Success, we’re attending the 3rd attempt to hold Pennsic 49. Is it a good idea? IDK, maybe, maybe not. I’m as vaccinated as possible (4 shots), I don’t plan on a lot close contact and Pennsic is outside. All of it. Well, all of what I will be attending at any rate.
Numerology:
- This is my 35th (consecutive) Pennsic.
- My first one was Pennsic 14 (1985? I think). This is the only thing I have done in early August in my adult life since I was 19 at Pennsic 14.
- This marks 30 years as a knight. That’s hard to fathom really.
- I was Prince at Pennsic 30, so it’s been 20 years now since I last reigned in Atlantia (and no Gracie, that counter will not get reset).
- I didn’t fight at my first Pennsic (I was not yet authorized). And I think I missed fighting at one somewhere in the last decade, I can’t remember (I’ve been hit in the head a lot). So, fighting in at least 33 wars. And yet, I don’t think I’ve ever taken the field this light. Maybe the first one. By the third I know I was at least 20 lbs heavier than I am now. But…I was 22 with more muscle and considerably less wear and tear.
Enough of that. We made it. We followed my usual plan of packing on Friday and driving up on Saturday (aka Land Grab Day). However, unlike previous years, we left at 0500 and didn’t dawdle. So we were to troll by 1030 with only 3 cars ahead of us.
That’s substantially better than the usual arrival of 1300 with 4 rows of cars ahead of us which consigned us to 2 hours of basking on the battlefield waiting for our turn to troll in while my teeth grind. Tick tick tick. There are only so many hours of sunshine, I have a big camp to get in the air.
In an effort to avoid excitement on the trip up, we had all 4 tires replaced on the trailer. The old ones didn’t have many miles on them, but they have spent most of 10 or 12 years rotting in the driveway. However, we failed to avoid excitement completely. My first stop was at the Rest Stop on I-70 just across the PA line. Coming out of the restroom I noticed something under the truck. Closer inspection revealed that to be the gas tank! It’s held in place by 2 steel straps, however the front one was now broken and the whole thing was hanging by the rear strap. Twenty-eight gallons of precious $5/gallon gas.
WTH was I going to do with that? It’s 0600 on a Saturday in rural PA…
Improvise, adapt, overcome. We got the crappy scissor jack out and jacked the gas tank back into position, then I got one of the cargo straps from the truck and secured the tank to the frame rail. A full tank of gas weighs around 200 lbs (6 lb/gal). Those straps have easily secured heavier loads on the roof rack, so…it ought to work. It was all I could think of.
So I drove gently and stopped at the first Service stop on the PA Turnpike and checked things. Looked totally secure. /shrug. Still don’t have a better option, so I decided we’ll continue to Pennsic, checking periodically, and deal with it later. That worked. In fact, it’s August 19th and it’s still in place while I wait for an appointment at the shop.
The weather was upper 70s, sunny and breezy, so setup was about as good as could be expected for 2 people that mostly sat on our ass for 2+ years…physically demanding, but not horrible. It certainly seems harder at 55 than previous years. But, that might just be soft living, who knows?
So, pictures. Here’s one of the entrance tent to our group’s camp. Well, just the top is up, but that’s the hard part. Walls, decorations, lights and furniture will come later today.The second picture is my tent and the day shade.
Our home for the next 2 weeks.
As a bonus, we had a brief shower around dinnertime on Sunday evening. Caused a nice rainbow after it passed. Not a great shot, what can I say, it’s the iPhone, my Nikon was back in my camp.
