Made it!

[The tomatoes are almost ripe]



[Wispr and Harlan harvest greens]



[I backed the trailer in!]

This last week has been a blur of working, painting, packing, driving, shopping, driving, and more.

The final result is that I'm onsite to set up for the Northern California Renaissance Faire in Casa de Fruta, California. (It's near Gilroy, south of San Jose.)

I practiced backing up with the trailer in our parking lot before I left. The end result there was hours of frustration and a determination not to back the trailer without more training...

On Monday I went to Lowell to pick up the clothing and brooms for the show. Then I came home, packed them into the trailer and got ready to go. The last thing I do before any trip these days is to raid the garden and pack a cooler with veggies.

Well, that gave a little solace when I got stuck in a little town called Zamora. I stopped for gas and the van wouldn't start again. This is why I pay for AAA. It turns out to have been a loose wire, a hot starter, or some other undefinable thing. When the AAA guy got there and wiggled some wires it fired up like a charm. Funny it didn't do that for me.

What this little pause in my trip gave me, though, was a chance to cut open a melon that Harlan made me pack. Wow! I knew I was in for a treat when I opened the cooler and it smelled like perfume. This has to have been the sweetest melon I've ever had.

I was glad that I ate because once the van was running I didn't dare stop again. I knew I had enough gas to get to the faire site so I just drove without stopping. I arrived, exhausted, and fell into bed. It's nice to travel with a bed in the back.

It turns out that whatever was wrong with the van isn't repeating itself. I brought the trailer in to the booth location and thought I'd give backing one quick try before I broke my back unloading the trailer in a hurry as I blocked the road. It worked! I don't know quite how, but the trailer magically went exactly where I wanted it! Beginner's luck.