Cherubino was right behind me.

That was the only thought going through my head, as my head went through the window, the rest of me following shortly. It was like watching myself fall at half speed. If circumstances were different, I might almost say it was graceful. The landing was everything but unfortunately. The first thing to connect with the ground was definitely my head. From there everything was a bit jumbled, I remember waking where I fell, and pondered why I couldn’t breathe.

I thought about the cobblestones, I thought about the lady inside the bar, I thought about Romina back at the embassy, and how my indiscretions didn’t even make her blush anymore. I thought about the meaning of the words I had just insulted my assailant with, and I thought about why the damn thing was called an aubergine. As my thoughts ran wild, my original thought proved accurate as Cherubino followed my fall with a slight hop to get over the window sill, his fall less graceful, his landing less painful. I rolled over to see a spot of bright red on the brown and wet stone of the street. I felt my forehead to find myself bleeding from my right temple as well. All in all, not a good start to the evening. My head fell back as he lifted me to my feet. I limply punched over his shoulder as he spoke. “Are you alright Don Angelo?” Something about what he said sounded like it was underwater to me.

“Ho visto che lei avendo il sesso con un maiale!”

The only response in me was the insult I had previously laid upon the villain at the bar. Before Cherubino could wonder who I saw fornicating with a swine Tuesday last, he started to move up the street in the direction of home, as the locals seemed wise to our ruse. It might have been the part where we started speaking Italian. Fine. I started speaking Italian.
For the last few weeks, Cherubino and I have been taking in some of the more unsightly sights the city has to offer, finding a tavern in the late afternoon where we can find a drink and perhaps a bit of sport. The embassy guard never pays much attention to a detail leaving to run errands, and they certainly don’t check to make sure we’re not among our squires and attendants as we leave.
We’re roughly ten blocks from the embassy when we hear the group of men following us. Cherubino mumbles something about being in trouble, but somewhere between his lips and my brain things start getting unclear, I pretend to walk as he drags me up the street. One of the attendants happens to see us as she’s walking home. I can only make out two of the words he says to her, “Run” and “Men.” She sprints towards the embassy; the ground hits me in the head again. Cherubino curses sharply.

Somehow I’m back in the Tavern, watching everything as it happened, like a dream with a hangover. I went though the events like a shipping manifest. Cherubino was sitting a few feet from me, talking to an English hunter about his blunderbuss. A man grabbed the arm of my evenings company, I insulted him, he approached me, I hit him hard in the right hand with my tankard, just like Don Ricardo had shown me, I turned to face the girl, and then I saw the table flying towards me. The table? The TABLE. but who hit me with the table? Now I remember it all as I wake upon Cherubino’s shoulder, from the look of things, it’s only been a few moments, as it appears I left a dry spot on the ground a few yards back.
Cherubino is a strong man. No one can contest this, it’s apparent in practice and appearance, but with a full grown man on his back, the best he can manage is a brisk walk. While the mob behind us is pathetic, a single man against 20 is still a grim certainty. I hear shouts in the distance. Cherubino starts to pray. We must be in trouble.

Luigi stands watch on the gate as dusk falls, like he does every evening. If he could, he would stand watch around the clock while we’re in England, damning both sleep and sustenance. Though he is depended upon as an incredible diplomat, he’s seen enough of the tendencies of men to be wary, especially in the heart of another man’s country. The usual dichotomy graces his hands, with a rosary, and a loaded pistol. Another sits at the small of his back, and another on the gate wall in front of him, though there are 30 men below that can be ready at a moment, he finds comfort in his preparation. Its almost as if the repetition that has begun to wear on some of his men over the years gives him focus. Don Ricardo organizes the escort details, Don Luigi handles the embassy guard. Its been this way for years, and its proven an effective division of labor. His men have even invented a motto for the embassy guard, “Advancing guns make pikemen run.” Luigi laughs to himself as he wonders if there’s some reciprocate insult from the Roncone’ line. He yawns, and begins to contemplate his bed, and the next mornings duties, as he sees a single figure in the dark moving up the street. He squints to see if its some trick of the light, but surely, there is a someone moving down below. As she clears into the moonlight, he can see she’s wearing the gray silk of Donna Christiana’s Household, and she’s running scared.

As Lunetta Ran up the street, she thought only of two things, the information she had gathered for Donna Christiana, and Cherubino’s words.

“Angelo is badly hurt, go get the men, Run girl.”

As she ran she began to regret having the Castellena tie her bodice so tight, as the ten blocks to the embassy seemed to stretch on, but the purpose she sought out on called for appearances. with dusk falling, and activity at home winding down, her heart sank as she approached the embassy gate, as not a body seemed to stir. Still, her confinement and her deportment kept her from crying out as she found herself at the gate to her home, both glad and afraid at the same time.

†
Luigi saw Lunetta approach, and leaned over the wall to see his Corporale standing, Arquebuss in hand, peering through the gate.

“Tomasso?” Luigi half asked, knowing the likely response from the trusted friend.

“I see her.” Tomasso replied as he pulled the bolt from the gate and swung it open.
Lunetta fell against him, out of breath, obviously disturbed. Tomasso called the Castellena forth to assist her, as a breathless messenger was a hindrance, and a soldier untying a lady in waitings’ bodice was beyond improper. While he helped her to the ground, she had enough breath in her to tell them of the evening’s misfortunes as she leaned against him.

“Don Angelo was badly hurt, Cherubino was carrying him and being chased by a mob.”

As she turned, curling up in his arms to find relief from her pained waist, Luigi appeared in front of them. Tomasso simply looked at him, and a roar began to rise in the Capitano.

“BANDE NERE! ORDINE SUO ARQUBUGGIO! LUCIANO QUI ADESSO!”

The Castellena arrived and took to Lunetta’s aid, as she had a pair of attendants help her to her chambers; she had time to catch a glance of need from Luigi, and approached him. “What weight can I lift from you Seniore?”

As Tomasso barked orders to men, forming lines, and apprising his men of the situation, Luigi spoke softly to Donna Dorothea, as it was a matter he feared to think.

“Find the Padre, Find the Dottore. We may bury friends tonight.”

†
Luciano awoke as always, with the shout of his name, but this time confused him, Don Luigi had rarely called upon him for he knew his squire had been quite ill the last two weeks time. This could only be something serious, so Lupo took literal pains to prepare and dress himself.

As he appeared from his doorway in his normal attire, he surveyed a good deal of action for this time in the evening. Men prepared powder charges and inspected lead balls, the Castellena was about, and while that was not unusual, her demeanor depicted a sense of dangerous urgency, truly there was no courtesy in her at this moment, as she was pushing people out of her way to get where she was going. Luciano found his knight, who was distraught as well, and took a deep breath before asking the most important question.
“I am here Don Luigi, What is happening?”
“Italia is not safe Luciano.” Luigi replied. “I’ve sealed the embassy for the moment, and we are accounting for everyone. We cannot send anyone outside the wall without significant risk, but I need you to do something. There are two men out there, I need you to ride out and bring them home.”

Luciano looked down the street and saw the men, maybe 4 blocks away now, the mob behind them growing, one of the men waved a Cinquedea at the crowd following them.

The men of the bande nere were silent, standing in two files, guns at the ready. From the side gate there was the sound of hooves on stone, as two horses and a single unarmed rider set off at a gallop down the street. The mob seemed to pause, as if to study this insane action unfolding before them. On horseback the ground seemed to take mere seconds to cover, as Luciano approached the two men, he took a moment to absorb the gravity of the situation, Cerebino pushed as Luciano pulled Don Angelo up and across the front of his saddle. The men chasing them seemed to realize they were escaping just as Cerebino mounted the second Castilian, and the two took off at a gallop to head for home, chased by angry screams of protestation.

Luciano expertly maneuvered his horse through the side gate, Cherebino right behind him. The gate closed, and they both sighed in relief.

The Mob approached the main gate, bold even at the sight of 30 armed soldiers. they held their distance except for a single man, the towns’ resident smith, who presented himself and claimed to have shod the king’s horses.

“This disturbance of the peace is unacceptable, we are here to claim your men, and you will hand them over to us.”

Luigi responded, rather indignantly.
“You have stated a single true fact. They are my men, however, I must contest that you are in fact not here to claim them, and we will not hand them over to you, one of them is severely injured, and will be tended to by a doctor, if you have concerns, speak to your nobles, and we will come to an accord.”

The smith demanded retribution. “That is unacceptable, if you do not hand them over to us, we will come in and take them from you.”

The smith’s response reddened Tomassos’ cheeks, but Luigi’s actions were smooth and cold as he raised his pistol to the mans’ head.
“Signiore, let me be clear, if you are blessed enough to set foot on Italian soil this day, you will do so without a brain. There are ways to resolve these things, civilized ways, you should go find one, as I have just run out. Present Arquebuss.”

As if it were a ballet, the 30 men in the Swedish salve aimed their guns at the crowd, it took less than a minute for the crowd to disperse and head to their homes, taverns, and inn’s. Luigi posted a ten man watch just in case, relieved Luciano, who seemed truly relieved at the thought of his bed, And set a rotation with an officer as well, the Dottore would soon see to Angelo, but that was beyond his responsibility.

Luigi was almost surprised to see that the sun had completely set on the city, he knew he had engagements that evening that required his presence, so he had one last order for Tomasso before retiring. “No more excursions tonight, and no more after dark till I discuss this with Don Giovanni.”

Tomasso responded agreeably.
“Si Signore, Buona Serra.”

Scarborough Faire Photos (TX)

Frank Hui has posted his photos of the Opening weekend of Scarby over at Robyn’s Roost

Photography Trip

The weather is starting to get warm out. And that means it is time for me to start to plan a summer photography trip around my own state, and the surrounding states to places I want to photograph. I live in Ohio, so Ohio is on my list. There is a place I want to go to in Indiana (Lincoln, Indiana) which is where Abe Lincolns childhood house (cabin) is located.

Michigan is in driving distance, I just have to research to find out what they have there that peaks my interests. There are tons of places around here in Ohio that I want to go to. Ohio really is a beautiful state. We have Lake Erie, and tons of historical places that would be very scenic.

I want to go to Amish country, someplace that I have never been to but always wanted to go, but I have been told that you can’t take any pictures there. Yet I have seen tons of ‘Amish Country and People” photography contests, so I guess I will have to do some more research to find out more.

There are Ren Faires around here that I always get great Pictures at. Tons of old structures (burnt down orphanges, Rutheford B Hayes Presidents house, battle sites). We are even going to charter a plane and take ariel views of the lake, and some scenic places from the air.  I just have to get on the ball, er, I should say the weather needs to get on the ball and cooperate with my plans. Its suppose to snow tonight. Um, Hello, it is almost May! Snow?!

I can’t wait to get started. My daughter will be starting school this year and I want to focus on my photography and the first step is updating my portfolio.

Is there anyone around Ohio, or the surrounding states, that knows  of a great place  for photographs?

I need to research more when I get time and make out a plan, or should I say a more extensive one. Oh warm weather, where art thou?
Please come out and play - and leave the snow at home. We don’t need anymore this year.

I am desperately in need of a vacation. From life, from the constant ringing of the telephone, from tv, from it all. I want to take a vacation in the woods of Maine, far away from anyone and everyone. Just me, my family, and my camera. Oh what a vacation that would be! Hey - Leave me alone and let me dream!!!

Photography Trip

The weather is starting to get warm out. And that means it is time for me to start to plan a summer photography trip around my own state, and the surrounding states to places I want to photograph. I live in Ohio, so Ohio is on my list. There is a place I want to go to in Indiana (Lincoln, Indiana) which is where Abe Lincolns childhood house (cabin) is located.

Michigan is in driving distance, I just have to research to find out what they have there that peaks my interests. There are tons of places around here in Ohio that I want to go to. Ohio really is a beautiful state. We have Lake Erie, and tons of historical places that would be very scenic.

I want to go to Amish country, someplace that I have never been to but always wanted to go, but I have been told that you can’t take any pictures there. Yet I have seen tons of ‘Amish Country and People” photography contests, so I guess I will have to do some more research to find out more.

There are Ren Faires around here that I always get great Pictures at. Tons of old structures (burnt down orphanges, Rutheford B Hayes Presidents house, battle sites). We are even going to charter a plane and take ariel views of the lake, and some scenic places from the air.  I just have to get on the ball, er, I should say the weather needs to get on the ball and cooperate with my plans. Its suppose to snow tonight. Um, Hello, it is almost May! Snow?!

I can’t wait to get started. My daughter will be starting school this year and I want to focus on my photography and the first step is updating my portfolio.

Is there anyone around Ohio, or the surrounding states, that knows  of a great place  for photographs?

I need to research more when I get time and make out a plan, or should I say a more extensive one. Oh warm weather, where art thou?
Please come out and play - and leave the snow at home. We don’t need anymore this year.

I am desperately in need of a vacation. From life, from the constant ringing of the telephone, from tv, from it all. I want to take a vacation in the woods of Maine, far away from anyone and everyone. Just me, my family, and my camera. Oh what a vacation that would be! Hey - Leave me alone and let me dream!!!

Ah, Renaissance!

I certainly meant to write about our trip before now. Time does get away. Our oldest boy moved back for a little while, and his girlfriend is here visiting. I know it’s hard for them to be in the situation they are in, but it sure is great to see them and to have them back, at least for a little while.

With our regular busy lives and all of the wonderful activity of having our older kids back, we’ve just been pretty discombobulated around here! I’m trying to get our schedule back to at least semi-normal. Our school took a direct hit. We had a lot more time off than we intended to take, with Easter break, then the trip down to the Renaissance Faire, and then I gave them a little more time to visit their big brother. We were scheduled to finish school the first week in May, but it looks like we’ll be going through to the end of the month now. That’s okay. Most of the schools here will go at least that long. I was just looking forward to having a little bit longer of a summer vacation. On the other hand, getting our scheduled school year finished so early makes it easy to be flexible for just such occasions. It works out well, I’d say.

It appears we’re going to be taking a little more time off soon. We’re still planning a camp-out, and it looks like we’re going to have to do that sooner rather than later because of a situation on my husband’s job. His truck has to go in for repairs and he can’t put it off much longer. When he does, it’s a week off of work like it or not. So I guess we’re taking our camp week in the next week, maybe two if he can postpone it at all. I’m excited about the camp-out, but I was hoping we could hold off until the night time temperatures up on the mountain were a bit warmer. I think we can adjust.

Now, for the trip. Dan and Sarrah canceled early on, and Chris canceled last minute, but Nicolas, Jonathan’s friend from way back, got to go with us. Nicolas is sort of our Renaissance partner it would seem. This is the third year we’ve been together for Renaissance, and we all had such a wonderful time we decided it wouldn’t be quite right without him. He stayed over with us the night before, so we got up and hurried out of here as early as possible on Friday. I actually joined the twenty-first century and got my first cell phone so that the boys would be able to take off on their own and still be able to communicate with us. I’m sure that two fifteen year old boys would have been absolutely thrilled to have stayed with us the entire time, but it was just in case we got separated, you understand.

We had our hotel room reserved for anytime after three o’clock, but it was quite a bit later than three o’clock by the time we arrived. We did make it in time to enjoy ourselves a little bit. Actually, we got there early enough that we went down to Bass Pro Shop. Wow! What a store! It was late, so we couldn’t stay long, but I think if we’d have gotten there by noon we still wouldn’t have had enough time. That place is huge, and if you are the outdoor type, it’s a dreamland! They had everything from bass boats to fishing lures, from campers to camp stoves. I slobbered on most of their merchandise.

The place was great looking, too. It looked like an enormous log cabin from the outside, and on the inside it was decorated like the great outdoors! There was an aquarium on the ground floor full of carp and large mouth bass, a few catfish, that you could stand eyeball to eyeball with. The elevator actually ran behind it. You start out underwater and emerge in the camping department. They had a little shooting range up there that Josiah and dad played around with. Jonathan and Nicolas were off and I didn’t see them again until we met up to leave.

They wanted to get away from me. I was a horrible grouch on Friday. I had been on edge anyway, and my kids had been acting up, but then about half way to Phoenix we stopped to get some snacks out of the cooler, and we realized that the car wash we ran through on the way out of town had crashed into the bed of our truck and left a terrible dent. I didn’t have a receipt to show we’d even been there, and all I could think about was how I was going to get the truck repaired, and fact that I didn’t have that stupid receipt! It took me awhile, but I got my attitude squared away. Unfortunately I nearly ruined Jonathan’s day before I did. And here I’ve been talking to him about his attitude! Mmm! Yum! Crow! I’m starting to acquire a taste for it! So anyway, I will probably put an album of pictures from our visit to Bass Pro Shop on my photo page soon.

We went back to our hotel room and I sat out by the pool while the kids swam and Allen ran for pizza. It was a really nice suite, and the pool was right outside the doors off of our patio. I think if that’s all we had done on our trip the kids would have been happy. They really enjoyed the pool. I hated to make them get out, but we had such an early morning ahead of us that I just had to get them fed and into bed. I thought I was going to have to go in and beat Nicolas and Jonathan into unconsciousness! LOL! They were so excited and having so much fun that I think they’d have been up all night talking if I didn’t force them to go to sleep. Nicolas probably thought I was a jerk! LOL! Jonathan sure did!

So, morning came early. We all sat and vegged though our breakfast in the hotel lobby, and then off we go to start our adventure! Ah, the Renaissance Faire! T’was lovely! I swear I could live there! Well, I’d might starve if I had to continue to pay those prices to eat there, but other than that, I could just stay! The weather was nearly perfect. It got a bit warm up in the afternoon, at least a bit warm for my taste, but for Apache Junction, Arizona in April, it was nice! It was probably mid-eighties up in the afternoon, maybe as high as ninety. We all got a slight burn on our faces and arms, but nothing serious. It was warm enough that I thought it might have been a good thing that Nicolas didn’t wear his armor.

The crowd was pretty big. It was the last weekend of the Festival and I guess everyone decided to go before it was over. I don’t know. We almost always go on the last weekend, and it’s always been busy like that, but for all I know it’s that busy every weekend. For several hours there it was elbow to elbow. My husband got a bit out of sorts over that, but by late afternoon a lot of folks were leaving and it thinned out nicely for us and the other die-hards!

There’s so much to do there that it’s hard to do it all in one day. There are activities and rides for the kids. Josiah loved the rock climbing wall, and was very good at it, I might add. He also got on one ride where they stand you on a trampoline and then hitch you to some bungee cords, give you a fling, and off ye go! There were swings, a ride that was supposed to be like a joust, a giant rocking horse, just to name a few.

The shows are always a big draw. There are comedy acts, jugglers, music shows, animal acts, and that’s just the ones scheduled in the theaters. There are also lots and lots of street shows. Everywhere you turn there are dancers and jugglers, musicians, comedians, and yes, the mime.

I have to at least make one special mention about one of the bands. They are Tartanic, and man! What a show! It’s great fun! I guess it helps if you already like bagpipes and drums, but even for those who generally wouldn’t like such things, this is a show worth seeing. It’s what my kids say is heavy metal on bagpipes. You wind up clapping and hollering, just getting into it! I personally like their music, but it’s the show! They are really good live entertainers. If you ever get the opportunity to see them, by all means do so.

There are lots and lots of characters in costume running around all over the town, like the creepy eyed wizard and this absolutely wonderful faerie that was amusing all the little girls. I wished I’d gotten a picture of her, but really, it was more in her actions. I’d have needed a video in order to capture her. It is hard to tell who is actually a part of the Festival staff and who is just a visitor in garb! I noticed that a lot more people were wearing garb this year. Either that or because I wasn’t wearing any this time around it just seemed like more people were! I noticed a lot more kilts than before, too. Maybe it’s due to the the popularity of Tartanic among the folks who have been there and seen them before. I have decided that my husband should have a kilt. He’d look smart in one! Next faire, dear.

I felt so bad for Nicolas and Jonathan! Nicolas brought all of his garb and weaponry to wear, but he left it at our house! We didn’t even realize it until we were almost to Phoenix! So naturally this would be the year that so many people were dressed out! He was so disappointed and we felt so bad for him. There’s always next year, Nicolas! Prepare ye!

I absolutely love going from store front to store front looking at all the artisan’s wares. I think that’s a big part of the reason I like to go so much. It’s in my heart to learn how to make some of those wonderful things! I just know I could, and it sparks so many ideas when look at what other people have made. I was hoping my husband would take a pile of pictures of all of the things I liked, because I wanted to study and look at them again and again, but he didn’t see the need. I was a little disappointed about that, but we did get some good pictures of the kids doing lots of fun things, and of the “town”, a lot of the buildings, and that sort of thing.

It really is like a little village. It’s set up with permanent structures and it covers a lot of ground. I wish we’d have thought to take a picture or two from back away from it a little bit. It’s really something to see. You can see the towers and the flags from the highway. I don’t know what they do there the rest of the year after the Renaissance Festival is over, if anything. Maybe it’s just a little ghost town the rest of the year. I’m not sure what else you could do, because it looks decisively medieval. It seems kind of a waste for it to just sit, abandoned for ten months. It’s so big! I don’t know where the biggest Renaissance Faire is held, but this one is surely at least one of the largest. Anyway, I put all of the pictures we got into a folder on my Xanga photo page here , or at my myspace photo page here , if you’re interested in having a look at any of them.

By next year I plan to have my garb in order. I didn’t exactly feel out of place without it, but I would have liked it all the more if I’d had some. They sell it there, but they are really proud of it! I think I can make something just as nice for a fraction of what some of them were asking for theirs. Except for the armor. There is a guy there that makes the most incredible leather armor! It looks like something you’d see in a good Hollywood movie, or like it came right out of the middle ages! There are a couple of pictures of it on my photo album if you get the chance to look. I hope the craftsmanship and the detail is clear in the picture. It was absolutely amazing in person.

So much of what we saw there was amazing! They have some of the best artisans around. But the real kicker, probably the smartest guy in all the realm was the guy who makes wooden swords. I think every single kid at the Faire had one. They were overpriced, but on the scale of everything else there, the swords were the most affordable things you could get for the kids, and they all loved them! This year the guy had shields and axes to go along with the swords. I’m telling you, that guy had the cash cow! Why couldn’t I have thought of that?!

The kids got their swords and commemorative coins. I got my awesome 2008 Arizona Renaissance Festival Twentieth Anniversary Special Edition Commemorative Mug. Allen got his pictures. All is well.

All in all it was a great day. It was a fast, turn around, whirlwind of a trip, but I’d do it again in a second! Yeah, it’s the same from year to year, and yeah, it’s corny and gaudy and touristy… the whole bit, but we love it.

Ah, Renaissance!

I certainly meant to write about our trip before now. Time does get away. Our oldest boy moved back for a little while, and his girlfriend is here visiting. I know it’s hard for them to be in the situation they are in, but it sure is great to see them and to have them back, at least for a little while.

With our regular busy lives and all of the wonderful activity of having our older kids back, we’ve just been pretty discombobulated around here! I’m trying to get our schedule back to at least semi-normal. Our school took a direct hit. We had a lot more time off than we intended to take, with Easter break, then the trip down to the Renaissance Faire, and then I gave them a little more time to visit their big brother. We were scheduled to finish school the first week in May, but it looks like we’ll be going through to the end of the month now. That’s okay. Most of the schools here will go at least that long. I was just looking forward to having a little bit longer of a summer vacation. On the other hand, getting our scheduled school year finished so early makes it easy to be flexible for just such occasions. It works out well, I’d say.

It appears we’re going to be taking a little more time off soon. We’re still planning a camp-out, and it looks like we’re going to have to do that sooner rather than later because of a situation on my husband’s job. His truck has to go in for repairs and he can’t put it off much longer. When he does, it’s a week off of work like it or not. So I guess we’re taking our camp week in the next week, maybe two if he can postpone it at all. I’m excited about the camp-out, but I was hoping we could hold off until the night time temperatures up on the mountain were a bit warmer. I think we can adjust.

Now, for the trip. Dan and Sarrah canceled early on, and Chris canceled last minute, but Nicolas, Jonathan’s friend from way back, got to go with us. Nicolas is sort of our Renaissance partner it would seem. This is the third year we’ve been together for Renaissance, and we all had such a wonderful time we decided it wouldn’t be quite right without him. He stayed over with us the night before, so we got up and hurried out of here as early as possible on Friday. I actually joined the twenty-first century and got my first cell phone so that the boys would be able to take off on their own and still be able to communicate with us. I’m sure that two fifteen year old boys would have been absolutely thrilled to have stayed with us the entire time, but it was just in case we got separated, you understand.

We had our hotel room reserved for anytime after three o’clock, but it was quite a bit later than three o’clock by the time we arrived. We did make it in time to enjoy ourselves a little bit. Actually, we got there early enough that we went down to Bass Pro Shop. Wow! What a store! It was late, so we couldn’t stay long, but I think if we’d have gotten there by noon we still wouldn’t have had enough time. That place is huge, and if you are the outdoor type, it’s a dreamland! They had everything from bass boats to fishing lures, from campers to camp stoves. I slobbered on most of their merchandise.

The place was great looking, too. It looked like an enormous log cabin from the outside, and on the inside it was decorated like the great outdoors! There was an aquarium on the ground floor full of carp and large mouth bass, a few catfish, that you could stand eyeball to eyeball with. The elevator actually ran behind it. You start out underwater and emerge in the camping department. They had a little shooting range up there that Josiah and dad played around with. Jonathan and Nicolas were off and I didn’t see them again until we met up to leave.

They wanted to get away from me. I was a horrible grouch on Friday. I had been on edge anyway, and my kids had been acting up, but then about half way to Phoenix we stopped to get some snacks out of the cooler, and we realized that the car wash we ran through on the way out of town had crashed into the bed of our truck and left a terrible dent. I didn’t have a receipt to show we’d even been there, and all I could think about was how I was going to get the truck repaired, and fact that I didn’t have that stupid receipt! It took me awhile, but I got my attitude squared away. Unfortunately I nearly ruined Jonathan’s day before I did. And here I’ve been talking to him about his attitude! Mmm! Yum! Crow! I’m starting to acquire a taste for it! So anyway, I will probably put an album of pictures from our visit to Bass Pro Shop on my photo page soon.

We went back to our hotel room and I sat out by the pool while the kids swam and Allen ran for pizza. It was a really nice suite, and the pool was right outside the doors off of our patio. I think if that’s all we had done on our trip the kids would have been happy. They really enjoyed the pool. I hated to make them get out, but we had such an early morning ahead of us that I just had to get them fed and into bed. I thought I was going to have to go in and beat Nicolas and Jonathan into unconsciousness! LOL! They were so excited and having so much fun that I think they’d have been up all night talking if I didn’t force them to go to sleep. Nicolas probably thought I was a jerk! LOL! Jonathan sure did!

So, morning came early. We all sat and vegged though our breakfast in the hotel lobby, and then off we go to start our adventure! Ah, the Renaissance Faire! T’was lovely! I swear I could live there! Well, I’d might starve if I had to continue to pay those prices to eat there, but other than that, I could just stay! The weather was nearly perfect. It got a bit warm up in the afternoon, at least a bit warm for my taste, but for Apache Junction, Arizona in April, it was nice! It was probably mid-eighties up in the afternoon, maybe as high as ninety. We all got a slight burn on our faces and arms, but nothing serious. It was warm enough that I thought it might have been a good thing that Nicolas didn’t wear his armor.

The crowd was pretty big. It was the last weekend of the Festival and I guess everyone decided to go before it was over. I don’t know. We almost always go on the last weekend, and it’s always been busy like that, but for all I know it’s that busy every weekend. For several hours there it was elbow to elbow. My husband got a bit out of sorts over that, but by late afternoon a lot of folks were leaving and it thinned out nicely for us and the other die-hards!

There’s so much to do there that it’s hard to do it all in one day. There are activities and rides for the kids. Josiah loved the rock climbing wall, and was very good at it, I might add. He also got on one ride where they stand you on a trampoline and then hitch you to some bungee cords, give you a fling, and off ye go! There were swings, a ride that was supposed to be like a joust, a giant rocking horse, just to name a few.

The shows are always a big draw. There are comedy acts, jugglers, music shows, animal acts, and that’s just the ones scheduled in the theaters. There are also lots and lots of street shows. Everywhere you turn there are dancers and jugglers, musicians, comedians, and yes, the mime.

I have to at least make one special mention about one of the bands. They are Tartanic, and man! What a show! It’s great fun! I guess it helps if you already like bagpipes and drums, but even for those who generally wouldn’t like such things, this is a show worth seeing. It’s what my kids say is heavy metal on bagpipes. You wind up clapping and hollering, just getting into it! I personally like their music, but it’s the show! They are really good live entertainers. If you ever get the opportunity to see them, by all means do so.

There are lots and lots of characters in costume running around all over the town, like the creepy eyed wizard and this absolutely wonderful faerie that was amusing all the little girls. I wished I’d gotten a picture of her, but really, it was more in her actions. I’d have needed a video in order to capture her. It is hard to tell who is actually a part of the Festival staff and who is just a visitor in garb! I noticed that a lot more people were wearing garb this year. Either that or because I wasn’t wearing any this time around it just seemed like more people were! I noticed a lot more kilts than before, too. Maybe it’s due to the the popularity of Tartanic among the folks who have been there and seen them before. I have decided that my husband should have a kilt. He’d look smart in one! Next faire, dear.

I felt so bad for Nicolas and Jonathan! Nicolas brought all of his garb and weaponry to wear, but he left it at our house! We didn’t even realize it until we were almost to Phoenix! So naturally this would be the year that so many people were dressed out! He was so disappointed and we felt so bad for him. There’s always next year, Nicolas! Prepare ye!

I absolutely love going from store front to store front looking at all the artisan’s wares. I think that’s a big part of the reason I like to go so much. It’s in my heart to learn how to make some of those wonderful things! I just know I could, and it sparks so many ideas when look at what other people have made. I was hoping my husband would take a pile of pictures of all of the things I liked, because I wanted to study and look at them again and again, but he didn’t see the need. I was a little disappointed about that, but we did get some good pictures of the kids doing lots of fun things, and of the “town”, a lot of the buildings, and that sort of thing.

It really is like a little village. It’s set up with permanent structures and it covers a lot of ground. I wish we’d have thought to take a picture or two from back away from it a little bit. It’s really something to see. You can see the towers and the flags from the highway. I don’t know what they do there the rest of the year after the Renaissance Festival is over, if anything. Maybe it’s just a little ghost town the rest of the year. I’m not sure what else you could do, because it looks decisively medieval. It seems kind of a waste for it to just sit, abandoned for ten months. It’s so big! I don’t know where the biggest Renaissance Faire is held, but this one is surely at least one of the largest. Anyway, I put all of the pictures we got into a folder on my Xanga photo page here , or at my myspace photo page here , if you’re interested in having a look at any of them.

By next year I plan to have my garb in order. I didn’t exactly feel out of place without it, but I would have liked it all the more if I’d had some. They sell it there, but they are really proud of it! I think I can make something just as nice for a fraction of what some of them were asking for theirs. Except for the armor. There is a guy there that makes the most incredible leather armor! It looks like something you’d see in a good Hollywood movie, or like it came right out of the middle ages! There are a couple of pictures of it on my photo album if you get the chance to look. I hope the craftsmanship and the detail is clear in the picture. It was absolutely amazing in person.

So much of what we saw there was amazing! They have some of the best artisans around. But the real kicker, probably the smartest guy in all the realm was the guy who makes wooden swords. I think every single kid at the Faire had one. They were overpriced, but on the scale of everything else there, the swords were the most affordable things you could get for the kids, and they all loved them! This year the guy had shields and axes to go along with the swords. I’m telling you, that guy had the cash cow! Why couldn’t I have thought of that?!

The kids got their swords and commemorative coins. I got my awesome 2008 Arizona Renaissance Festival Twentieth Anniversary Special Edition Commemorative Mug. Allen got his pictures. All is well.

All in all it was a great day. It was a fast, turn around, whirlwind of a trip, but I’d do it again in a second! Yeah, it’s the same from year to year, and yeah, it’s corny and gaudy and touristy… the whole bit, but we love it.