Bumbershoot 2013

Some day I'll figure out how/why that is a synonym for umbrella . . .

but in the meantime I'll continue to enjoy it as the biggest, multi genre fest in the great Northleft (look at a map and think about it).

My friend D drove up from the land of hipsters to attend with 25 and I. We hung out at the house Friday night and created an attack plan for the next day.

Over the course of the weekend we saw:
ZZ Ward
Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience
Heart
Tegan and Sara
fun.
Vintage Trouble
Ra Ra Riot
Death Cab for Cutie
The Maldives
MGMT
The Sheepdogs

plus we heard part of:
Ayron Jones & the Way
alt-J
Cascadia '10

It was a fantastic weekend. The weather cooperated.  We walked to and from Bumbershoot from 25's apartment. He's not there much these days so we got a lot of use in with the three of us staying there. It was very nice not to have to pay for parking or mess with looking for a lot. We probably put in a couple of miles per day walking.

Last year, D had gold status for Starbucks. They are a major sponsor and have an area to get freebies and free drinks.  As I recall, the lines weren't bad last year and we had a few coffees.  This year we almost always had to wait to get in, and the lines for coffee fluctuated from almost non-existent to stupid long. I have a gold card so we had use of that special area. In the gold area there was instant coffee, tea, bottles of coffee + milk (caramel, vanilla or low fat). In the general area there were espresso machines running.  Both sections had changing areas and I think the plugs were full every time we were in there. In the gold section on day one they would open a bottle of the cold coffee you preferred and pour a 12 oz cup full, then hand you the rest of the bottle.  There were also individual packets of their instant coffees to take.  By day two they would pour you a cup but wouldn't hand you the bottle. By day three, all the instant packets were behind the counter. We reckon between the free instant stuff and the drinks we had, we had about $50 in goods.

Sunday was absolutely packed.  I noticed last year that the crowd seemed young and this year younger.  Maybe that's more indicative of the fact that I'm getting old, but I stand by it. The crowds Saturday for Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience and Heart back to back was definitely a little older and mellower than the show with Tegan and Sara & fun.. The line for the main stage wrapped through the grounds form over a quarter mile.  It only took 20 minutes to get in to the Key Area but they've got to work on that for next year.  I don't remember the lines being as long when the main stage was in Memorial Stadium.

All in all, lots of great people watching, excellent company, fantastic music.  Tickets that would have been 182 dollar plus tax if I bought the at the door were only $75 when I bought them presale months in advance. Only one trip to and from Seattle, low gas use and no parking to pay for. We took snacks to reduce the amount we spent on food.  Free Starbucks helped too.

It'll be interesting to see if 25 and I are back there again next year.

Camp Out!

For the first time in years I went camping.  As tempting as it is to count a lot of the cheap hostels as camping, though they included a mosquito net, not a tent.

It was a beautiful weekend here in the Pacific Northwest.  The kind that we don't usually get until late July. It was high seventies, low eighties (roughly 23-25 celsius). Most of the campgrounds in Western Washington don't even open until the beginning of May so this is still early season. Since we (we being 25 and I) only had the weekend, we had to find somewhere close.  I stumbled upon a book, the antiquated thing with paper pages, that outlined campground in Washington and within selected Scenic Beach State Park and campground near Silverdale on Hood Canal with views of the Olympic mountains. What a location and less than a two hour drive.

25 hadn't been camping in a year, and we'd not been camping together yet. We both, wisely it turns out, decided to view this trip as a trial.  We were close enough that if we forgot anything really important we could go pick it up but otherwise we'd make a list of things that would be good to bring out the next time.  Only about a dozen items to pick up for next time and nothing that was a showstopper. Lots of things that you have to go camping agin to remember, like a tablecloth, long matches, extra firestarters, and the like. I also was reminded of why you don't just pack flashlights and lanterns, but test them before hand but actually turning them on.  I ended up with a dead headlamp, two dead lanterns, one of which was corroded so badly it was pitched, along with a broken camp chair.  Extra batteries are also on the list.

The highlight of the trip, other than the sun, was when a sea otter ran out of his den, down a felled tree and hopped in the water. The sizeable raccon was a close second.  We also saw some starfish, a couple of cranes (one flew over my house when we arrived back) rounded out the pack. The company was stellar, never boring or frustrated, even when I won at cribbage - which never happens. We listened to the Mariners game on Sunday, we walked by the water looking for crabs and critters, enjoyed roasting marshmallows and reading by the fire until there wasn't enough light left. Aside from the lumpy night's sleep (next time the air mattress is coming along.  We are car camping after all, no need to rely only on a little roll pad), it was a fantastic weekend.

We are already planning for another weekend trip in June, a two nighter if we can manage with work and all. The hope is that the weather will be just as good, though, as Seattlites, we won't expect that and we'll go either way.