GEF Weekend - organised chaos.
Last Monday at work, walking up stairs, I put my foot down a little awkwardly and strained a calf muscle. I had a day-long meeting to attend, so I limped around as little as possible, sat down most of the dya, and tried to ignore it. This, of course, didn't work. Neither, by Tuesday, did my leg, so Tuesday was pent largely at home, apart for brief and painful trips to the shops, primarily for a tube of Ibuprofen gel, and also for food.
I was well aware that this was not a good preparation for running around in fields in Derbyshire.
Add to this, I had a meeting to go to in St Ives, near Huntingdon, on Saturday. 95 miles from the field by the quickest route. My original plan had been to head to Locko on Friday afternoon, leave at stupidly early o'clock on Saturday morning, drive to Huntingdon, attend the meeting, drive back and get back on site in time for a good part of Saturday evening. Now, driving was the least of my worries - even on Monday & Tuesday it was fairly comfortable, on the grand scale of things. However wrapping it around with pitching tents, LRPing, and not enough sleep didn't seem a bright idea.
I compromised, went on line and looked for a cheap hotel near the A14 - and found the George in Huntingdon. £20 B&B on Friday, slightly more on Saturday only about 5 miles from the meeting. Ideal. I could miss the Friday and Saturday of the GEF, take my time and relax, pick up minimum kit from home on Sunday on my way to the event, and give my leg a couple more days to recover before stressing it on the field.
The hotel turned out to be excellent, an old coaching inn around a courtyard, 24 rooms, decent food and ale, old fashioned , slightly shabby, and with excellent staff. It was busy, their bargain rate was clearly filling rooms, and although I have no particular liking for Huntingdon, the location was ideal.
The meeting too went well. A quick recce on Friday evening found the venue and the parking. My leg was recovering nicely, and St Ives is a very pleasant little town. I even had time to get my hair cut - well overdue. On Saturday, after a very pleasant breakfast, I pottered over to St Ives, met up with some friends (sans LJ) for the exhibition before the AGM, and then a long slow pub lunch, and then attended the meeting. Afterwards, back to Huntingdon for a lazy evening.
Sunday, a fast drive of just over an hour back to Coventry after a late breakfast, was followed by laoding upt he car, and another fast run up to Locko. With the wet weather forecast I decided not to bother with a tent, but to sleep on the back seat of thee car, so once I got on site, kitted up, and did th necessary (and very quick and efficient) admin I dropped straight into play.
It turned out I'd missed a huge amount of PvP, not involving the Harts faction, and I almost immediately walked straight into a lump of faction plot. Having, in character, just arrived from Albion, within an hour I was back there, organising the immediate reaction to a fae attack. From then on until I crashed out at about 01:00 I was busy all through. The calf twinged a bit, and slightly slowed me down, but apart from discouraging me from dashing off on linears was no real problem.
Monday morning, and I was woken by the noise of heavy rain drumming on my car roof. After a bit of a lie-in I wandered down tot he marketplace to buy breakfast, and then back up to camp for Privy council. With the rain making the ground very slippery, the major fight of the day was called off, so Monday was a bit less exciting and busy than Sunday, so once the closing ceremony had happened, I was keen to be away fairly quickly. With no tent and minimal kit I was ready quickly, and waited a while before giving wyzziwig a lift to Derby railway station.
Back to Coventry, and in time for the weekly WoW Monday night raid - a small affair with many people away for the Bank Holiday, a lot of fun, with a group new to some recent content. Zul'Gurub beat us eventually, but not before we had downed one boss, and I had looted a very nice belt.
So - a busy weekend, but tempered by being sensible. All in all a lot of fun.
I was well aware that this was not a good preparation for running around in fields in Derbyshire.
Add to this, I had a meeting to go to in St Ives, near Huntingdon, on Saturday. 95 miles from the field by the quickest route. My original plan had been to head to Locko on Friday afternoon, leave at stupidly early o'clock on Saturday morning, drive to Huntingdon, attend the meeting, drive back and get back on site in time for a good part of Saturday evening. Now, driving was the least of my worries - even on Monday & Tuesday it was fairly comfortable, on the grand scale of things. However wrapping it around with pitching tents, LRPing, and not enough sleep didn't seem a bright idea.
I compromised, went on line and looked for a cheap hotel near the A14 - and found the George in Huntingdon. £20 B&B on Friday, slightly more on Saturday only about 5 miles from the meeting. Ideal. I could miss the Friday and Saturday of the GEF, take my time and relax, pick up minimum kit from home on Sunday on my way to the event, and give my leg a couple more days to recover before stressing it on the field.
The hotel turned out to be excellent, an old coaching inn around a courtyard, 24 rooms, decent food and ale, old fashioned , slightly shabby, and with excellent staff. It was busy, their bargain rate was clearly filling rooms, and although I have no particular liking for Huntingdon, the location was ideal.
The meeting too went well. A quick recce on Friday evening found the venue and the parking. My leg was recovering nicely, and St Ives is a very pleasant little town. I even had time to get my hair cut - well overdue. On Saturday, after a very pleasant breakfast, I pottered over to St Ives, met up with some friends (sans LJ) for the exhibition before the AGM, and then a long slow pub lunch, and then attended the meeting. Afterwards, back to Huntingdon for a lazy evening.
Sunday, a fast drive of just over an hour back to Coventry after a late breakfast, was followed by laoding upt he car, and another fast run up to Locko. With the wet weather forecast I decided not to bother with a tent, but to sleep on the back seat of thee car, so once I got on site, kitted up, and did th necessary (and very quick and efficient) admin I dropped straight into play.
It turned out I'd missed a huge amount of PvP, not involving the Harts faction, and I almost immediately walked straight into a lump of faction plot. Having, in character, just arrived from Albion, within an hour I was back there, organising the immediate reaction to a fae attack. From then on until I crashed out at about 01:00 I was busy all through. The calf twinged a bit, and slightly slowed me down, but apart from discouraging me from dashing off on linears was no real problem.
Monday morning, and I was woken by the noise of heavy rain drumming on my car roof. After a bit of a lie-in I wandered down tot he marketplace to buy breakfast, and then back up to camp for Privy council. With the rain making the ground very slippery, the major fight of the day was called off, so Monday was a bit less exciting and busy than Sunday, so once the closing ceremony had happened, I was keen to be away fairly quickly. With no tent and minimal kit I was ready quickly, and waited a while before giving wyzziwig a lift to Derby railway station.
Back to Coventry, and in time for the weekly WoW Monday night raid - a small affair with many people away for the Bank Holiday, a lot of fun, with a group new to some recent content. Zul'Gurub beat us eventually, but not before we had downed one boss, and I had looted a very nice belt.
So - a busy weekend, but tempered by being sensible. All in all a lot of fun.