well....we did it again...packed up nearly our entire household (including the latte machine) and headed out to driftwood, texas, camp ben mcculloch and the salt lick pavillion for another great round of musical festivities, pickin' and grinnin' and lots of music appreciation. we had a great time with old friends, new friends, ate good food, and we played our hearts out until we dropped (for me, i speak in a literal fashion).
we pulled into camp ben on wednesday afternoon sometime around 1:30P or so and began unloading gear from within and on top of our jeep (last year we took two vehicles). we began setting up our brand-spankin' new tent and pavillion, found electricity to plug into for our lattes (i know...we're hard core campers, right?), got our camp situated and began celebrating kelli's birthday, our annual starting point that marks the festive happenings.
(here's the view from our campsite:)
once alan and tess creatively engineered their camper and site amid the large, protruding roots, it seems that their site became the "place to be". we brought in kelli's birthday with lots of love, great music, and magical kinship. steve and i met folks we have been hearing about for some time now, and it was good to finally get to know these extended tribal members, and even better to share and play music with so many!
(new friends to share music with:)
bruce and i were the last two folks left at alan and tess's camp and around 4:00 we politely bowed out and away. i met up with bruce on the edge of a parking lot a few minutes later (not even knowing it was him until i got right up to him) and we stood there on the gravel and shared some great tunes. i asked bruce if he'd follow me to the little pavillion and he agreed so we headed for cover, a comfortable seat, and the good acoustics.
(bruce gettin' down on his guitar:)
judy and brother tim joined us and sat and visited and encouraged us to keep playing (which, of course, we never seem to mind doing). we played quite a few songs, and bruce and i finished out with a whopper of a song and that's when he said, "well, i'm done with that one", so i thanked him for accomodating my need to keep playing. the birds were singing and coming to life and i headed down to my camp, where my husband was sleeping like a bear and i enjoyed first light of the new day. peaceful, quiet, with the gentle bubbling of the stream below our campsite. i knew that i should cherish these peaceful moments for in awhile, folks everywhere would be up and about, with many new arrivals and campsites being pitched, and music, oh, sweet music hither and yonder and everywhere i turned and/or spied.
steve woke up nearly crippled from the day before, all the unloading, pitching, staying up late playing music, sleeping so close to the ground (and at OUR age). i too was feeling crippled from lack of sleep, old age and a bad back and the barometric pressure wasn't helping. friends came by our site to visit and they all encouraged me to get some rest for we knew i'd need lots of energy to endure the rest of the fest. it wasn't until around 1 or 2 o'clock that i think i finally laid down and fell soundly, deeply asleep.
when i woke up next it was around 11:30P on thursday night as steve rushed to our campsite (from rick and carolyn's) to secure our belongings as the wind was howling madly, whipping other folk's campsites and belongings. steve, my hero, secured everything outside and came in to tend to the few tent leaks we endured. when i woke up i had a terrible, sore throat and for awhile i was convinced i had come down with strep throat. i hadn't felt that bad in some time. i could barely swallow, felt achy all over, was congested, felt feverish and just icky. bless my steve, as he took over all the responsibilities of seeing to our things, keeping them dry, and rearranging things as needed.
friday morning i woke up with steve just outside the tent visiting with the good jim jones. i had a latte and slowly awoke to a new morning, bright green from the recent rain, and heard the tales of the trials some of our friends survived through the night before. steve and i had already planned to come into austin, check on our home, feed our cats, run by the grocery store for ice, etc. and head back. after a couple of lattes, and a visit from tomas, we did just that.
at home, the cats were fine, the house undisturbed (which was a worry of mine), we brought in the mail, took turns taking showers, i grabbed a box of lozenges, the sudafed and more advil. off we went back to camp ben!
not long after returning to camp it was time to catch the shuttle with my camera gear, and chairs in tow. we stopped by the mercantile booth and purchased our annual t-shirts and poster and a few other little sundries, and headed down to the big stage for the david grisman bluegrass experience. wow! what a show! so much talent packed onto just one stage. we've seen david grisman's quintet the last couple of years at the paramount in austin, and i had never seen his bluegrass experience. being a flute player myself, i immediately missed the flute player from the quintet, though the band kept me fully entertained. somehow i lost track of steve on our way toward the shuttle and began looking for him in the shuttle line, and around the mercantile booth. found him there visiting with lady Z and we said our hello's and goodbye's as we were gettin' chilly and needed to head back to camp for our long sleeves.
(that's it for now as i'm growing weary from all the typing and it's getting later and later. i'll write more and tell you about the rest of the fest later.)
