I arrived at my hotel room in Gilroy a few minutes ago. They were out of regular rooms, so they upgraded me to a suite for the same price. I am a little too wound up to sleep, so I decided to do a quick blog entry.

Today turned out to be a great day at the faire. I left very early, as I was not sure whether or not the 5 freeway would be closed due to the Pyramid lake fire. I needn't have worried - the freeway was clear the whole way. Because of that, however, I arrived very, very early.

I didn't mind, as it gave me time to wander around, talk to people, take pictures and so on. I had about an hour and a half to kill, but it seemed to go past in seconds.

The opening show was great, as always. Afterwards, at Molly's (the entertainment directors) request, I took group photos of the fools and jestors. Afterwards, I took my time about getting into the faire, as I was enjoying taking pictures of lots of different people and costumes.  There was quite a large crowd going into the faire with lots to see.

I wandered over to the food courts and ran into my dear friend Kelly. She works the archery booth, and is a belly dancer for Oojam. We talked, I took some pictures, and managed to ask one of her friends up on the rocking horses. The friend agreed and we had a fun time.

Once I was done there, I ran across a friend from last weekend - Annabelle. She's a very nice lady who absolutely loves to get her picture taken. She and her husband spent the whole day at the faire, and whenever she saw  me she'd run over and demand pictures. I don't mind at all, as it's all good, clean fun.

I wandered around the faire, watching a few shows, and wound up at the court. As usual, there was plenty to photograph there. I love photographing the nobility in their costumes.

I had previously asked the queen herself if she'd like to get up on the rocking horses with me, and she agreed! So we met at 1:15pm in the middle of the food court. The queen gave me a special surprise, a limited favor just for me, which she pinned on my vest. I'll wear that with pride to every faire from now on.

Then it was time for the horse ride. I got on first, and the queen got on in front of me. Because of the large dress, she had to sit on the horse side-saddle. I must say, that was one of the most fun horse rides that I have had yet. The queen is quite a lady.

I glowed for the rest of the day. Imagine, the queen of the faire giving me a special token and riding on the horse with me! This queen is one classy lady.

I caught another show until 2pm, when it was time to see my friend Kelly dance. She performed using veils, which is one of my favorite dances to photograph. I love catching the veils flowing through the air as she spins around and around.

Later, I met my friend Jessica (one of the noble ladies) and we got up on the horse together. She had to sit side-saddle as well due to her long dress. We were interupted by her husband, who made a big show about us being on the horse together. Of course, it was all in fun.

I'd never riden the swings before, so Jessica, another noble lady (I am so bad with names) and I shared the swing together. Actually, I found the swing very relaxing, except with the two ladies screamed at the top of their lungs.

The last call show, which began at 5:30pm, was wonderful. This consisted of several dozen performers sitting around in a half circle, singing and dancing.

Okay, I have to get some sleep now. More on my adventures at the faire later.