Good gods, I don't know where to start. We drove all night on Wed. the 11th and arrived in Coventry at 4am. We got parked in a "holding area," assured that we would be let in (in the order that we arrived) before all the people from the highway the next day.
"Holding Area" pics:
(Note the MOONINITE in the window of our neighbors' car...)
(We caught this tent moving down the road "all by itself"... I believe it ate two very giggly, tripped-out girls...)
Once the doors opened in the morning, there was a mad rush for the gate, and all order was lost... Instead of an orderly procession, there was a 4 hour wait for us to get in... So it took us 12 hours to get into the campgrounds. Just before we made it out of the holding area, the heavens above broke loose with a monsoon that lasted the rest of the day Thursday and most of the day Friday. When we got to the security checkpoint, they checked our tickets, gave us some swag and asked us: "Nothing more than a pound of pot? No vending? No weapons, etc?" We responded all to the negative, of course... Unfortunately, the first thing she saw when she opened our trunk was my hanger full of about 50-100 hemp necklaces that I've been working on for about 3 years now... She took them all. "I thought you guys said you had no vending???" I asked if I could pick them up on my way out... but she said they went to production... but I could "Write a letter to Phish" and see if I could get them back. Yeah right. Thanks a lot. b***h.
So, I entered the concert wiped-out tired, wet from the pouring rain, and in tears from my lost necklaces. We sat in what seemed like rediculously long traffic on the airfield, and then as we approached where we'd be camping, they started ushering cars out onto a TERRIBLY wet grassy field... the 3 cars in front of us immediately got stuck. We refused to go that way and parked near the road a little farther down (thank goodness). Soon thereafter they started dragging cars ONE BY ONE by tractor into the middle of that field... Needless to say, it didn't remain a GRASSY field for long... Thus the start of the MUD.
We set up our tent in the pouring rain (it remained remarkably dry through all the rain and for the rest of the weekend!), and ate some dinner in the car (thank goodness for Rory's foresight and his AMAZING burrito-wraps!). Then we dragged all of our bedding over to the tent once the rain let up for just a moment, and we passed out listening to the live broadcast of Phish at the Camden show on 92.1 "The Bunny" -- the official Coventry radio station.
(Home sweet home...)
Friday we basically just spent the whole day walking around checking stuff out and trying to stay dry. The mud was a PROBLEM by Friday. You couldn't even walk around in "the Commons" where the General Store and the "House of Live Phish" (The place where you can make a free CD from archived recordings of the band) were without walking in mud up to your knees... NOT EXAGGERATING. Luckily there was this deep (mostly clean) puddle on the way back to our tent that we could clean off the bulk of the mud in as we headed back for the night... But not all of it... Especially on Friday...
There was even a couple of people who were camped out just after the pavement ended as the mud road led up to our campsites in "Mudville" who had dubbed themselves the "Mudville Welcome Center"... They gave us free snacks because we lived in the mud. Heh heh.
(My feet at a "clean" moment.)
Saturday... Phish arrives at Coventry... Amazing turnaround in the weather. Apparently the sun only comes out for Phish. When we woke up we heard the terrible news that the weather and the mud had just been so bad that they had NOWHERE left to put people, so they were turning away all cars, even those with ticket-holders inside... Horrible. There really wasn't anywhere to put them... Later we heard that there was a mass-migration to the concertgrounds by thousands of people who had left their cars by the side of the highways and caught rides/hiked in. Insane. We thought we had it bad in "Mudville..." but at least we were in!
For the rest of the morning we walked around and there was SO much going on! There is always an amazing visual element around at a Phish festival... last year it was Sunk City, this year we had people wandering about on the tarmac AND in the concert grounds on the "Back Forty"... The first thing we saw was a Mammoth and some cave people wandering about (later on, the mammoth actually opened up to reveal the "Mammoth Store"--selling chips and people in bowler hats and all inside... strange and wonderful.)
There was also a yellow chick that was driving around and would periodically spurt a cloud of yellow feathers out of its top! I grabbed one and wore it in my hair the rest of the night. Following the chicky, there was a port-o-potty hotrod. Now THAT'S symbolic of the weekend... Apparently when it opened up (Rory saw, I did not) there was a disco ball hovering over where the seat was. heh heh.
We headed back to our tent for some "quality time" with our neighbors, who were all very cool. We hung out a bunch on Friday and every day following, really.
Then, we joined the procession of kids who had just WALKED in after leaving their cars 12 miles away on the highway... And we headed for the concert grounds. Just as you entered, you could see the ferris wheel and the "upside down tree forest." You could also see the hot-air balloons trying to inflate and get up in the air...
We wandered down towards the stage (set up at the bottom of a hill... Fantastic for audience seating/sightlines!) and settled in for the first set.
Phish rocked, as expected, of course. They played YEM and gave away their trampolines! (Pics on the Phish website... but I'm only posting my BEST personal pics here, otherwise it would take all DAY to post/load the concert-y goodness!)
After the first set (possibly the best of the weekend), we headed up to find some food as the sun set... We saw an INCREDIBLE performance art piece that started with a giant skeleton puppet riding a horse, holding signs that say "FREEDOOM" and "DEMOCRAZY" and followed by a giant "Mother Earth" who contained a troupe of expressive dancers... All accompanied by booming bass drums and harsh horns... Incredible. It was a political statement and ended with something to the effect of:
"OUT of Iraq!
OUT of Iran!
OUT of Palestine!
OUT of Kuwait!
OUT of Afghanistan!
OUT of Vermont!
OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE!"
It was also terribly creepy and effective with the blood red sunset. Awesome.
We stopped to check out the upside down trees, rock stacking playground -- much like at IT -- the nesting barns, and some of the other art installations at the "Back Forty" and then headed down for the second and third sets of the night... Dancing and walking around in the sun all day TAKES IT OUT OF YOU!
Upside-down trees:
Me in the rock garden:
Sunday was just as nice as Saturday. Lovely warm sunny day, lots of walking about... WONDERFUL spot we found to watch the show... It was so close and so good that we stayed all three sets. The pics don't do it justice... But, unlike last year's pics.. you can SEE THE BAND!
The first set was AWESOME. ROCKED out, they did. The 2nd set on Sunday was incredibly emotional, started when Page began to sing "Wading In The Velvet Sea" and broke out in tears 3 times while trying to sing before giving up and playing an emotionally charged, moving solo on his piano... Trey also had to hold back tears, and then gave up and bawled as he announced that they were having a hard time and were going to "let off some steam" with the next song... Man, that was some set. The 3rd set was all too short for the end of Phish... They closed with "The Curtain" which Trey had written back in '86 or so while he and Marley (his dog) were basically living as hermits and writing music in the next town over... Full circle.
So long, boys. Thanks for all the Phish.
Sunday night we packed up (at my insistence) and we jumped in line to get out of there and head home around 3am... Didn't move an INCH for 5 hours. I got out to go to the bathroom and try to get someone at the Red Cross tent to look at my left big-toe that I smashed on a pallet in the mud on Saturday morning (By Monday morning, it was bleeding, oozing, and looking generally disagreeable...). I turned around at one point and realized that all the cars were gone from the line and heading out the back gate (right by our tentsite) that they had refused to open the night before!!!! GAH! So I gave up on the Red Cross, and ran to find poor Rory who had made it all the way to the gate and was waiting for me to get back to the car...
We still made it all the way home to Colchester before noon on Monday... There were still people stuck at the campgrounds until Mid-day Wednesday. Lucky again. So much good fortune, so much back luck... Such an experience.
Our car and muddy feet after our arrival at home:
Rory's muddy sandals, footprint, and wash-water:
To make the rest of this entry a TAD shorter... Monday I visited with my mom and rested up (and took care of my toe... Which was starting to look NASTY). Tuesday, we woke up and went to Isle La Motte. Thank the gods for a TINY "real" vacation. 5 hours, however, is not enough time to spend in your favorite place on earth... Even if the water is chilly...
I also finally got to see my Uncle Ken and my cousins Abby and Maddie for the first time in about 4 or 5 years! I LOVE THESE GIRLS!!! Maddie, the older sister, is JUST like me, in that she's a TOTAL tomboy. Abby, the younger sister, is JUST like me, in that she's a TOTAL girly-girl. I love it. They're total polar opposites. Smush them together and you'd get a "me" (I told them that, they loved it.) So they kept me busy all afternoon. I ditched Rory (who was happy to get some relaxation time...) and we PLAYED all over our end of the island. So fun. *Sigh*
Pics:
Mom & Uncle Ken with the tree Uncle Ken pruned... hahah! Mom's going back this December for the top... Apparently, it's this year's Christmas tree!:
Tuesday night we went back home for dinner and then I (*FINALLY!*) got to meet up with my JAMIEN and her man downtown for some drinks and alltogether not enough visiting and conversation... It never feels like I've spent a moment away from that girl... And I did get her word that she'll be coming down soon... Like, weekend after Labor Day soon... So YEAH!!!! (MAYBE, if I can get Shannon and the rest of cast to agree to let me play Mags that weekend... I won't cut my hair all off JUST yet... Just a trim...)
Wednesday afternoon we caught lunch with my suitemate from Freshman/Sophomore years at UVM, Christina Lurvey... Good times. She works at a dentist office in Williston now and splits her time living in Burlington and Rutland Town.
Then, with a TERRIBLY heavy heart, we took off for Delaware after dinner on Wed. night... Got home around 3am and passed out, feels like until Friday... lol.
So, anyway, that's my long story. I'm at work again. Took me about an hour to write that... *Sigh*
I miss Vermont.
Good to be home though.
Love, Steph
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