Our trip this year started out with a 2 am wake up call Friday morning. By 3 am we were on the road with a 7 hour drive ahead of us. It was a familiar drive but it seems to get just a bit longer each year. Didn’t help that we hit serious fog a few hours in.
We dealt with this for hours. It would clear for a few miles and then we would be back in it. We were just over an hour away from our destination of Seven Springs, PA when it finally cleared for good.
We arrived early this year. Which meant we got to park in the lower lot and avoid the long hoof up the hill to the secondary lots. We parked and organized our lunch. I forgot to bring plates for us to use. It is always something. You would think after going to so many of these events, there is nothing I would not remember.
They weren’t letting anyone in even to walk around until noon so we had an hour to kill. But that was easy enough. Ron found a way around the staff and we wandered around looking at the vendors doing finally prep. We headed back to the main entrance just before 9 am and watched the swarm of people come in.
Once the workshops started, the afternoon went fast. We split up, each heading to our own workshops. There will be a few that we both go to, but we learned long ago that it is better to go our separate ways. Not only do we get a break from each other, but we learn more that way. Friday was a short day, from 12:30 to 6 pm. I went to workshops on salve making, fermenting and backyard foraging. And did some visiting at vendor booths. Ron and I met up after the last workshop and headed back to our hotel. Once again we were staying at the Comfort Inn in Somerset. This year I brought dinner with us. Chicken salad, watermelon, cucumber and beer. Made it so much easier than trying to find a place to eat. Both of us were exhausted so we had an early night.
Next morning Ron realized he forgot to bring underwear. Thank goodness for stores that are open 24 hours. A quick trip and he was set for the rest of our trip. We also picked up a few more snacks. Saturday workshops started at 10 am. Still cannot understand why such a late start to the day. So many people who come to this type of events are early risers. Maybe they are trying to give us all a break? We arrived early enough to once again get into the lower parking lot. This year they were trying something different. Hands on classes. Things like butter churning, making a mead or sourdough starter, fermenting mustard and a kombucha demo. They were hugely popular. But they really need to come up with a better plan. In order to attend the class, you had to pick up a special ticket. This meant waiting in line for over an hour. You can imagine how annoyed some people were. I wanted to get into the lavender sea salt body scrub class and while I waited in line, I missed one of the workshops I had down on my list. That was disappointing. But I had a good time talking with the people in line with me. As I was first in line, I had no trouble getting the ticket I wanted. Have to say the class was worth the wait too. Hoping they will continue with hands on classes next year, but figure out a better way to run them.
Dinner on Saturday was at the Rey Azteca Mexican Restaurant. We make sure we have at least one dinner there every trip. They have great food and we usually run into at least one other couple who is also attending The Fair.
Sunday morning was a bit sad as it was the last day. I had a bit of a scare when I hit the soap dish with my elbow and it fell down and shattered in the tub. We cleared it up as best we could, stopped at front desk to tell them and headed out. We had an early start as there was a mushroom identification session at 8 am. Again we ended being able to park in the lower lot. And even closer to the doors this time. Getting to the fair site early enough really does pay off.
Tradd Cotter, the mycology expert who gave a couple of workshops, had also taken a group out at 7:30 am on Saturday and they collected all the mushrooms they could find. Now he was going to tell them what they all were. I was surprised, but shouldn’t have been at the number of people who showed up. There are so many people interested in mushrooms these days.
The last workshop ended at 4:30 and we headed back to the hotel for one more night there. There was no way we were going to start on a 7 hour drive home at that time of night. We had a meatloaf dinner at a local diner and called it a night. We packed up most of our stuff and settled in to watch the Ken Burns show on the Vietnam War. I didn’t make it through the show and fell asleep pretty quickly.
No need to get up early on Monday but we were still up and about by 5 am. We had a good breakfast, packed up the Transit and set off up the road. Less than a hour into our trip and we hit fog again. Worse than the drive down. Ron was disappointed that so many things were closed on Monday. We couldn’t find a single place to stop. He would have been happy with the largest ball of string or a house with 27 cats in it.
We got home about 4 pm and it was a welcome sight. It had been a long weekend and we were both glad to be home. Of course Ron insisted on the three of us making a trip out to THF. He wanted to check on his shiitakes. It had been a full four days since he was out there last. He was suffering from withdrawal.
I always enjoy going to the Mother Earth News Fair and come home with lots of enthusiasm for finally tackling all those projects I have brewing in the back of my mind. Wonder how long it will last this time?