Day 2-MPP

I had the good fortune of meeting many of the lads from MPP in May when I spent a day with Allard and Gill.  When the IPP invitation was sent out and I saw to contact Nigel for the invitation to MPP a week before the main event, I shot off an email right away and said I would join in the fun.

This MPP wasn't just for folks from the Midlands though.  As it turned out, there were boys from all over the world who showed up for this event.

The day started out with a nice breakfast at the B&B that we were all staying at followed by a drive to Allards and then a convoy over to the venue of the MPP.  We arrived and I pulled a few toys out of the boot of the car to bring in and off we headed for the GAP center.

We all congregated in the lobby area for a bit of puzzling and some early morning coffee, then the fun began!

After an hour or so, we moved into a big room and everyone set up tables of the toys they brought along.  There was lots of puzzling and lots more boys to talk to.  There were even a few tables with puzzles for sale. This bit surprised me.  I guess I knew of it from Allard and Kevin's blogs, but that hadn't sunk in my simple brain.  

I wandered around and took a few photos before settling down to attempt some solving.  As usual, I was rubbish at it, but hey, a girl has to try.  

One of the highlights of this puzzle party for me was to finally meet the infamous Kevin.  What a treat that was for me!  

Brian Young handed out some MPP souvenir puzzles that were quickly put together by one and all.  Even Sue got into some puzzling.  

I got to see Burgo's puzzle kit and some very large puzzles made by Steve and the new 3x3x3.  

 

I didn't manage to stay very long.  By 3 pm the jet lag set in and I was done for!  I headed back to the B&B for a nap before the BBQ at Allard's that night.  After getting lost, we finally got back and I was out in minutes.  Funny thing happened while I was sleeping. Brian's puzzle unsolved itself.  I must ross and turn a lot more than I thought.

At 6 my alarm went off and we headed over to the Walker's for a bit of burnt meat.  As last time I had the pleasure of joining them, the food was fantastic, the host and hostess even better.  (Photos have been shamelessly stolen from Ois' facebook page-I was so busy having fun I forgot to take photos!)

There was a lot of chatting and a lot of puzzling going on.  As usual, I handed out my Berrocals for people to play with. In this instance it was Louis Puzzleman-A real giant that I enjoyed torturing with those tiny pieces.  :)  

Around 9:30 I said my goodbyes to Allard and Gill.  No Gill, I really wasn't sick.  I was just struck down by jetlag and needed time to sleep.  There was still 9 days of puzzling ahead of me.  One early night wouldn't hurt would it????

Next up:  A top secret puzzle hunt.