A Better Event

What a difference an event site can make! Ragnarok Rampage was much better than Border Skirmish, and I think that's in large part due to the site.

Plowmen's Park is a nice little fairgrounds, so nothing was a long hike away from anything else (including indoor plumbing in relation to merchants). Merchants were, as in past years, on a main runway that went past the feast hall, pavillion where the silent auction and some classes were held, the camping area, the archery field, and the parking lot. Fencing and heavy fighting were over on the other side of the pavillion. The camping/merchant area has lots of big shady trees, which is also nice, both for us and customers.

Plowmen's Park is also only an hour and a few minutes from home. Close is good.

The weather wasn't quite as hot as the previous weekend, or else the shade and temperature effect of lots of trees was making it more comfortable. There was a breeze, but not enough to blow things away, and not nearly as much dust. All in all we were much more comfortable.

We did think it was going to be another flop sales-wise, but things picked up mid-afternoon and it turn out to be a decent day. But even when we were looking at lousy sales, it was less discouraging, just because we were more comfortable.

I think there were fewer people than were at Border Skirmish, which was a consolation when contemplating sales in the early part of the day. But, I felt like almost all of them walked by at some point, which I did not feel like at Border Skirmish, and that's part of why we did do better.

We did go out for more groceries Friday evening, and ended up with extra food, water, and Gatorade. We'd also put lots of ice in the cooler, so perishable leftovers were no big deal.

I did screw up and forget the hole punches when I was packing the tools up. I don't know how I managed that. Fortunately, it didn't turn out to be a big problem. I was going to work on my new bag, but I decided the leather strips I brought for buckles were thicker than I wanted to use. Ron and Xap got some belts braided, which just need to have rings riveted on - since we didn't have hole punches to make the holes for the rivets.

We stopped at a Cracker Barrell for dinner, and ran into the biggest annoyance, for me, of the day - too much black pepper in the roast beef/pot roast. I don't mind pepper, but this was ridiculous. And I was tired enough that I forgot to say something when I paid the bill (not to get the bill reduced, just to let management know).

Got home, Robin brought the cooler in, I bought an EP set of four songs by a group called "Red Hot Chilli Pipers" that a lady had recommended (rock and roll pipes and drums, Robin wants more, thankyouverymuch), unloaded the cooler, showers, and bed.

Yesterday we were almost but not quite slugs. We did go to the MuseCon meeting where other ConCom members helped with ideas for book cover/shirt art for both this year and next. during and after the meeting I worked on finishing a pair of kilt hose for Ron, and then wound the next batch of yarn.