We are back in the swing of things and ready to put some miles on our tires.  And that means we’re on the hunt for black gold, a.k.a waste veggie oil. Waking up this morning in the Walmart parking lot in Goodyear, Arizona, I find that we’ve stratigically positioned ourselves right across the street from a Wing Street. We ask permission to pump. After about a half of a tank, the good stuff turned to milk, and it was time to move on. 1 Arby’s, 1 Dairy Queen, and 2 China Buffets later, we pulled into the China Gourmet back parking lot for one more shot. The manager gave us the o.k. We topped off our tank, filled a couple of cubies, and hit the interstate, bound for Florence, Arizona. This is where the Estrella War takes place each year.
Estrella War is a week-long, annual event hosted and run by the Kingdom of Atenveldt, one of 19 Kingdoms (regional chapters) of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), a not-for-profit educational organization that studies western European history by recreating the “best” pastimes and crafts of the Middle Ages.  SCA participants devote their free time to tournaments,  educational collegiums (classes), feasts, revels, the many forms of medieval warfare, and all sorts of arts and sciences dating from pre-1600s western Europe. Currently in its 25th year, the Estrella War brings together participants from SCA chapters around the world to conduct a medieval style two-sided war between SCA Kingdoms.
We arrive at our destination, park the bus, and settle in for the evening. Our press tour of the grounds begins at 9 a.m. sharp, and the staff prefers that we wear medieval garb. We’ll see about that.