the hatches, Z & I planned to spend the day on the internet until the strong winds inevitably killed our power and internet.
And then Lee was a delightful little wet fart for us.
It was loud, it was damp, but it was not the 70mph gusting, 3 inches of rain spilling nightmare we feared.
Sure, there was storm damage around town (and yes, someone died, unfortunately). A tree landed on a house I walk past. Another tree landed on a car. But our power never did more than flicker briefly, our internet stayed strong, and we had a long day of watching YouTube videos together.
And now here I am, staring down at some soft yarn that I'm hoping I can find another skein or two of (I think it's Red Heart Soft in a dark brown color, I legit cannot remember?). I am trying to make an autumnal hex cardigan.
I'm also trying to get up the gumption to do art tomorrow.
We'll see how well I do!
For now, though, I'm still somehow sleepy, despite it having been 9 days since the Ren Faire. And despite having dozed all day.
It's just that kind of day.
The plan for the week is:
Art for Thursday.
Something crochet-related for Monday.
Blather for Tuesday.
I... think I have pics of when I was tea-staining everything? At the very least I'll talk about that next Monday.
For now though, it's time to relax.
Go Enjoy Something!
FC
PS: Z, I know you're reading this.
Please, Peppah, just one more jump! Please! We gotta pay off the car loan! Just one more, Peppah, please, oh god....
