theboondork's RV blog

I met a knight today

4/1/2017

Boondocking at the city of rock state Park

An encampment of the Society for the Creative Anachronism

I had a fun day today. I was walking around the campground and when I got to the group camping area, which is normally empty, it was full of people and tents and it was apparent that some kind of activities were going on.

The first thing that caught my eye was that people were dressed funny, and since I have a tendency to dress funny myself I walked up and asked them what was going on.

I was told that this was a gathering of the SCA, which stands for, The Society for Creative Anachronism. That didn't ring a bell for me but I had a clue because they were all dressed up like people from the Middle Ages. My first thought was this was a kind of Renaissance fair until they told me what the difference was. Apparently a Renaissance fair is put on to entertain other people. But this group does this for their own enjoyment.

Fortunately for me my clothes are so old that they can easily pass for medieval clothing and I'm often mistaken for someone that barely survived the plague, so I fit right in.

As it turned out they were some really great folks. There were families here with everyone dressed in costume, and some even living in tents that looked medieval. I got there just in time to watch their battles in the rocks with all kinds of medieval weaponry made harmless so they could fight without killing each other.

Since I've spent the last 10 or so days mostly taking pictures of brown rocks, it was really fun taking pictures of colorful people enjoying their hobby with their families. And yes it is a strange kind of hobby, and they all admitted that they were just grown-ups playing games and having fun just like they did when they were kids, and I can relate to that. I wish I had a dollar for every sword fight I was involved in when I was 10 years old.

So I had a great time hanging around with them for a few hours this morning. Everybody I talked to were very nice folks and happy to have me taking pictures of them doing something they love. After all who wouldn't want to dress up in a suit of armor and sword fight with your friends.

I didn't forget about making a video of the City of Rocks I just didn't have the time to do it today, but hopefully I can get it done tomorrow.

theboondork

knights boondocking at city of rocks state Park New Mexico

Some of the knights discussing battle plans

SCAGroup boondocking at the city of rocks New Mexico

The king of one group lays out a plan of action

Group of knights at the city of rocks New Mexico

The king of the opposing group explains the battle plan

Girl boondocking at the city of rocks state Park

A fair maiden

Boondocking knights do battle at city of rock state Park New Mexico

Attacking the Castle gate

Battle weary knight

Berber warrior city of rocks state Park boondocking

A Berber warrior

Boondocking knights at the city of rocks state Park New Mexico

Where would a brave knight be without his trusty go Pro camera ?

4 Comments

darrell

4/1/2017 06:52:41 pm

Great pictures. You were in the right place at the right time.

theboondork

4/1/2017 09:42:01 pm

Great to hear from you Darrell. That just goes along with my philosophy of, I'd rather be lucky than good. I wish picture taking opportunities like that came along more often, maybe then I could call my full timing life an adventure like other bloggers do.

But come to think of it, Maybe I should go places where there's more picture taking opportunities than doing what I'm doing now which is just go someplace and hope there's something to take a picture of. I'm gonna have to give that idea some thought.

Tom

4/2/2017 03:00:09 pm

I traveled a little faster than you. I liked to move campgrounds about every 3 to 4 days. Always in search of something new to see. Be safe, have fun.

4/2/2017 04:15:23 pm

That's one of the best things about full timing, you get to do it your way. My limited budget keeps me from paying very many RV Park daily rates, which means I usually have to stay a week or a month to get the cheaper rates.

But fortunately my skinny wallet and my preferences in where to stay happen to work well together. Because I had rather boondock than stay in any commercial RV Park.

It seems to me that some full timers that stay in commercial RV parks do so because of the social atmosphere of the park and love to gather at the clubhouse and talk to 27 other people. For me I think I'd rather be water boarded.

I think moving every two weeks or so is about right for me. Of course I don't get as much change of scenery as you do, but I think it gives me more of a feeling of having a home, instead of just being on the road. I was lucky enough in my life to get to travel a great deal. So I don't have as much of a desire to GO some place as I do to BE someplace. But that desire goes away after about a month and I feel a need to move on.

Always great to hear from you Darrell, hope to see you on the road someday soon.

Tom

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I met a knight today

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