Sasquatch Music Festival, The Gorge, Washington

We (Steve Day, Steve's roommate Doug Campbell, Doug's wife Ashley, and I) left Lethbridge, Alberta on Friday morning (May 23rd) at about 8am. 

 We drove south to Montana, then west across Montana (through a mountain blizzard!), Idaho and then to Washington. We stopped in Spokane, Washington to buy some food and a few little things we thought of along the way (like a frying pan, rain ponchos and bowls) 

We got to our camp site at The Gorge in Quincy, Washington at about 11pm.

There were hundreds and hundreds of campers. We set up the tents in the dark (not fun) then went right to sleep. 

 The next morning, we cooked some eggs and bacon then left for the concert. It was a 10 minute walk from the camp site. They have a boardwalk/sidewalk set up through the desert connecting the camp ground and the concert site. 

 We had to wait in a VERY long line to get in to the concert. We probably waited for about 2 hours in the line.

 The first day we spent looking around the concert site. We played in the Xbox 360 arcade, the batting and pitching cages, and we got free stuff (beef  jerky, vitamin water, stickers, posters, xbox points, blankets, etc)

At about 4pm we found a spot on the hill to put our blanket down and watch the concert on the main stage. There were 3 stages set up with bands playing at each one from noon - midnight. While we were waiting for one of the bands to play, we got a big surprise... Rainn Wilson (an actor who plays Dwight Shrute on The Office) came on stage to introduce the next band and to entertain us while we were waiting! We were very excited! Steve and I are both huge fans of that show and Dwight is a favourite character! At 8:15, Modest Mouse played (one of my favourite bands) they were really good. Then, at 10pm, R.E.M. played. They were awesome! REM wasn't ever a favourite of mine, but I loved seeing them live! It started to rain at about 9pm and we were all very glad that we had bought rain ponchos. Michael Stipe (lead singer for REM) took his shoes off and performed bare foot because he didn't want to fall on the wet stage. 

 After REM was finished, we walked 10 minutes back to the camp site and went to sleep. The view behind the main stage was amazing! 

 The next morning, we decided to leave an hour earlier so that we could avoid the long line to get in. We avoided most of it, but there was still quite a bit of a line. We went right to the Comedy Tent when we got in. We stayed for 2 shows. We were in the front row! Doug was nervous about being in the front because he didn't want to be forced to participate on stage. lol

 We left the comedy tent and got lunch (Gyros! like donairs, but with Lamb and Tzatziki sauce. really yummy!)

 After lunch, Steve and I went to the front of the crowd so we could be up front for Tegan and Sara (my FAVOURITE band!!) We didn't get to be in the very front, but we were really close. That was the highlight of the trip for me I think. Being so close to my favourite band while they played my favourite songs! :) It was quite an ordeal to get up front though. Steve was leading the way and I was holding his hand tightly so we wouldn't get separated in the crowd. They open a gate after a band plays, in order to let people into the front section for the next band. When the gate opened, people just start pushing like crazy in order to get in. I was being pulled by Steve while being crushed against a fence, the crowd and a security guard who's elbow was in my neck. It was crazy! 

After Tegan and Sara played, we checked out some of the other stages, then found a spot on the hill at the main stage to watch Death Cab for Cutie and The Cure. Both were really great! There was a cute couple sitting in front of us so I took a picture!

On Monday morning, we packed all the camping stuff and left for the concert a bit later than usual (to avoid the line) and went straight to the Xbox 360 arcade room in order to play Rock Band (like Guitar Hero, but with drums, guitar, bass and vocals) They had a contest where you could enter as a band and play a particular song (Dani California by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers) and the 2 groups who had the most points won a Zune (mp3 player that hadn't even been released in Canada then)

Our group (called "The Albertans"... stupid name, but we were rushed to pick a name. lol) got over 762,000 points. We came in 4th for the day! Out of hundreds of groups! We are awesome! We didn't win anything, but we were very excited to have done so well. I was the guitarist, Steve played the drums, Doug sang and Ashley played bass.

 From there, we went to wait for the Flight of The Conchords to perform. They are a  Grammy Award-winning folk and comedy band. They refer to themselves as "Formerly New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo" LOL. they are awesome.

When they finished playing, we left to go home. We drove for a few hours and stayed for the night in Spokane, Washington. Before we went to sleep, we ate at Carls Jr. What an amazing place to eat! It's a fast food place but WAY better than anything we have in Canada. Doug got a burger with onion rings on it. I got a burger with Guacamole on it! My new favourite burger topping! Steve's burger had pineapple!

 The next morning, we got up early and drove to Kalispel, Montana to go shopping. (we took a lot of little breaks along the way and took pictures of mountains and stuff) 

 We finally got back to Lethbridge at about midnight on Tuesday (May 27th)

 In total, there were 94 bands/performers for the weekend. Steve and I estimated that 50,000 people were at the concert. I wouldn't be surprised if there were actually more than that. 

 We had funnel cake, elephant ears (beaver tails), and 1/2 pound sausages. Steve and I both have pretty bad sun burns. Somehow, Doug and Ashley escaped that problem. 

 Anyway, it was FUN and EXCITING and we all had a really great time. But I'm glad to not be in a tent surrounded by thousands of other people in tents...