Camping @ TRF

[KiltedPrivateer]

Sunday's downpour was not for the faint of heart lol.  Campground was flooded in several areas, but there were those that took  advantage of the water and were surfing the gulleys on their air mattresses lol.  It was fun to watch that and cheer them on. 

We spent most of Sunday afternoon at the POW.  The faire actually closed early!  We were bummed about that b/c it had finally started to really clear up around 5:30 and they shut it down at 6:00

No kidding?  Probably due to drowned cast members (Not Literally People).
We swam out of the faire around 2 or 3.  Then packed up some stuff and headed for higher ground (aka - Home).  Came back in on Monday to pack up everything else.  Camp was super soggy on sunday (o:

[Bonny Pearl]

Yep, makes me kind of wonder about that 'Rain or Shine' talk...

*edit this is regarding tickets not cast*

[ravic]

TRF has only been closed ONE complete day in 37 years. That was in 1998 & only because the road was flooded, not the faire. I've actually spent worse days out there. Was working in the Agora once when it filled up to become Lake Agora.

[Bonny Pearl]

I thought it was strange Ravic.  There was a bad weather spell a few years ago that seem worse than what we just experienced.  Closing weekend in '08 I believe.. maybe '07.  It was freezing, raining and they stayed open through to fireworks... 

Lake Agora, lol I like that

[KiltedPrivateer]

I think I recall that weekend.  That may have been the weekend we lost an arbor due to the non stop showers.  Had to go buy new poles as the weight of the canvas holding water had collapsed several of them.

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

07... sleet, rain... temp dropped down to the low 40's/upper 30's.

[Strange]

The back gate office has a poster commemorating the Mini Ice Age of '07.

[FaeHollow]

I'm glad they let us go at 6 but I didn't quite see why they shut everything else down.

[Bonny Pearl]

07... sleet, rain... temp dropped down to the low 40's/upper 30's.

Yep, '07.  It was a day for the die hards lol.

The back gate office has a poster commemorating the Mini Ice Age of '07.

I would love to see that!

I'm glad they let us go at 6 but I didn't quite see why they shut everything else down.

I can see letting y'all clear out, especially those of you that braved the heavy rain.  It was just sort of a bummer that we couldn't do some shopping.  It was perfect for that since it was less crowded.

[ravic]

They have closed early a few other times but it's rare.

[Breandan]

it got shut down by DPS in November of 1998 because of a mandatory evacuation due to flooding. I remember the troopers telling us to pack it up or get hauled off. It sticks in my memory cause that was the day I got married to my first wife out at faire... should've been a hint

I posted a tale about one of the incidents of that day on my FB page

[haleyileaha]

it got shut down by DPS in November of 1998 because of a mandatory evacuation due to flooding. I remember the troopers telling us to pack it up or get hauled off. It sticks in my memory cause that was the day I got married to my first wife out at faire... should've been a hint

I posted a tale about one of the incidents of that day on my FB page

Omg Breandan, I laughed so hard when I read that. I can only imagine how amusing it must have been to witness. 

[Morrigan]

I'm glad they let us go at 6 but I didn't quite see why they shut everything else down.

Well, "dusk" has always been an arbitrary time...  Closing at 6pm, ~15 years ago, was the NORM.  None of the shops had any exterior lighting, and most had no significant interior lighting to speak of, either.  Closing time, depending on how big the crowds were, was typically somewhere between 30-60 minutes before sunset.  By the time it was getting dark, we were closed.

As I recall, the whole phenomenon of the fair staying open later - with the masque and ceilidh (remember those?), the shops getting better lighting, and the fireworks - this was all to help alleviate some of the agony of getting out of the parking lot by slowing down and spreading out the exodus at the end of the day.   I kind of remember some grumbling when the change was made, because it lengthened everybody's day by a couple of hours.   

So the EXACT closing time of the park has ALWAYS been, to some extent, related to how many people were in the park.   So on a day like Sunday, with a total attendance of around 7500 (as opposed to 28K on Saturday), it is not surprising that the park closed at 6pm.   By that time, the vast majority of our patrons had left!

[Breandan]

Haley, read the others, they're worse

Part One
Part Two

More coming as I get time

[azchris]

So exactly how early does one need to arrive on Friday to get a decent spot? We'll be doing the drive from Wichita and its about 9 hours just curious exactly how early of a day its going to be haha.