Pemberton - Day One: It was the best of days....

We started the day with a fantastic breakfast of bagels, cream cheese, capers, and lox. As far as food is concerned, this "car camping" approach is way civilized.

Once 11am rolled around (when the bars open, and it is therefore perfectly reasonable to start drinking), we packed up our lawn chairs, grabbed some beverages, and headed for the stony beach. It had beautiful, greenish, foamy water rushing by (that sounds disgusting, but it was really beautiful...). We drank white wine sangria and ate the marinated fruit from the bottom.

Time flies when sangria is involved, so soon it was time for the group to set-out and try to time things right to see Metric. The larger group set-out on foot and I hitched a ride with a car load who needed to pick up their wristbands from the shuttle site. Traffic was at a standstill and it took a very long time to get to the airport parking lot. Sadly, it was part way through this parking lot that I was forced to take the first rustic pee that seem so inevitable on this type of weekend... Things picked up once we accidentally found our way onto the workers' shuttle bus and were quickly taken to the campsite. One worker thought we were quite clever, we were really just confused.

Once there, I was a bit surprised by what lay ahead for us that weekend. To say it was a dust bowl really doesn't cut it. A fine layers of hay had been put down to protect the ground cover, but absolutely everything was kicking up. The amount of black stuff in my eyes, ears, and nose really was alarming. It was also really quite difficult to breath in it. I was astounded how many people on crutches and wheelchairs were trooping through it and wondered how they were managing. The crowd wasn't the mellow B. C. lot I was expecting either. There was a large frosh-type group, complimented by the fully-coiffed, scantily clad, cowboy hat, more-often-than-not blond contingent. Things felt unruly, but safe. There was a real sense that the first year would be a logistical nightmare, but that the first day would bear the brunt of it.

I can't say this was my favourite day. I lost Jen only a couple of hours in and spent the rest of the day wondering where she was. Her friends were very inclusive and kept me with them and we hung out mostly in the Baccardi tent where there were places to sit and yummy beverages. I didn't have much in the way of beverages, as my noggin was hurting and I wasn't quite sure how this was all going to play out. Musically, it wasn't the best line-up of the weekend either. Kathleen Edwards was very good, but NIN was the only band I was really looking forward to. Unfortunately, due to another loo trip gone awry, I lost Jen's friends at the beginning of the show and found myself in the middle of a very busy, dark, loud, festival site, 3.5 km from where my tent was. I'd also physically hit my limit, just as it became impossible to sit down anywhere. Long story short, I wasn't feeling it. The good news was, her friends waited for me at the end of the show and had clearly been keeping an eye out in case my head bobbed through the crowd. I finally had a successful phone call with Jen (who was back at the camp ground) and we headed back to Narin Falls.

I have rarely been so happy to brush my teeth from a cup and wash my feet under a tap.