Woah...where to begin. Jessica and I left Missoula shortly after our last post and drove an additional 6 hours to Driggs, Idaho (for those counting at home it was from Washington to Idaho to Montana back into Idaho). We saw a heard of buffalo and antelope along the way. We love our truck...but it doesn't have AC. Many times throughout the day, we saw reader boards listing the temp as 90 degrees and higher. So when we hit a bit of rain, the drips through the windows was a relief!
Driggs is the closest town to the festival and is also a great stopping off point for last minute supplies and grocery shopping. The town hosts "Music on Main", which is a Thursday tradition where musicians perform on a stage in the middle of town (pop. less than 3000). This particular Thursday was special. Part of the Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival, is a camp that goes on the week before the 3 day festival. The band performing in Driggs that night was a group of the camp instructors (including Tony Triscka). The show started out great, then the wind picked up, the clouds rolled in and wham! The first crack of thunder drove the band from the stage and a majority of the attendees under the (thankfully) large awning of a nearby building. Thus began a "western monsoon" that would become a theme for the rest of the weekend.
After the show closed due to severe weather warnings, we squeaked (wet keen's on linoleum...very queaky!) our way around the local grocery store. Our original plan was to camp in Driggs that night, but after checking out local accomodations (we should say, the local parking lot of a park and the grocery store parking lot) we decided to make the last 30 minute drive up to the resort. Once we got to the resort we were both tired and decided to sleep in the back of the truck in the parking lot (Moms...don't be mad, we were safe).
It poured...and we slept a bit...but mostly it rained.
Friday morning was an early start and we were the 2nd vehicle to set-up camp in "the meadow." The meadow is the in-between place where families and quiet campers stay - it's a large grass field, next to a wetland area. (Foreshadow???)
We got 3 compliments on our camping set-up. After 8 years of road-tripping together, Trav & I have nearly perfected the process of setting up & tearing down. Thanks to my superb (or anal) packing skills and Trav's "McGuiver" abilities, we have a perfectly nice, tarp enclosed shelter, that is virtually waterproof. (Foreshadow???)
The music started at 4pm. The hippies arrived early - the hula-hooping was in full swing, and the wind only picked up a few times throughout the mostly overcast day. We rocked out to Spring Creek...and our new fav's The Infamous Stringdusters. We saw TIS's at a festival in Wenatchee, and decided this was definitely the better of the 2 shows we've seen. After, we went and met up with the band, thanked them for the great show, and ironically, they remembered us from the Wenatchee festival! It's a great feeling to know that the musicians we see, actually see us enjoying their music from the stage!
Tim O'Brien was going to close the day with a down & dirty bluegrass session...and then the FLASH FLOOD took over. Out of all the places in the world and all the nights in the year, the lightning & thunder & rain hammered us, sending us sprinting through muddy water to the meadow. By the time we got to the tent, we were soaked, and our camp was submerged in 6 inches of water. KRIKEY! We stripped down to nakedness and jumped into the truck. Our shoes are still drying and it's been 3 days now...
Saturday was a long, great day of music. We tried to dry out all of our wet things, but some are just ruined. The music helped lift our spirits...and the sprits helped lift them too. Travis got an awesome new beer mug and we created a new "whiskey-iced tea-lemonade" drink (We're sure it has a name, but we like to think it's our original idea). Drew Emmit, Bill Nershi, Tim O'Brien, and Sam Bush jamming with everyone. Then the closer with The Sam Bush Band and 16 other musicians on the stage...truely amazing...even for those non-bluegrass lovers. We had some rain that day as well, but nothing compared to Friday night. We closed our evening in the Bradley tradition of star gazing from the chairlift.
And now it's Sunday night. We rode the chairlift to the top of the mountain, took some awesome photos of the Teton's and a long moutain walk along the top of a ridge to see some unparalleld views of the Rocky Mountain range. The music - was again - a toe tapping good time, including Jeff Austin and Friends (we're trying not to be Jeff Austin stalkers, but he's such a nice guy!) There was a freak hailstorm in the middle of Jeff's set that sent Travis down to dance, and me to the trees. We tore down our (still muddy) camp in the evening and now plan to sleep in the parking lot again before we head to Jackson, WY tomorrow.
We hope to hit a laundry mat to see if we can salvage some of the muddy clothes from Friday night. And an internet cafe, so we can upload pics from the weekend.
Right now we're "borrowing" the wireless internet from the resort - pretending we're staying in the hotel, lounging on the comfy couches, wishing we were sleeping in a nice hotel bed tonight. Travis is sleeping next to me, so I'm going to say good night for this post and hope it doesn't rain again!
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