Tag: Anti Tour
Fest Recap
Wakarusa, in Ozark, Arkansas, is a wonderful festival. It was the first of this summer, and the best so far. The venue is a great mix of open field and sparse forest. Waka also had a great mix of large and small stages, so if you felt like dancing or felt like sitting, there was always a place for you to go. But what made Wakarusa such an incredible festival for us was the people who attended. There was such a sense of camaraderie among the festival goers, it was hard not to love it. The easiest way I can explain it is that everyone there was already friends with everyone else, they just hadn’t met everyone yet.
Bonnaroo was Bonnaroo. That is, big and obnoxious. The crowd is very different there, but the people we worked with were great, and helped me make it through that festival without losing it. Bonnaroo does have spectacle though. During the Primus show, though I think it was actually for the end of My Morning Jacket’s set at the main stage, a group of skydivers descended on the crowd, dropping glitter and tiny LED helicopters in their wake. Easily one of the more amazing things I’ve ever seen.
We spent some time in Memphis and Chicago, which were both great cities where we met great people, but the next destination was Electric Forest. The crowd at the forest was a little closer to Wakarusa, but not quite right. We had fantastic neighbors for Electric Forest, who made the whole experience that much better. The heart of the forest is an actual forest (since we still camp in fields) with lights, art, interactive installations and a music stage. No pictures I can take can do it justice, but they’re worth seeking out.
Onward to Grey Fox and Tweed River.
Chicago, USA
Traveling in the Kia works. It’s certainly a very different trip than we would have had with Anne Marie, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It is an expensive thing though, and even though we’ve never paid for lodging, costs stack up.
Wakarusa was wonderful. Everyone enjoyed their time there. It was hot, and humid, but it was excellent. Bonnaroo was hot, and dusty, and less excellent. There was very little about Bonnaroo that I enjoyed. The sole redeeming aspect of Bonnaroo was the group of people we worked with. They were fun, and made the festival enjoyable.
We’ve been in Chicago for about a week now, after a brief stay in Memphis. We’re moving on to Electric Forest this week – our last festival before returning for a pit stop in CT. People have been nothing but good to us this whole trip, but I don’t feel any sense of serendipity. I don’t know how to explain that further, but it’s something I’ve been missing on this trip. It makes it feel less like an adventure and more like a vacation.
Electric Forest should be a nice break. It looks like it will be a smaller festival with cooler weather, and plenty of trees. I’m looking forward to it, but I’m honestly looking forward to being back in Middletown more.
Failure
Maybe I should rename this summer the “Anti-Tour.” If there was an accurate antonym for serendipity, this trip would be it. We’ve scrapped any plans involving the bus as it has become clear that there is no way that we’re going to make any destinations with our unreliable refinery. We’re going to take Nishi’s car which is good on gas, but small and not fun. There isn’t anything remotely adventurous about this summer, it’s just a long vacation.
Us vs The World
We’re still in Middletown. How about that? We’ve had set back after set back with the veggie system, we’ve been plagued by depressing weather, and on our way to see our guru we get stuck in mud. The photo above was taken after the tow truck showed up and pulled us out. In two weeks we need to be in Arkansas for the first of our festivals. It will happen, but how exactly is still very much up in the air. I’ve decided to call this summer Us vs. The World.
The universe may be trying to tell us something, but we’re not listening.
False Start the Billionth
Anyone who has ridden on the bus, heard about the bus, or even seen the bus, knows that reliability is not its strong point. Though to be fair, in this case it may be designer error. We’re having problems with the veggie system. After installing a new pump, we found that it couldn’t make enough pressure to push veggie through the filters. We installed a backup pump, and had a similar problem. We were looking in the wrong place, and have since narrowed the problem down to the filters. Something about the filters isn’t allowing veggie to flow freely through. We’re going to cannibalize the filters from Mike’s bus, and see if that can get us on the road.
Liftoff
The plan is we leave tomorrow morning. We’ve been working nonstop for a week, and we’re both exhausted. I’m nervous. I’m worried something will go wrong with the pump, I’m worried we won’t be able to get veggie, I’m worried the bus will experience more serious mechanical problems. I was this same way before we left the first time. It took me about a month to really chill out about it all, and just let it wash over me.
I drove the bus up to Middletown from Niantic, a forty-five minute or so drive, and it really made me feel good. There is something incredibly relaxing about driving the bus. I think it’s due to the governor on the engine, which keeps it from exceeding 65 mph. Knowing that it’s not possible to go faster than that, and letting cars continually pass me feels good. I know that’s I’m going as fast as I possibly can, and it doesn’t matter if it’s slower than everyone else.
I hope I can get into the swing of things faster this time around.
Festivals
We’ve secured our spots volunteering at Electric Forest, which is July fourth weekend. Looks like it will be cool. Our route will take us in a complete circle, down the East Coast, into the heartland, then up towards the Great Lakes and finally back East. Now to just get the house, and the bus, ready.
Summer Trips
I guess I spoke too soon. We got word last night that our first stop is going to be cancelled due to floods. Apparently the county it’s in has been declared a disaster zone, so that’s a bummer. It’s certainly the festival we were looking forward to most, but it might turn out to be ok that it was cancelled. We knew it was either going to be awesome or horrible, and it seems like it may have turned out to be closer to the latter. Putting aside the weather in the midwest, it turns out only 21 people had bought tickets by the time the show had been cancelled. I guess most people were getting in for free as artists or performers (like us). We’re rerouting our summer plans now. I need to figure out what to call this summer.
Chris at 7:21pm is riding across the country this summer, and blogging it. I’m going to do my best to follow his progress over the summer, and highly recommend tuning in.