Alaska Trip, part II

General event stuff: the wife didn't finish my 14th c. heavy wool coat, but did get it to a wearable point. It looked really good, even if I didn't need it all the time (the weather ranged from 50s to mid-70s). I forgot my undershirt so I wore my wool doublet(oid - I know that's not the right term for that outfit but I don't know what is) bare. Fortunately it's not a scratchy wool. I haven't seen any pictures; sad, but since I'm not a fighter there it is.

The sleep masks worked brilliantly. Good thing since it never got darker than dusk the whole time.

The site favors were awesome; one of the people in camp poured 1-oz pewter drinking horns with all three Principality animals on them. She didn't do a perfect job: in places the pewter got too hot and discolored. (Things we learned making PPF spoons.) But we will put them in our tourney gear and happily use them in the future.

I brought small jars of quince butter as thank-yous, which people seemed to appreciate. I think it's a nice gesture - especially when we're being hosted and lent a pavilion, sleeping gear, etc. Along those lines, it's always odd to be in another camp where period food is not really a consideration. I know our particular camping group is an outlier because we are chock full of food Laurels* and we formed around a shared emphasis on display. Also, Oertha doesn't have any food Laurels, and hardly anyone interested in period food. But it's such a change for us to see modern food without even trying to make it period-compatible.

This is not a knock on the group we camped with - more an acknowledgement of anthropology differences. It would take a serious effort by someone committed to period food to really change the culture.
It was like when I read the journal of someone who camped Pennsic a few years back as a pilgrim, with just a bedroll, canteen, and a small sack. I thought it was awesome that he was trying something period and different. And then all of the food he mentioned eating was modern camping fare: spaghetti, canned beef stew, etc.

* You see what I did there.

Alaska Trip, part III

Flight foo. Generally speaking, uneventful - which is usually the best you can hope for with long flights. TSA searched our checked bag both directions and smashed a glass we had carefully wrapped up. Sigh. At least they didn't confiscate the expensive Scotch or the jam I had brought...

On the way back, we had underestimated the driving time from Seward and only had 15 minutes before boarding was scheduled. Fortunately, we had treated ourselves to first class on the return leg. We were bumped up to TSA pre-clearance - which meant we got through the entire security process in less than 5 minutes. I haven't bothered with paying for pre-clearance before because we don't fly much. But we're tentatively planning a Europe trip for our 20th anniversary next year, so it might be worthwhile for that.

The wife hadn't flown first class before. It had been 15 years for me. Man, I could get used to having leg room, arm room, and a glass of sparkling wine in a real glass just after takeoff. Also, the noise-canceling headphones don't do much at home. But they made an immense difference on the flight.