Everybody had the same idea

 Photos by Stan Rolfsrud

We don't usually spend much time at the Renaissance Festival any more. Get there early on a promising day, grab a couple of popovers with honey butter and look over the usual selection of pots, jewels, jesters, bosoms and loudmouths.

It was a spectacularly crisp and gorgeous day. Sixty degrees, dry and sunny. MMM.
We watched a glass-blower create a large three-legged vase and even learned a bit about this arcane craft. Did you know that a glass-blower doesn't really have to blow that much? Heat constantly expands air so if he just blocks the hollow tube with his lips, the trapped air on the other end heats up and expands the glass bulb for him. Interesting, we thought.
We looked for a suitable vase for the bathroom. Didn't find one.
After our quick tour of the premises to be sure everything was in its usual place, we departed at noon and were aghast to meet oncoming throngs on all the feeder roads leading into the fair, hoping for a spot in the Queen's free parking lot. It was such a nice day, people crawling along in their cars didn't even appear to be grumpy yet. Two hapless Redi-Mix truck drivers trapped in the mile-long left-turn-lane lineup on County Road 78 may have had some opinions to share, but maybe it was all in a day's work for them. Locals should know to stay away on weekends.

We haven't seen it this choked up since a delighted King George Coulam declared the Festival to be full up, sold out, closed one fine Saturday afternoon in the 70s. He told Stan it was the best thing he could do for business. The word would get out and even more would come the next day.
Based on today's observations, they're still coming.
Huzzah.