Then, in May, a same-gendered pair won Northshield's Crown Tournament. I wish I could have been there to see it--it was a moment that changed the course of the SCA forevermore. I immediately began planning to attend their coronation--a chance to see SCA history in the making AND check off a new state for my quest?! Yes, please!
The closest Southwest station to the event site in Yankton, South Dakota, was Omaha, Nebraska. I decided to stay in a hotel near the airport instead of near the site, since my flight home Sunday morning was before 7AM. Turns out, the closest hotels were pretty much all in Council Bluffs, IA, so I booked myself at a Day's Inn there.
That ... was a mistake.
The area had my hackles up a little as I pulled into the lot, I'm not gonna lie. I know I'm overly sensitive about these things, and I tried to calm myself. But the fact that I had to drive through the parking lot of an abandoned building to reach the hotel, combined with the fact that the other cars in the parking lot were all sketchy and missing their hubcaps, made it hard to get comfortable. The desk clerk also told me it was 3:30pm when I checked in. I'm pretty sure it was 1:45pm. So that didn't do a lot for my confidence. I triple-locked myself in my room--which was perfectly clean, everything worked, no holes in the walls, no blood stains or anything...--watched TV and contemplated a hot shower.
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| My rental car outside my hotel window. |
But I continued to experience anxiety, until my childhood friend Kerry came to my rescue and invited me to stay with her in Lincoln, NE, a scant two-hour drive away. The relief from the stress was so great that I burst into tears when I hit the highway, and sobbed for a good fifteen minutes. I drove through torrential downpours for most of the drive, and decided that I love Nebraska.
Reconnecting with Kerry after sixteen years was awesome. I got to meet her husband and children, and in the evening some of their friends joined us for a zombie game. Then I snuggled myself, safe and content, into bed.
The next morning dawned crisp and sunny. I hit the road early, because it was a two and a half hour drive from Kerry's house to the event. I had expected the trip to be all interstate, but it turned out to be almost entirely two-lane, farm country roads. I reaffirmed my love of Nebraska about fifty times--the rolling farmland was beautiful! But then, about an hour into the drive, I developed HORRENDOUS cramps. I was hunched over the steering wheel, whimpering in pain as I drove. And of course I was in the middle of NOWHERE--no place to stop for aspirin, no place with a bathroom ... nothing. I drove in agony for forty five minutes before I finally came to a McDonald's where I could use the restroom. That didn't alleviate the cramps at all, though.
I ticked away the miles, increasingly miserable, until at last I pulled onto the event site just as court was getting underway. I stood in a doorway, determined to at least witness the historic moment I had come all this way to see. Even in my misery I was moved by that moment. Our Society has changed--for the better, I whole-heartedly believe--and I was so proud to be standing there as it happened.
And there wasn't a dry eye in the place when Hrodir Bek introduced two ladies in mundane clothes to the populace.
They were his two mothers.
And then to end court, there was a speech:
As soon as court ended, I retreated to my car. I curled up in the back seat, and promptly fell asleep for almost two hours. When I woke, my cramps had at last subsided and I decided to see what was happening.
My first order of business was to Troll in. For once in my life, I had actually pre-registered for this event, so the process went pretty quickly. I was pleased that there was a site token--I plan to start a memento box for this Quest. This site token was HEFTY!
I wandered past the A&S displays, and then out to the fighting. As I wandered, I passed a person shrouded in white, with a sign hung about the neck which proclaimed them to be a mute leaper. I wish I had thought to take a photo ... or any photos at all, for that matter!
I made my way over to the archery range, where an open shoot was taking place. I didn't have any of my equipment with me, of course, so I settled onto some bleachers to watch the shooting. There I stayed until the open range closed and a tournament began. Then, I wandered back inside the hall, looking for either of only two familiar faces at the whole event--Mistress Eithni, who I met at Pennsic, or Mistress Elashava, who I know through a mutual acquaintance on Facebook. By that time, though, my anxiety was in overdrive--the whole adventure had proven just too much for my coping skills. So after one last pass through the crowd, I went back to my car and left.
I checked into a hotel about twenty minutes up the road--a bright, well-maintained hotel across the street from a college (where a massive tailgate party was underway for the football game that night) with two friendly receptionists who let me check in early, asked about my garb, and reassured me that the tailgaters wouldn't be overrunning the hotel later.
I took a long, hot shower and then flopped into bed. With reruns of Law and Order: SVU on the TV, I called Luke and then went to sleep. I had to get up at 2AM to drive back to Omaha, but feeling safe and secure in my hotel was TOTALLY worth the extra-early wake up call.
The stars were SO bright as I set out--it was amazingly beautiful. South Dakota is FLAT. Also, the speed limit was 80 mph, which was awesome. Country music on the radio and the road to myself, I began my journey home from this great adventure.
I learned a lot from this stop on my Quest:
-I need to research the area before booking any hotels in the future;
-I need to be better prepared for medical incidents when I'm in unfamiliar territory;
-I should make a heraldic dress with the badge for my quest, so that I'm readily identifiable to that sea of strangers;
-To keep my anxiety down, I should try to choose events where I can *participate* instead of just spectate
This is my last new state for 2016--I can't wait to see what 2017 has in store! I have a standing invitation to visit a friend in Washington, and another friend in Oregon ... so maybe 2017 will be my west-coast year!
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