First during our Friday morning setup we were plagued with the knowledge that there were storm warnings and tornado warnings. The whole two hour drive up my friends were calling with weather updates and Rod was doubtful we would even have a show based on what the Weather Channel was saying. BUT, my buddy Eve and I didn't let that stop us. In fact, most of the vendors were there setting up, getting ready for a great weekend. We were taking our time as we had until 3pm when the festival opened. We stopped in and chatted with Russ the Candle guy--until I noticed a really dark bank of clouds moving toward us.
Eve and I took off quick for our tents--which of course were the first tents to be hit by the storm. I just had enough time to get the little spikes in the ground (I had already put tie downs and spiral stakes in) and get the four sides zipped up. We got lucky though...there was a ton of lightning, thunder and lots of rain...but the tents held solid. Both our cars were right outside so we had a questionably "safe" escape route, but, we choose to sit up on our high wood chairs and keep our feet up off the ground.
The storm lasted about an hour. At the first break I peeked outside and noticed fog on Eve's van windows, so I ran out and jumped in her van. About 15 minutes later, Lynn joined us and we spent another half hour riding out more rain until it finally slowed up enough to continue setting up. I decided to get my van off the festival grounds and buzz down to the hotel to check in and change clothes.
On the way back I passed through more rain...and by the time I got back to the festival, they had decided to not open on Friday as the grounds were all mud by then. Bummer. Bright side is I had a chance to do some shopping and check out the movie times for the next night while Eve painted at the room. It continued to storm the whole night, but, nothing too strong.
Saturday morning--OMG the wind was blowing about 30 mph sustained! I got to the show about a half hour after Eve arrived and was happy to see our tents still standing. Several crafter tents were already destroyed and many people were packing up. Two huge tents that had tables and chairs for the customers had been blown over too. The pic below is one of them...the other one few across the field to "rest" against the stage!
We decided to try to set up for the day but about 15 minutes into setup, the wind gusts got so strong that we were worried Eve's racks weren't gonna stay up. She decided to take stuff down to be safe, so she went to get her van and break down. I stayed in my tent putting stuff away so it was safe...until one of my four tables got hit with a gust and tipped over sending my soap samples and lip balms into the mud. BUMMER.Then I heard things really rattling in Eve's tent so I went over to hold things together until she got back with the van. Unfortunately shortly after I got in the tent, the gusts just pushed the tent over with me in it, and I barely made it out. Eve's beautiful artwork...dumped onto the wet, muddy ground!!! I was sad and I knew she would be devastated. (The pic below is what was left after removing the canopy and sides.)
But, in the meantime, my tent was really starting to strain too. The good news is that soap really does not like rain--but Saturday dawned a perfect blue-sky-no-rain-in-sight kinda day!! I just didn't want the tent to collapse and send things to the ground. SO, Eve had a brillant idea--get the top canopy off the tent frame--before it blew over. It worked and then I had time to help her rescue as much of her product as possible. The Lions Club guys helped break her destroyed tent frame down into a small enough pile of pieces to fit in the dumpster. It was so SAD!!Once we packed up we went back to the hotel to check the weather on her laptop and try to make a decision what to do for the rest of the weekend. The room was already paid for...but I had until noon to cancel the room for the night if I needed to. We went out for breakfast and she decided she couldn't stay as she needed a tent to shade her paintings. I decided to play it by ear and see if I could recoop some of my expenses. Before Eve left, she decided to check with one of her local wholesale accounts and luckily they decided they could use some of her pieces--so at least her weekend wasn't a complete loss!
At about 1pm I headed back to the festival site and my two buddies Russ and Lynn were either set up and selling. SO, I decided just to grab two tables and four trays of soap...and just see if I could find a relatively mud-free place to squat. I did reasonably well--selling enough to cover all my expense by 5pm. Which is when I left.
I decided to stop into Gander Mountain to pick up some cold weather gear (gloves, windshirt, long undies) so I would be ready for the 36 degree temps in the morning. I must have been a sight--when I got back to the hotel, I looked in the mirror and about died. MY HAIR!!! Eeekkkkkkk!!! Now my hair has never been described as sleek, neat or even "under control". IT was so wild and wind blown I didn't know if I would ever get all the snarls out. Oh, and my eyes were so wind and sunburned they were bright red...no joke..ouch they felt like sandpaper! I took a picture, but, I don't know if you will be able to tell how WILD it really was. LOL It was awful...awfully funny!!! I am not a gal who worries about these things.
I had bought a bottle of wine on the way home and then discovered my corkscrew was missing from my bag...and the one from the car glove box was MIA too...so I used a pair of scissors to push the cork down and then got it to slowly pour out of the bottle into a plastic cup. LOL I was pretty desparate!!!
Sunday morning dawned but it didn't feel as cold as they said, so I just put on an extra fleece and headed to the festival grounds. It was cold but NOT WINDY. Yea!!!! The show opened at 10am and over the next 8 hours I only sold a couple hundred dollars of soap...BUT I was so happy to have made expenses and a little profit after such a disappointing weekend.
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