4:50 p.m. - 2005-08-10
Everything Was Hot and Not Just the Music
Well, I�ve put this off long enough, and I think the brain cells are beginning to flip back into �regular� mode. Sometimes holidays are tough on a body.
We left Victoria; motorcycle packed and gassed up, on the morning of July 26th. Our destination that day was �The Gorge� Washington. The weather that day was a beautiful 22 degrees Celsius (72 F) when we left on the ferry, but as the hours ticked on and we travelled closer to our objective (central Washington State) the temperature rose higher and higher. At arrival, just outside of Vantage, Washington, at a �free� state campsite along the Columbia River, the temperature had levelled off to 35 C (95 F) at 8:30 at night. Oh my heavens!
I was so NOT acclimatized. Little did I realize that this was only the beginning.
We stayed with friends at this �free� campsite for the one night. The next morning we packed up again and got into the line up for our campsite at the event.
Thankfully, our friends were leaving some of their stuff (empty tent or two) at the free campsite for the much needed day trips to the river over the next couple of days.
We, along with several thousand other hopeful campers and festers, were in line bright and early. At 8:10am we joined the line up, at 11:00am we parked in our campsite and home for the next four days, and we�d only travelled a distance of approximately a mile. By 11 o�clock the temperature had risen to over 38 C (100 F), and there was no shade to be had.
This day was the coolest we were to experience over the next several days.
Do you think I got a little obsessed with the heat? I was personally pretty floored that I was existing in such temperatures. But I have a nice tan to thank for it now.
Anyway � the musical festivities started that evening, and for the next few days we were going to get our ears full of some of the best Christian musicians going.
This is where I will apologise to my non-church attending readers. You probably won�t know any of the bands that I�ll mention, but believe me � this event is no hymn sing. This event was pure worship and rock-and-roll!!
Wednesday night line-up was:
David Crowder (rock)
L.G. Wise (rapper)
Relient K (not sure what they do, we didn�t hear them, but the teens LOVE em�)
and
Mercy Me (loved them!!)
Thursday morning was too hot!!! So we missed Margaret Becker speaking about �Living from the Gifting Outward� and then in the afternoon �Defining your life art.:
The evenings line up went like this:
Caedmon�s Call (**picture me (at 43) my hubby (41) in the mosh pit with a couple thousand other youngin�s. Too cool for words!)
We missed the speaker, Buster Soaries
We made it back for Rebecca St. James
and
Toby Mac (although, I have to admit that we only made it through 2 of his songs. I can�t handle rap that I can�t hear the words too. Isn�t the whole idea behind rapping �speaking� to music?? Never-the-less, I won�t be purchasing any CD�s soon)
On Friday (with rising temperatures of 43 C (110 F)) only took in the evening session. However we missed Kutless (Hard Rock I think) and Lincoln Brewster.
Tim and I bee-lined our way again to the mosh pitt (** see note for Caedmon�s Call) for:
Audio Adrenaline (absolutely AWESOME!!! And a great stage presence)
And
Michael W. Smith (ok � so the mosh pitt didn�t really mean that much when it cam to Michael. He�s far too sedate, but I married a �sound-man� and ya gotta go where the best sound is).
Saturday dawned even hotter than any of the previous days, (There�s just nothing like going to bed sweating and waking up sweating. I don�t really recommend it.) but as friends of ours from our home church were playing on the main stage we felt it only right to go a support them. And �Starfield� was great. What was so very cool for me was to be down in front, watching them and the fans down there with us � and ALL the surrounding young age group knew all of the song lyrics. This proved to me that this band was really making a name for themselves, and I was proud of them.
We mostly lazed around our tent for the rest of the day. I finally caught up on some long sought after reading. (I was crazy to get into the newest Harry Potter book, and was never finding the time). But that evening we took the long haul back down to the amphitheatre for the final evening of entertainment.
The closing evening did not fail us. We enjoyed listening to:
Jeremy Camp
Ron Luce (speaking on � Battle Cry For a Lost Generation)
Casting Crowns
And my all time top band for the entire weekend was � Newsboys -a group out of Australia.
There is one song that Newsboys sing that I�ve heard many time, but never listened to the words. I will however, share the words with you here now:
It�s called �Breakfast�
Hold the milk, put back the sugar
They are powerless to console
We've gathered here to sprinkle ashes
from our late friend's cereal bowl.
Breakfast Clubbers, say the motto
that he taught us to repeat:
"You will lose it in your gym class
if you wait `til noon to eat."
Back when the Chess Club said our eggs were soft
every Monday he'd say grace and hold our juice aloft
Oh, none of us knew his checkout time would come so soon
But before his brain stopped waving, he composed this tune:
Chorus
WHEN THE TOAST IS BURNED
AND ALL THE MILK HAS TURNED
AND CAPTAIN CRUNCH IS WAVING FAREWELL
WHEN THE BIG ONE FINDS YOU
MAY THIS SONG REMIND YOU
THAT THEY DON'T SERVE BREAKFAST IN HELL
Breakfast clubbers, drop the hankies.
Though to some our friend was odd,
that day he bought those pine pajamas
his check was good with God.
Those here without the Lord,
how do you cope?
For this morning we don't mourn
like those who have no hope
Oh, rise up, Fruit Loop lovers -
sing out sweet & low
With spoons held high
we bid our brother, "Cheerio!"
- Chorus �
So picture it if you will � the chorus comes up and the energy goes berserk, all the kids are ready. Quickly raised up in the air are boxes of Captain Crunch, bowls of cereal, and giant pieces of toast. An obvious hit for this crowd. This is how we closed our experience that evening. Tomorrow was a day of collecting, packing, and heading on to the next chapter in this adventure. On that note I will bid you a bright and to be continued �.
Cheerio!! - LJ
