(no subject)

[cabbitzilla]

First, a quizzie, because I'm -=SUCH=- a lemming...

Whats does your personality rate from 1-10? by morning_prayer
Your first full name
Your personality rates a	ten
your best quality is	you help friends in need
your worst quality is	theres nothing bad about you
this is because	youre unique
Created with quill18's MemeGen 3.0!

Well. Nothing like an ego stroking, is there. Anyway, here's the rundown on the weekend I've survived.

• Friday
• Packed the car, and pulled out of here at 0700, bound for the caravan meet point.
• Caravan departed the meet point at 0815, sliding out onto MD 3 and heading south
• Five minutes out, and Megan had already told me how much she hurt four times. Reminded myself that GRS is NOT available to prison inmates doing time for homicide, and kept driving.
• Traffic was -horrid- for the first leg, leaving us all VERY thankful that six of the seven vehicles involved had operational family band radios in them
• Once we got below La Plata, MD, traffic finally thinned to the point where we could open things up.
• Fuel stop at the Sheetz station just south of the MD/VA line on US 301. Discovered that the cigs I've been paying $4.78 (or more) per pack are a measly $2.50 there. Out of the car, Megan was running about, laughing, joking, and being generally festive.
• Pulled out of the Sheetz station, and was treated to another three repititions (in glum, groaning tones) of how much Megan hurt. Reminded myself OUT LOUD about GRS and prison; Megan shut up and was quiet for nearly a half hour.
• After what seemed an eternity at point punctuated by further complaints from Megan, we arrived at the Jamestown Settlement in Jamestown, Virginia. A fortuitous encounter with the grounds foreman netted us access to a pair of cargo golf carts and a large wagon pulled by one of the site tractors (Homer is a GOD, I tell you. The man will drink with honor and pride in Valhalla.). The full campsite was set up in 2.5 hours, which is a new record for us.
• Left site and shuttled over to the hotel. Checked in, unloaded the car, told Megan that iffn she didn't stop complaining I was going to lock her in the bathroom, and got my laptop unpacked. Stripped off the boots and sweatsocks I was wearing, slipping into some thinner and prettier socks and my velvet mary janes. Grabbed Megan and headed for dinner.
• Williamsburg, Virginia has among its restaurants a Mongolian Barbecue place; it's become unit tradition that dinner on Friday night is there. The food was good, the sodas plentiful, and many MANY off-color jokes were swapped. :p When dinner was over, we went back to the hotel. Lights out.
• Saturday
• Alarm went off at 0530. Bleah. Got Megan dressed and sent her off to site with another of our people who had room for her. And then I went back to bed for another couple hours.
• Arrived on site around 1000, armed with our unit captain's camera bag and just under $1k worth of gear, and began taking pictures. By the time the day was done, nearly 450 pictures would be safely stored on the portal hard drive.
• While sitting at the parade grounds and taking pictures of the various tactical demonstrations, I met a -wonderful- lady named Korry. She's either 'the' or 'one of' the costumers employed by the Settlement, and was a charming and friendly person to chat with. I'm not sure I could list out all the topics we skated through even if I had to, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and actually -relaxed- for the first time on the trip.
• Around 1600, the temperature started to drop. I don't deal well with the cold anymore, and said my goodbyes and headed back to the hotel. I had a couple hours before Megan'd be back, and amused myself by watching PowerPuff Girls and Green Acres on the television.
• Megan finally returned around 1730, and I extracted her from her outfit. She showered quickly, and then we hooked up with Kellie and Chris for the yearly trip to Captain George's. This is no 'ordinary' seafood restaurant; go to the website and take a look at the menu. It's nothing short of astounding... and the price is a bit stiff as well ( roughly $30 per person ). Kellie -hates- eating alone, enough that she was willing to cover our meals for company. Which didn't hurt MY feelings a bit. Yum.
• After stuffing ourselves to the point of near exploding, we waddled back to our vehicles and shuttled back to the hotel. Megan crashed almost immediately, but I was up for more than a few hours on my laptop. All of that time was spent mourning the utter lack of modem/network jacks in the hotel rooms.
• Sunday
• Another 0530 wake up, this one to discover that it's raining. I got Megan into her outfit, and called the couple that were supposed to be her ride to the site, only to discover that they weren't going for another hour or more. I sighed, pulled on my jeans, and drove her out to site.
• Once in camp, I confirmed with our captain that Expensive Camera + Steady Rain = BAD THING, so I tromped back to the hotel room in hopes that it'd clear off and let me take more pics.
• Just before 1300, I finally lost patience with the weather. I wrapped the camera case in a couple towels, grabbed my coat, and made a dash for the car. I figured I could loiter in the gift shop and cafe, and venture out during the lulls... and discovered it was clear and SUNNY at the site, a mere 20 miles from the hotel. *sigh*
• Unpacked the rig and got back to work. Another 150 or so pictures were added to the hard drive before it did something new: the battery that powers it died. :p Without a way to dump the pictures on the memory cards, it wasn't long before the camera was useless. I wobbled back out to the car and packed it away out of sight, and wandered into the cafe in search of some hot food.
• Arrived at the little cafe at 1620. Verified that they took credit cards. And then was told that all the hot food was already taken down, and all that was left was candy and sodas. *sigh* Bought a 16 oz Gatorade, a package of Starbursts, and a tiny bag of Sun Chips... for $5.78. Youch. Curled up in a booth to wait for the day to be over.
• Site was officially closed at 1700, and the tear down of the camp commenced. This process normally takes two to three hours to accomplish... but this is the first Jamestown event in seven years that it was sunny and sorta dry. Camp was broken down and packed away in an astounding 1.5 hours. Those heading home then took off, caravanning back northwards, and the six of us lingering one last night crawled (figuratively) back to the hotel. Kellie, Chris, Megan and I ended up at Chili's for dinner - the Grilled Shrimp Fettucine Alfredo was very yummy.
• Back to the hotel and crash time.
• Monday
• We broke fast at the Cracker Barrel next to the hotel. Yummy. Very very yummy.
• Kellie decided to skip her normal shopping run, and we decided to make the northward run together.
• My remembered directions proved to be faulty when it came to finding our way back to Colonial Parkway. Fortunately, Kellie had seen a sign and it was easy enough to backtrack.
• The trip north was uneventful and quite pretty, right up until we hit the southern edge of Bowie, Md. It was there that some UTTER FUCKWAD decided to make a left hand turn from the right hand lane... and then STOPPED blocking both lanes to 'think' about it. The resulting near pileup wreaked havoc with the gear packed into the car, flipped poor kweepie into the air and onto his head, and left the Saturn's front bumper a mere inch from the driver's door of the pickup truck that'd been in front of me. And I discovered that the Saturn's anti-lock brakes WILL lock up all four corners if you force the pedal all the way to the floor. *shakes her head* Never a policeman when you need them.
• Parted ways with Kellie and Chris in Millersville, and rocketed on home. Got the car unloaded and Kweepie back in his regular spot. Megan crawled off to bed; it's legit, this time. Somehow, Sunday, she managed to get so sunburned she's sick.
• Made the run down to C&K's to pick up the other two piggies (Gus and Molly). Chatted for a while, watched a couple episodes of Stargate SG1, then rocketed back home.

And that's the update I promised earlier. I think I got all the salient points... at least I hope I did. And now, I think it's time for bed. G'nite, darlings.