PCU Crew Road Trip

Setting up camp at the gorge
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Annika and I spoke with our usual group of 7 from our floor at St. Mark's. Rosa and Melissa agreed to go, along with Melissa's husband Curtis and Annika's friend Leslie.

Leslie has family in Boise, ID which is almost exactly half-way between SLC and the Gorge. Rosa and I got an EXTREMELY late start because I had to work until 11:30pm on Thursday - the night we were slated to leave. We drove overnight to Boise together and met Annika, Leslie, Melissa, and Curtis all whom arrived earlier that day. We piled A&L's things into Rosa's Blazer and she and I slept while they drove Friday morning. I've never been so exhausted in all my life!

I think he thought we were serious when we told him we are from Utah and all 4 women were all Curtis' wives

My favorite hippies.
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I didn't wake for hardly a moment before we rolled into the Gorge camping area. After picking our spot, Melissa, in typical fashion, busted out the beer and we built our camp. Our spot was about a half-mile from the concert venue. There were rows and rows of cars, tents, and RV's as far as the eye could see. I can't even fathom how many people were there.

The fellow camped across from us was all by himself and when a few of us inquired after him, he informed us that his entire party had ditched out at the last minute, so we adopted him into "Curtis' Harem." I think he thought we were serious when we told him we are from Utah and all 4 women were all Curtis' wives. :)

Annika and me
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We BBQ'd hot dogs and carried on the rest of the afternoon. About 30 minutes before the concert started we departed on our half-mile stroll to the venue. It was an absolutely perfect day, and I unfortunately did not anticipate the rapid 30-degree drop in temperature that would happen later that evening. Walking through the campground proved to be an exciting experience. Many of the people already there had been lined up for over a day or more before the camp ground opened, and probably intended to stay there for the entire 3-night Dave concert series. I love my hippies. I bought a hemp bracelet from a guy who also sold my friends some amazing snackies.

Leslie and Rosi
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We missed most of the opening band by the time we found our place in the amphitheater. Annika had warned us that they made her throw her disposable camera away so we left all of our cameras at the campsite - A decision a quickly regretted after beholding the venue. I have seen very few places in my life that are so picturesque, and none of them were concert venues. The Gorge is built on a cliff next to the Columbia river, and is by far the most breathtaking concert venue in the country, to my knowledge. The only way the night might have been improved is being in possession of assigned seats rather than GA.

:: sniff sniff ::
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The concert was fabulous. Dave is truly amazing, and is definitely worthy of all fame and fortune currently possessed and yet to be had. Unfortunately the fewer than 5 hours of sleep I had gotten in the last 48 hours caught up to me in the last hour of the concert and I was barely able to make the death-march back to camp out of sheer exhaustion. People had been progressively making their way into the amphitheater all day, and after the concert every one of them tried to get back to camp at the same time. The random  MOOs and BAAAAAs from people were highly entertaining as we waddled back in the general direction of our camp.

Damn, Curtis has it good!
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We were starving, so we stopped at the hippie food-hocking area. I had The. Most. Delicious Gyro I've ever had the pleasure of consuming. EVER. I discovered that exhaustion coupled with alcohol -  walking, and eating at the same time is a highly difficult task to accomplish.

Despite the presence of every frat boy in the entire state of Washington, I managed to get a fantastic night's sleep. We woke up early enough to be out of the campground by 11am and on our way into Seattle. We arrived just before the end of the lunch hour and got checked into the Westin downtown, a FABULOUS recommendation from Seattle's best up-coming chef and my long-time friend Cody. The 6 of us crashed in one room which saved a BUNDLE of money for all of us.

Seattle waterfront
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We met Cody at Pike's market that afternoon for the Saturday farmer's market. I could shop at that market every day and never get bored. What a fantastic and fascinating place. Bundles of gorgeous fresh flowers that would cost a small fortune in SLC were available for less than cheap.  We spent most of the day there. For lunch we ate at Beecher's cheese factory. If ever there was an orgasmic grilled cheese sandwhich, it lives there. I think there were 15 cheeses in the spicy mac and cheese. Ok, not really 15, but a lot. And it was amazing.

Melissa followed the "cocktails" sign
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We went our separate ways for an hour or so and when we meandered back to the assigned meeting place, Melissa and Curtis were no where to be found. In close proximity to the meeting place was a gigantic red sign which read "Cocktails" Being perfectly capable of putting two and two together, we followed the signs - low and behold, there was Melissa with a Bloody Mary in her hand.

Cody scored us a VIP table at Anthony's, the premiere seafood establishment in Seattle, that night. We all got dressed up and took beautiful pictures of the sunset over the Pugeot sound on the way over. I tried Mussels for the first time, and amazingly I LOVED THEM. I had the most amazing beef stirfry stuff and I tried Alder-planked Halibut and Cod, which were fabulous, as expected. I would love to eat fish if it doesn't taste like Van De Kamp's! Which, sadly, all fish in Utah does.

We went over to Kel's, an Irish pub up the street from Anthony's where we parted ways with Cody, had a beverage, and returned to the hotel for some much-needed sleep.

Sunday was our last day in town and rather than do most of the things we intended to do - IE going to the aquarium, etc, we spent the day at Pike's. We ate Mediterranean food at this hole-in-the-wall place which melted my face off it was so delicious, then shopped some more. We wandered into Pike Place Brewery and shared a sample platter of delicousness. After being completely shopped out, we took the tram over to the Space Needle where Bumbershoot was going on. No one seemed particularly interested in riding rides or playing on the midway, so we wandered into a bar for yet another beer. I think I drank more that weekend than I have in the last month or more.

We got another good night's sleep in preparation for the 13+ hour drive ahead of us the following day. Everyone needed to be home by Tuesday morning so we packed up and headed out of town. The drive was long and relatively uneventful. We all slept most of the time and drive in 2-hour shifts back to Boise where Annika and Leslie picked up their car. Every one of us called in sick to work the following day for a complete lack of desire to drive any longer than 12 hours. Melissa and Curtis stayed behind in Seattle a little longer to pick up some more goodies from the market and some Pike's Place Brewery beer before taking off, so they stayed in northern Idaho, Rosa, Leslie, Annika, and I all stayed in northern Utah. I bet Terry was furious when her entire staff called in for the following day.

All in all, it was a WONDERFUL trip. We added another honorary PCU KROO member, Leslie, and the originals had a blast together, as usual.