In 1999 I had already moved to California and was experiencing my first serious case of "faire withdrawals". Jon and I had discussed attending the Texas Renaissance Festival (TRF) a couple of times in the past and decided this this would be the year we would. Mark joined us on our mini-vacation. Jon knew a Texas rennie, Rhonda, from one of his online writing groups and arranged for us to meet up with her when we arrived.

It is no secret that I have always had a crush on Jon and I was not too pleased that another woman would be included in our group. Upon meeting Rhonda I discovered how wonderful she is and quickly got over my "attitude". She and I became great friends over the weekend.

TRF is a HUGE faire. While Rhonda was an awesome tour guide, there is just no way to see this entire faire and all of it's entertainers in one weekend. We did find a couple of new groups that we really enjoyed while having drinks at The Sea Devil Pub ... Wild & Thorny and The Corsairs. We also got to see The Rogues, some of our favorite performers from MDRF. I was completely enchanted by the little ivy chapel at this faire. And the gardens were incredible.

Rhonda was an excellent tour guide of the shops as well. I purchase a new bodice (my first Pendragon), a cavalier hat, a new wooden goblet and several other assorted goodies.

TRF ends each faire day with a fireworks display (weather permitting). The four of us laid on the ground and watched the show. When it was over we stumbled through the dark site to return to our host booth (The Rose & Crown) to retrieve our belongs. Along the way we found a shop that had these amazing hand carved beds. We all piled onto one of them and the shop keepe was kind enough to take some photographs of us.

Rhonda also introduced us to many of the locals ... RennGeek, The Commander, and Paladin just to name a few. We were well taken care of and all had a fantastic time. So much so that we decided on our way back to the airport that we should definitely return the next year.

Deb at the hotel in a new Pendragon bodice	Rhonda, Jon & Debbi	Deb & The Commander
Paladin & Deb	Jon, Debbi & Mark	Debbi & Mark
The four of us in the Chapel	Rhonda, Mark & Debbi	Jon & Rhonda
Rhonda & Debbi	Deb's new hat	The Chapel
The Corsairs	Wild & Thorny	The Bed