In Which I Tell You About Our Adventures

Hello my lovely readers! I'm finally posting after having been gone for some time to tell you about a wonderful adventure I've just gone on. Accompanying me was my beloved family. This sort of adventure is what is called, I believe, a vacation.

Yes, we were finally able to go on a lovely, 5 day vacation! I will let everyone know, at this moment, that our family hasn't taken a vacation in 6 years, and it was with a multitude of excited cheers that we set off on our little adventure. We programmed our ship to head due West, towards the great state of California, on Tuesday, November 20th. Our first leg of the journey was rather boring, but, armed with audio books, crocheting, and other things of employment, we were able to make many miles before we stopped in the very warm state of Arizona for an overnight stay.

We awoke refreshed and ready to travel again. As we neared California, the excitement mounted once again, although whether it was from the thought of getting out of the tiny rental car, or getting to our destination, I'm still at a loss to know.

Ah! California at last! The state right next to the ocean! The state that had palm trees growing on the side of the streets. Oh my! What a shock for these poor desert folks to come up to a place where it practically rains every evening. Where everything around them was green, green, green. Why, we had to learn that color on our way up in order to know what it was. Perhaps I'm exaggerating, but it is very close to the truth.

 ('Birds of Paradise'. These were just so cool!!)

 (Normally we have rocks and gravel in our medians... not so here!)

(All the beautiful palm trees!!!)

Our first business was to find the hotel. During this rather stressful point in our journey, we learned that the TomTom knows much more than an ordinary paper map. Thankfully, being armed with this wonderful device, we finally 'reached our destination' (in the words of the TomTom).

We scrambled out of our means of transportation and quickly unloaded into our lodgings. Everyone had a bed, which is quite a bonus for our larger family, and we settled in at a speed which would surprise a race car. (or perhaps just a turtle).

Our first thing for this grand adventure was attending a meal with the king and his daughter at a lovely place called, Medieval Times. There, we were given crowns, placed in our seats along a very long, narrow table, and settled in for our meal. What luck! The princess had arranged a tournament of the knights for her guests. We had front row seats and had a very good view of every event that happened.

(Our handsome knights. I have to admit that they were MUCH better looking than the ones in the ring! They are wearing some tunics that I made recently.)

There was jousting, sword fighting, and several other competitions. Our knight, the Green Knight, won several different competitions. We feasted on soup, chicken, potatoes, beef, and bread. All on tin plates and cups, and having no utensils. This was quite fun, though, and everyone heartily enjoyed it.

(This guy was the horse trainer. He did a couple of spectacular little shows in-between fights with his beautiful horses.)

(The first two knights next to ours - Red and Yellow, and Blue- are our allies)

However, the evening would soon see a disturbance to this jolly gathering. An evil knight appeared and wanted to bring the princess to his master in order for their to be peace between the two countries. Well, this wouldn't do! Our knight, along with 2 other comrades, set off to the Grand Tournament in order to defend their Lady.

 (The King deciding what he shall do)

This was when the real jousting began. Splinters of wood flew everywhere as the knights collided with their wooden spears. Both were still astride their steeds (which were just beautiful, I might add). Another joust would have to happen. This time, our opponent fell. However, he recovered and continued the fight from the ground. The Green Knight soon jumped from his steed, and relied on his shield and his Morning Star (this is a weapon, I've checked with my historical tutor). The Morning Star soon proved fruitless, and both knights engaged in hand to hand combat with their trusty swords. Sparks flew, ringing sounded all around. Finally, the Green knight conquered the enemy. (Sadly, my camera died on me right as the 'real' fighting began.. and I'd forgotten to put the extra battery in the case!)

It started over again with a new knight from each side. I will shorten my tale by saying that our side won in the end, although the Green Knight was not the final conqueror. However, the Blue Knight, our ally, was and  we were all satisfied. The evil knight was taken away to the dudgeon and our fair lady was saved. Thus ended the lovely evening. We headed back to our lodgings quite satisfied and jolly. The next day would prove to be another adventurous one, but that shall have to hold for another time.