Could Have Been the Whisky, Might Have Been the Gin...

...But since I'm sober, I'm going to guess it was the weird piña colada flavoured tea I had at a tea house near the site. It did something oogie to my gastro-intestinal tract and I had to cut the event short.

Here's what happened, in small, bite-sized portions:

I got up early and had breakfast.

Stopped off in Mallsac to get some camping supplies on the off chance I decided to spend the the night (obviously I didn't). Now I have the same cot/bag combo I used at Estrella and liked so much. All it needs is about 4 inches of foam and it'll be perfect aside from not being large enough for shenanigans.

Had a largely uneventful drive to Wetaskiwin. Only encountered one raging asshole, which is good for highway 2. Got to site about ½ hour earlier then anticipated. And I didn't even speed (much).

As archery was later in the afternoon, I suddenly found myself with nothing to do. Normally I'm rushing because archery shoots are typically first thing in the morning. Instead I chatted with folks and went for tea with the pretty ladies. Drinking the tea was my big mistake.

Shot in the archery tournament and I completely sucked. But I didn't care! I've decided that Winter War, I will always suck at (that's certainly been the result the last three times I went, and this was no exception). Conversely, Borealis' other martial event - Silverwolf - I usually do exceptionally well at (I won the archery prize last year). I can live with that. Of course, Now I've bragged about it, so I may have jinxed myself.

Unfortunately, while waiting around to shoot, the oogie feeling started. This is why I think it was the tea. It gradually got worse.

Went to a pub with a bunch of folks who did not want to partake of the pot luck. I ended up sitting with JD, QJ and wild_wanderer who are entertaining fellows. Had a couple good belly laughs, which made me feel better. Also saw a cute girl from Rhuddglynn, who I later found out was not single. Sigh. I'll have to return to my usual assortment of Montengarde crushes.

By this time, I had decided that I just wasn't up for court (which is too bad, I subsequently found out that thekillerb69 had the highest overall score! Good job dude!) and I went around the site saying goodbyes. Sadly, several people I wanted to talk too were off site at assorted restaurants. Still I saw ⅔ of the people I wanted to see, so that's pretty good. I got back into the car and drove home, running the car to zero bars in the gas gauge. (Which apparently corresponds to roughly the 40 litre mark of my 50 litre tank).

Total time enjoying Wetaskiwin and the Winter War: 8 hours.
Total time spent driving: 5 hours.

Not the greatest ratio, but it's still greater then 1, so I'll take the trip as a win.

Part of the win wasn't just the time, it was the fact that I was in a shit mood this morning. Driving up I made a conscious effort to enjoy myself. "You're going somewhere where everyone is going to be happy to see you." I thought, which is not something I allow myself to feel very often. And it came true!

The day may have ended prematurely due to stomach upset, but I identified it quickly and didn't let it spoil things.

So yeah, probably the best Winter War I've been too. It helped that the weather was super awesome this year. 25C, which is pretty good for April in Alberta.

Two weeks until Silver Arrow, which is an event I've always had a great time at. Woot!