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grnvixenMust be something about fridays, I get caught up on work and have time to post.
Angelbedwell has asked about Lilies so here goes; It was great! at least the last half of it :). Cut for length
For those that do not know, the War of The Lilies is an annual SCA camping event held here in this area. It runs a little over a week at a sprawling campground north of KC, attendance has grown to around 1500-1800. Being so close to home we are a little spoiled and tend to pack both cars to the gills so that I, at least, can camp in the style of luxury I would like to be accustomed to living :). We have a canvas pavillion that both of us can stand up in, with room for our queen-size camp bed and lots of other stuff.
We have a regular group of folks we camp with, unofficially calling ourselves the Camp o'Many :). Members of our camp come from Wichita, Springfield, Ames, Arizona and West Virginia, oh yeah, and KC. Max number has been around 35. We have a food plan and folks each take a night to cook. My specialty is garlic and herb chicken fettucine, pre-cooked and frozen in seal-a-meal bags 'cause there is no way I am doing enough pasta for 30+ on a camp stove!
We have always seemed to have kids in our camp, the original batch are all now 20-something but this year we had a 6 mo old, a 2.5 year old, a 3.5 year old, a 2-4.5 year olds, a 7 year old, 2 thirteen year olds and a 15 year old with 5 sets of parents between them all. This year, when it was really hot, someone had had the brilliant idea to pickup several of those cheap plastic misting bottles and the kids had a ball misting each other, and anyone else that wanted it.
But, weather wise, the latter half of the war was just about perfect. This was really appreciated since the first half looked like it was going to be a repeat of last year where it *rained* EVERY DAY. We finally had 36 hours with no rain on the evening of the last saturday. Normally we do not pack up until the morning of the last sunday but since rain was forecast for then, and all the canvas was dry for the first time in a week, we boogied.
This year, it rained the first friday, and a couple of times a day until tuesday. Some gusty storms too that knocked down 1 tent and ripped the sunfly. After tuesday though, the weather just got better and better. It was warm enough one night that we needed our battery powered fans (I did mention I like to camp with a little luxury :) ) but otherwise it was cool enough to need a blanket. Days had their hot peaks in the afternoon but those are easy to tolerate when your mornings and evenings are cool. Had a great time sitting around visiting with friends, doing a little shopping, eating ribs (that's another post entirely) oh yeah, and watching some fighting. It was a 'war' after all.
And I could walk around the site this year! The mud limited me the first part of the war, still have to be careful of balance, but compared to last year, I was a marathoner! Still building stamina but I lapped someone on the last day walking out to get the car, and I survived loading up, then unloading at home. I was stiff and sore but recovered after a couple of days. Felt good :).
Then there was the daquiri party, Angelbedwells favorite part :). This annual tradition got started when one friend had a battery powered blender, and it was a very hot war. The party lasted as long as the battery did. The party grew so now said-friend pre-blends batches of daquiri mix, freezes it, and we add the rum on site. I think she usually does about 20 bags worth. There have been some racous parties over the years, usually kid friendly (we always have a bucket of non-leaded for the minors), altho sometimes a little out of hand. Traditional time is the afternoon of the last saturday, usually very hot and usually a time when folks who have been camping for a long week are ready for a cool treat. Last year, what with all the rain, mud and resulting parking nightmares, I think we were the last bastion of sanity for the autocrat crew. This year was a little tamer but still fun time visiting with friends. <\lj-cut>
Angelbedwell has asked about Lilies so here goes; It was great! at least the last half of it :). Cut for length
For those that do not know, the War of The Lilies is an annual SCA camping event held here in this area. It runs a little over a week at a sprawling campground north of KC, attendance has grown to around 1500-1800. Being so close to home we are a little spoiled and tend to pack both cars to the gills so that I, at least, can camp in the style of luxury I would like to be accustomed to living :). We have a canvas pavillion that both of us can stand up in, with room for our queen-size camp bed and lots of other stuff.
We have a regular group of folks we camp with, unofficially calling ourselves the Camp o'Many :). Members of our camp come from Wichita, Springfield, Ames, Arizona and West Virginia, oh yeah, and KC. Max number has been around 35. We have a food plan and folks each take a night to cook. My specialty is garlic and herb chicken fettucine, pre-cooked and frozen in seal-a-meal bags 'cause there is no way I am doing enough pasta for 30+ on a camp stove!
We have always seemed to have kids in our camp, the original batch are all now 20-something but this year we had a 6 mo old, a 2.5 year old, a 3.5 year old, a 2-4.5 year olds, a 7 year old, 2 thirteen year olds and a 15 year old with 5 sets of parents between them all. This year, when it was really hot, someone had had the brilliant idea to pickup several of those cheap plastic misting bottles and the kids had a ball misting each other, and anyone else that wanted it.
But, weather wise, the latter half of the war was just about perfect. This was really appreciated since the first half looked like it was going to be a repeat of last year where it *rained* EVERY DAY. We finally had 36 hours with no rain on the evening of the last saturday. Normally we do not pack up until the morning of the last sunday but since rain was forecast for then, and all the canvas was dry for the first time in a week, we boogied.
This year, it rained the first friday, and a couple of times a day until tuesday. Some gusty storms too that knocked down 1 tent and ripped the sunfly. After tuesday though, the weather just got better and better. It was warm enough one night that we needed our battery powered fans (I did mention I like to camp with a little luxury :) ) but otherwise it was cool enough to need a blanket. Days had their hot peaks in the afternoon but those are easy to tolerate when your mornings and evenings are cool. Had a great time sitting around visiting with friends, doing a little shopping, eating ribs (that's another post entirely) oh yeah, and watching some fighting. It was a 'war' after all.
And I could walk around the site this year! The mud limited me the first part of the war, still have to be careful of balance, but compared to last year, I was a marathoner! Still building stamina but I lapped someone on the last day walking out to get the car, and I survived loading up, then unloading at home. I was stiff and sore but recovered after a couple of days. Felt good :).
Then there was the daquiri party, Angelbedwells favorite part :). This annual tradition got started when one friend had a battery powered blender, and it was a very hot war. The party lasted as long as the battery did. The party grew so now said-friend pre-blends batches of daquiri mix, freezes it, and we add the rum on site. I think she usually does about 20 bags worth. There have been some racous parties over the years, usually kid friendly (we always have a bucket of non-leaded for the minors), altho sometimes a little out of hand. Traditional time is the afternoon of the last saturday, usually very hot and usually a time when folks who have been camping for a long week are ready for a cool treat. Last year, what with all the rain, mud and resulting parking nightmares, I think we were the last bastion of sanity for the autocrat crew. This year was a little tamer but still fun time visiting with friends. <\lj-cut>
