Pennsic 50: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
We left early in the morning of July 29th. Getting out of NY was uneventful, the usual Route 95 traffic across the GWB. NJ was smooth as well. An hour into PA we notice signs about construction ahead. Some friends made the trip before us & said that the construction traffic was "not bad". We on the other hand encountered dead stop traffic for 3 HOURS for a one mile stretch.
With the stretch breaks & Lunch we didn't get into "Troll" until 7:30pm. We scrambled to unload & set up before daylight was gone. We barely made it in time to get dinner before the food court closed.
~1st problem: I forgot the bed kit, which included all the pillows, sleeping bags & feather comforter.
Thank goodness I had brought two full circle cloaks which are made from blanket material. We both rolled ourselves in them & snuggled together on my cot w/air mattress. Easy fix on the morning. We went to town to Dick's sporting goods and got a sleeping bag with the store credit we had from returning the old tent. I also forgot our camp chairs, so we picked up one for cheap. We also got a 2 pack of pillows at Walmart. The rest of peace week for us was good. We helped out when needed like good campers. I took to cleaning the dishes. JR helped with getting the encampment perimeter staked out, gate up & sheetwalls attached.
War week begins & we are included in the opening ceremonies on Saturday. Sunday comes & we get a notification that rain is rolling it for the rest of the week. We go again to town, do laundry, get a tarp for the top of the tent, some rope & garden spikes to stake it down. We get back to camp & make sure the tent is secure. I even fold the tarp in the back of our tent & use the guy lines to criss cross it for more security.
Monday morning, JR & I are snuggling in bed before we begin our day. I am facing the back of the tent were we left the back window open so we can get air into the tent, but no one can see in (We are on the edge of the encampment right next to a public walkway between the encampments) I can hear people walking along toward the main road, I think nothing of it. Suddenly I see a man's hand & forearm grabbing at the back window, almost as if they were searching for a zipper. My face must have shown my shock , cause JR rolls over & yells. "Hey! Stop fucking around with our tent!" The hand immediately retracts then I hear rapid walking away & a male voice mumbling "Sorry if I lost my balance, dude!" All the while JR was trying to get decent & find the guy. But by the time he got out of the tent, out of the camp & around to the walkway. There wasn't anyone there.
The thing that freaks me out is that this unknown male had to get down on their knees, reach over our encampment ropes & then go under the tarp and up to the window. If he had 'lost his balance' I would have seen is hand shadow before he would have landed on us in bed. I would not seen his hand clearly through the screen. It was strange, but we chalked it up to 'Weird things happening at Pennsic 50' and tried to not let it bother us. That night we go to the Æthelmearc royal encampment party. We had a good time and ended up joining a group to share their weird happenings. Like someone from Singles camping decided it was too sunny where they were, so they moved their tent into Æthelmearc next to their shower.
Tuesday was a busy day. We had some classes and saw some friends. We were to go the the PolyAm Meetup at Cafe Merhabah at 5 so JR left me to go take a shower. About halfway through my class he texts to ask me if I had seen his toiletry kit. I answer that I hadn't but it should be in the tent. He said he checked the tent but didn't find it & asked if I could come back to help. Thank goodness the instructor was going to ask for email to send the worksheets, so I gave her a business card & left. Long story short we looked everywhere for it. But it was just gone. I truly believe that someone, from outside of our encampment stole his kit. Cause unfortunately, the last place he remembers seeing it was right inside the tent the night before after his nightly shower. Pennsic Peace broken. By the time we came to this conclusion it was too late to pack up & leave. So we go and make the best of it: PolyAm Meetup was good. I met a lovely couple & thought I got her Fetlife name down, but I cannot find her. We also got to the DeLondres Bardic & to see one of our newest members to the SCA, who played the bagpipes for Ostgardr at opening ceremonies, win 2nd place at the Mountain Confederation's Annual Bagpiping competition.
Wednesday was bittersweet. We got up, and over breakfast explained why we were leaving. The Camp steward was rightfully upset. And went to make a complaint to the Watch & checked Info point to see if anyone turned in a bag, nothing. I had promised to make my chicken tikka masala dinner that night. So instead I made it for lunch instead. We gave hugs to everyone, packed & left at around 3pm. About an hour later we stop at a Burger King for a stretch/coffee/cigarette/bathroom break. JR is still a little on edge but we are dealing. He is standing on the driver's side by the trunk, hands me a $5 & I go in to get my coffee. It takes forever for them to get it to me & JR comes in to wash his hands, as he does after smoking. We leave & get into the car, he realizes we need gas. So we go across the street to the Sheetz convenience store & gas station. As he gets out he checks his cargo shorts & asks "Do you have my phone?" I get a frisson of fear down my spine & say No. He begins to steadily get more annoyed & I am trying to keep from melting down (back story on why after this post). We go back & forth multiple times to try & find it , again, nothing. We are Sheetz one last time, cause at this point we are burning daylight. He goes inside as I finally figure out why when I call his phone it would ring in the car. I am navigating & am using my Pandora to control the music through my phone. I automatically connect via Bluetooth to the car speakers. I turn it off & viola! it rings as normal. Suddenly, a young woman answers his phone. My brain goes a haywire & I was about to say "Who the FUCK is this?!" when she continues & says she is happy I called her son found the phone on a drainage grate in the Dairy Queen parking lot & didn't tell her until they got home! The same one that is right next to the Burger King. She asked where we were & I described it. She said she would be right over. 5 minutes later, she pulls into the Sheetz, rolls down her window holds the phone up & calls out my name. Overjoyed I say yes I am! JR comes over & hands her a $100. She at first said no but we both insisted. the rest of the ride was totally uneventful & we got home at midnight.