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The Kentucky Art Car Weekend is all over. Tiredness was catching up with me today, and I didn't talk to as many people or take as many photos as on previous days. But I still had great fun. Steph and Stephanie drove in from Indianapolis, and it was delightful meeting them both. They were great to have along, able to handle themselves and keep up at a rather chaotic event without ever contributing to the stress level. I wish I'd had enough energy to hang out with them after everything was over, but I was so exhausted that they headed out pretty quickly. Lisa went with them to continue her vacation, so I'm on my own tonight.

The schedule at these art car events is typically grueling, and I get through them through "sheer force of will" as Lisa put it. I just kind of mentally prepare myself for three days of constant activity, little sleep, and total lack of control over my environment, with the rare hour of downtime taken up by blog posting and photo processing. During an event I just stay in a mindset of "got to keep moving, got to keep going until after the parade." Luckily most events culminate with the parade, so I can safely crash as soon as it's over.

Webcasting always adds to the stress level -- even if it works perfectly, it's one more thing to deal with. Having Lisa here made everything so much easier and less stressful. She did everything for the cams. All the server side stuff, all the equipment, the connectivity, moving the cams around, everything. It was amazing.

The parade itself was great fun, although the illuminated cruise last night actually more spectators because we drove right past some kind of gallery crawl event. The funniest part was when we pulled into the destination and everyone started getting out of their cars, and suddenly Chris (Heaven & Hell Car) came running down the line telling us all to get back in. Turns out whoever was in the lead had accidently skipped part of the route, including the part where we were supposed to drive past the sponsor! So we headed back out and finished the parade. It was hilarious.

I only had one complaint about the parade. Someone a few cars ahead of us kept throwing colored smoke bombs out of their car. The smoke took several minutes to dissipate, had an acrid smell, and made it kind of hard to breathe if you got caught in a cloud of the stuff. I'm honestly stunned that someone in one of our parades would do that to the rest of us. We're driving around in crazy heat, without a/c because we have to leave the windows open to wave at people. Thank you for forcing us all to breathe that noxious smoke! How clever you are! How daring and transgressive! Do you also ring doorbells and run away?

It wasn't just us: the smoke bombs were thrown at spectators, and worst of all, they threw one right in front of a church where a bunch of people were gathered for a wedding. Thank goodness the bride wasn't standing there, the smoke smell might have gotten into her gown. An event like this depends on the goodwill of the community. Why the hell would someone -- one of us -- try to ruin not just our parade, but a stranger's wedding?

I'm going to write to the parade organizer thanking her for doing such a great job (which she did; Lisa and I were both impressed by how well she kept things moving along) and also mention the smoke bombs. I guess the person who did it thought they were being cool, but that was so not cool. It was the anti-cool.

Now I'm chilling in my monstrous huge hotel room, watching a marathon of America's Next Top Model. (thank you VH1!) I may not even leave the room again until check out time tomorrow. I ate a little bit after the parade, and I have veggies and nice dip here, maybe enough that I won't need to go out and get dinner. I was thinking about going back to Lynn's Paradise Cafe for breakfast in the morning, but that was when I thought the drive would take about nine hours. Now that I know it's closer to 12, I'll probably get on the road as early as possible.

A few tips I learned on this trip, so I won't forget for next time:

• Using a cooler full of ice as a mini-fridge to store snacks works great, but only if you remember to refill the ice every day.
• Bring hair conditioner. This bubble updo uses so much product, it's really hard on my hair.
• Bring a shower cap. If I can prevent my hair from getting wet, the hairstyle lasts for two days.
• Keep a travel sized container of facial cleanser in my bag. At dinner last night, I saw one of the other drivers in the ladies room and she let me use her cold cream to wash my face. The rest of me was still sweaty and gross, but with a clean face I felt a thousand times better.
• Bring cotton socks and my "farmer's friend hand salve." It was so refreshing to slather up my feet, put on the socks and let it sink in overnight.
• Make another outfit that matches the car. And make it a little longer than usual, so I can climb in and out of the car without flashing the world.
• Fix that short foot on the good tripod that Kevin gave me. My other tripod which I've been using doesn't have a detachable pan-tilt head, but Kevin's does, which would make things a lot easier. Also get a tiny level and attach it to the tripod.
• Get a hand cart that's nice enough to bring into a hotel, but sturdy enough to handle my equipment. Dragging my ass down the entire length of a parking garage while carrying a camera bag, computer bag, battery charger and 50 ft extension cord is not an experience I want to repeat.
• Get a short heavy duty extension cord, 8 foot or so.
• Keep hand sanitizer in the car.