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This is me, not writing a full recap of Artscape. And having to backdate it too, because I posted the rest of the photos yesterday, assuming I'd get to the recap yesterday too. Sigh.

Georg was on a business trip and had to fly up to Baltimore seperately, so Lisa and I drove up in UMJ on Friday morning. Lisa had packed an awesome picnic lunch, which we ate at a nice little rest stop in northern Virginia. Traffic was easy and we got to Pru's place in Columbia around 3.

Possibly the funniest thing that happened all weekend was on the drive up, when a truck driver spotted Lisa, smiled and waved, then held up a neatly hand-lettered sign which said "FLASH ME." I missed the sign but saw Lisa give the guy the two-handed middle finger. Which made him smile almost as much as if we had flashed him. (Which we did not, not being co-eds who can't tell the difference between a trucker and a Wild On cameraman.) Apparently all he wanted was attention of one kind or another, so getting flipped off was just as good as seeing our boobs.

There's been some talk that Artscape's management isn't as supportive of art cars as they used to be. I don't know the inside story, but it is true that they had no funding for stipends this year, and attendance was only 1/3 of what it was in 2002 (my first year there). I was really disappointed that more cars weren't there, especially since it was Lisa's first art car event. The money isn't much of an issue to me, since we always stay with Pru. But I know that not getting a stipend anymore was a problem for a lot of people.

Still we had a good time. I have to say, an experienced and level-headed team made all the difference. It was so great to know that when problems occurred, everyone would help with fixing it, & if I was driving, they could do it without me :)

For instance, I had plugged the bubble machine and the computer into the cigarette lighter. During the caravan -- the drive from the AVAM, through downtown Baltimore, to the staging area at Artscape -- the fan in the inverter kicked on, which overloaded the car's electrical system and blew a fuse. From my place in the driver's seat, all I could tell was that we were suddenly not drawing any power. The laptop had battery power of course, but the bubble machine was dead as a doorknob. There was no way I could have done anything while I was driving, but Lisa and Alix figured out that we had blown a fuse, got the extra charger out of the trunk, and got the bubble machine running again. All while we were still driving! By the time we pulled into the staging area everything was a-ok. (My only contribution to the effort was having had the foresight to put the chargers way at the back of the trunk, where they could be reached from inside the car by pulling the seat down.)

The place they had us park at Artscape was unfortunately really near the "DJ Culture Stage," which provided extremely loud DJ sets and painfully loud, painfully bad hip-hop sets. The hip-hop was actually so bad it was funny. Fortunately it didn't last too long, and we were able to have a conversation when it ended. Pru had made us a great picnic, which we set up in the shade near the cars. Tim McNally of the Plaid Car joined us for most of the afternoon, and it was really cool to get to know him. We also chatted briefly with several of the other drivers.

The only really bad part was when we tried to leave. We were completely trapped! The way we had come in was blocked with other cars double-parking the art cars, and in the other direction there was a big crowd around the stage. We took a walk, hoping the crowd would die down, but when we got back it was even worse. Then we enlisted the help of a security guy, but all he could say was "sorry, you're stuck." One of the other art car folks helped us get people out of the way so we could turn the car around. Luckily right then the DJ on stage invited the crowd to come closer, giving us enough room to get up on the sidewalk and out to an open road. It was a little scary for a while there!

Sunday was a day of rest, including a swim in Pru's neighbor John's pool. I hadn't been swimming in I don't know how many years, and it was so cool on Sunday that we thought we weren't going to get the chance. But the sun finally came out in late afternoon so we headed to the pool. I have to say, swimming is fun! I wish I could do it more often, but the only pool I have access to is at the Duke gym. I'm not ready to wear a swim suit in front of all those perky little students. At least now I'll have a suit to wear when we're at a hotel with a pool.

On Monday we headed home, with a stop at Ikea. Georg had never been before so we had a great time walking around and looking at all the showroom displays. My only disappointment was that I really wanted him to see the bedroom displays, which have some interesting storage and lighting ideas. But they were working on the bedroom area so all the displays were broken down that day. Darn!

We still had fun, especially in the marketplace section. Lisa found some great textiles for 9 Westy, while Georg and I mostly window shopped. (We didn't want to impulse buy because we didn't have a list, and we were also worried about fitting everything into the car with all our luggage.) We did get a small rug for the bedroom and a pack of paper napkins. Also I bought small gifts for two little girls I know, and that was it! First time I've ever gotten out of that store without spending a fortune.

We didn't quite make it back in time before St. Francis closed, but they kindly let us come late and pick up the dogs. Who were beside themselves with happiness to be home, as they always are. And that's the trip!