This weekend my plan was to go to the Colorado Renaissance Festival in Larkspur, Colorado. This is much too long of a trip to drive there and back again in a single weekend, so I booked a flight, a rental car and a hotel room.

The flight was uneventful and arrived only slightly late. The one thing I learned is Colorado International Airport is big, really big. I mean BIG!

I had a 65 mile drive down to Larkspur, so as soon as I left the car rental place I took off south. Colorado has some wacky speed limits, so it took longer than I expected. Believe it or not, I'm one of those annoying people who drives the speed limit.

I arrived well after noon (about an hour and a half later than I expected), but that was fine. Sunday I'll get there before it opens so I can see the opening show.

The parking lot for this faire is huge, as large as the one for the Arizona faire. That huge lot was full, so I had to drive down to the overflow lot. which was almost full. I could see already this was a huge faire.

I parked and walked over to the main gate. I could have taken the shuttle, but the area is beautiful, the air is clear and the exercise would do me good.

As I approached the gate I was happy to learn this is a permanent faire site, much like the Bristol faire. This means the structures are permanent, and this wsa plainly obvious from the main gate/. It's very large and for me it set the stage for this whole faire: grandiouse, well planned and well executed.

I bought my ticket ($17.50) and wandered inside the gate. I noticed right away I was definitely going to get some exercise. This faire is situated on a relatively steep hill, and it wsa very tiring to go up and down those hills a few times.

Today I had a mission. I wanted to get a better costume. Something not too fancy, but nice. I spent a couple of hours looking around, and finally settled on a very nice shirt and vest. I decided to get the pants later, as I wanted to get a belt (which I also purchased) and a pouch for my stuff first.

I also wanted to get a leather mask for use later. I wound up purchasing three masks, actually, including one that looks like a huge black spider has planted itself on my face.

This is very unusual as I almost never buy anything at a faire. Usually I am having too much fun playing and taking pictures to purchase anything at all.

I noticed this is much more of a fantasy faire than Irwindale, and quite a bit of what was for sale was not specific to the Renaissance era.

This is a very different faire from Irwindale or Casa de Fruta, and it compares more with the Bristol or Arizona faire. I only saw two parades, and they were over quickly and no where near the elaborate affairs of the two larger California faires. I also noticed, as with Bristol, a complete lack of guilds, although there was more street acting than most other faires.

I took it a lot easier than I usually do at a faire. I walked slowly, rested often and drank lots of water. I also made it a point to get a massage to help my feet and back.

Sunday I want to see some of the shows, the joust, and play some of the games. I have to leave around 3pm to drive back to the airport, turn in my car and begin the long flight home.