The last couple of weeks in July proved to be long, fun ones, but still busy and I needed this past weekend of just puttering around my yard to relax.
Mid July found Dave, myself and the middle daughter spending a long weekend in southern Idaho at an SCA event called Kings Road. For those unfamiliar with the SCA, The Society for Creative Anachronism, it is a world wide organization for those who love history, specifically pre-17th-century history. SCA events provide an opportunity to “live” as much as possible in a different time via clothing, encampments, activities, etc while providing the opportunity to learn/show off a multitude of skills from this time frame such as the different types of artisan work which is really wonderful to see. Of course there are also the combat and thrown weapons events and practices which draw attention.
This particular SCA event was held right across the Utah border in Idaho, a mere hour drive from our home. However, as usual, we did not begin from our home we started instead from my husband’s work which is an hour from our home in the opposite direction of our final destination. You may ask yourself why we do this, the answer is quite simple really. The town we live in is off to the side of the interstate that runs through Utah (I-15) so quite often, if we were to wait until my husband came home from work it would take much longer to reach our goal than if I drive down to his work with him and work from my daughter’s house or a coffee shop as I am fortunate enough to work remotely.
Kings Road ran Thursday thru Sunday with Dave and I arriving Thursday evening to a number of people already there and in various stages of set up. SCA events are social gatherings so between finding troll (the place to pay for attending the event ) and going to where we would be setting up, we were able to stop and say hi to a few friends. This was the second outing for the 1978 hard sided Apache camper we had purchased last fall (the rework on it is a story for another time) and we were excited to so how she continued to fair. We used to do the whole period encampment thing. We still have a 20’ round pavilion, a wooden bed frame with foam mattresses which is tall enough to put bins underneath, wooden chairs and chest as well as several rugs, a candle chandelier and other fun items. We also have two 10’ x 10’ steel frame pop ups used as a kitchen area and a portable fire pit. The ambiance was fabulous…the two plus hour set up followed by at least that much time to tear it all down, not so much. With our kids grown up and only one really left in the house, we have opted for a more relaxed, less time consuming approach to camping hence the pop up trailer.
This was the view from our trailer of the encampments
These were taken just walking around
And this is our 1978 Apache pop up
Normally we would set up and be done but the fates were not on our side this particular weekend. Instead, due to unforeseen circumstances and miscommunications, we had to set our pop up twice (and had attempted a separate initial set-up before we were unceremoniously asked to move). Our final resting place was a bit further away from the main camping area than normal which had its pros and cons. We were located farther from our friends but that meant we were also farther away from the noise and we did get quite a bit of walking in. The weekend saw 100 degree weather every day. Fortunately the campsite was next to a reservoir which we swam in often to survive the heat and the dust.
SCA events can be a great deal of fun and once we were finally settled (including retrieving the middle daughter from our home on Friday after her work) we enjoyed the beautiful sunsets, time with our friends, watching the spectacle that was our friend’s recognition for his artistic talent (called an elevation) which included announcers,belly dancers, a procession of flag bearers and a great deal of flare (think of the scene in Disney’s Aladdin with his procession to meet the princess and you’ll have an idea of how entertaining this was), and in general we were just relaxing and enjoying being together. During our friend’s elevation there was additional excitement as an intense but brief storm passed through the area soaking everything in minutes, forcing people to drop the center poles from larger pavilions to prevent wind damage, causing minor rips in our sunshade and setting fire to the grassland that was far enough away not to be too much of a threat but close enough to watch and wonder if they were eventually going to evacuate our area. They didn’t. The local fire department had the blaze out in a couple of hours leaving only smoky air as a reminder.
Sunday found us taking the long lazy way home because, well, how else do you keep Sunday relaxed than by avoiding the projects waiting for you at home? Monday was rest day but Tuesday and Wednesday were washing, repacking and repairing in preparation to head once again to my daughter’s house bright and early Thursday morning because it was time to go deeper into Idaho…we’re talking Rexburg area people a short distance from West Yellowstone and the Tetons…to attend my husband’s annual family reunion.
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