There and back again

[fbhjr]

This weekend we were down at the Mystic Realms faire.  We’ve done 7 out of
the last 9 years they’ve done their faire and it is always a good time.
(Well, when there aren’t tornadoes or waves of pollen to make ¾ of the
troupe sick.  Even then it was a good time.)

The faire used to be in central New Jersey, but for the last 5 years it’s
been pretty far south.  (Millville NJ if you care…)
So, it is usually a 4 ½ to 5 hour drive.
My wife and I were driving our two youngest members with us.  One it was
his second job with us.  The old timer it was his 4th.  (Just so you
understand it was my 229th with Phoenix Swords and my wife’s 217th.  That
doesn’t count any of the other shows we’ve done with other groups.)

We set of late, which I hate.  But, the car that left 2 hours ahead of us
called to tell us where traffic was bad.  So, we went a less than normal
route.  Sadly, that meant I was too enthusiastic about finding the NJ
turnpike and took a ramp marked “NJ Turnpike may be reached this way”
thinking it would actually put me on said Turnpike.  Instead it put me on
another highway that ran into Newark where the Turnpike pass the other
side.  So, I drove through the Newark airport under the theory that every
road in New Jersey must pass through the Newark airport.
It did.  Because of NYC traffic, we beat the car that left 2 hours before
us to the site.

The faire is held at a glass artist/cultural heritage center.  There is a
hotel that connects directly to the grounds with a small bridge from its
parking lot to the faire site.  So, it is VERY easy to get to the site on
time.
Apparently there is some sort of car racing track close by as well.
Because at 11:30 at night, the lobby was full of car racing people talking
about the races the next morning.
The good side of that was they opened the breakfast room early.  The bad
news was they only put out cheap muffins and toast that early.  So, the
folks who slept a bit later than me got some nice eggs and sausage.    I
went and bought a breakfast sandwich from one of the food vendors.

For the first time in 5 years the plot was different.  This year instead of
the evil queen trying to bump off the king and take over only to lose and
get banished, the banished evil queen tries to come back and take over.  It
was close enough that whole sections of the same script could be used.
The good news for us was we had very few lines and lots of sword fights.

Our fights went well over the weekend.  I’m honestly a bit embarrassed
about how good the folks down there think we are.  They are very eager to
hear what we think of their fights as we are “the true professionals”.
It’s nice they think that, but their group has also gotten very good over
the years.

My wife loves glass objects.  So, having a show at a glass museum and store
is always a bit temptation for her.  This year I guess I wasn’t quick
enough in going to the gift shop and getting her something so the workers
there loaded a bunch of glass paperweights into a basket and came to our
tent to ask if we wanted any.
That was a smart move on their part.  My wife had done well in resisting
even going into the shop.  But, if the shop comes to you…

The best part of the weekend (other than us all getting home safely at the
end) was that our Godchildren came to see our show on Saturday.  (They did
bring their parents, our friends, with them as well.)
It was the first time we’ve gotten to see them since Christmas, so it was
very nice to see them.  It’s about a 2 hour drive from their house, so
extra nice they’d make that to come see us.
One of the paperweights I bought my wife (not the tent to tent sales people
one) I had our Goddaughter help me pick out.  I’m told that at 11 she is
having trouble finding her place in the world and isn’t always sure she has
a place in it.  She seemed very happy to be given the task of finding the
perfect paperweight for my wife.  (I did steer her away from the ones over
$100.  They got up to $20,000 in that store, which is way over my budget.)
After the show they went out to eat with us to a Chinese place near the
faire.  While we were there the rest of the faire cast and crew showed up
as well.
“How did you know to meet us here?” the faire organizer asked me.
“In all the times we’ve done your faire, this is the only place you’ve ever
gone,” I told him.
“That’s a good point,” he agreed.

Of the 7 of these shows we’ve done, this is only the second where the faire
organizer didn’t come to me and say “the weather is so bad, why don’t you
and your group pack up and go home early?”  (Last year it was tornado
warnings during the thunderstorm that got him to say it.)
Because of that, we got home later than normal.  But, I’ll take the good
weather with a bit less sleep.

We did encounter one bad traffic moment coming home.  Around Paramus for
motorcycles went zipping by us, weaving in and out of traffic as they did.
And, we were going about 70 at the time, so they must have been doing at
least 90.
About 10 miles up the road, the whole highway came to a stop while 4 police
cars, and ambulance and a flat bed tow truck went past.
When we got to the site of what was going on there was one biker by the
side of the road bent double like he was throwing up and some holes in the
shrubbery on the side of the road like some other things had gone through
them very fast.
I don’t know where the other three bikes went, but I hope they fared better
then I fear they did based on what we saw.

Between that and stopping for dinner on the NJ turnpike, we got home about
12:30.
I felt really, really tired, and still do.
But, it was a pretty good weekend.

Comments

[evrgreen.livejournal.com]

With a Frank at the wheel, who needs a GPS?
I'm thinking that the next auto-accessory you need will be an (almost) infinite-improbability drive..