breaking free of the homestead

Bumbershoot
It's Labor Day weekend, and it seems for the first time since I've lived here (since 1997), that I've actually been able (and interested) in going to Bumbershoot. I know, for being such a music aficionado, I can't believe I've never been either. Having scoured the line ups for all three festival days, Saturday seemed to be the most compelling -- not to mention that Crowded House has finally reunited after 14 years and is the opening headliner on Saturday. Along with Crowded House, The Shins were playing, as well as some other emerging bands that I had heard of, but not heard.

I somewhat convinced myself that a day at the Seattle Center would be a scouting mission for the summer concert series that I manage for my job. I got some great kudos on landing Harvey Danger, Toad the Wet Sprocket and The Presidents of the USA this year, so the pressure's on to have an even more spectacular line up next year.

Rick and I hadn't purchased our tickets until the morning of, and I was anxious to get to the mainstage before Crowded House went on at 12:45 pm. With five minutes spent at the bank resolving some issues, another five minutes taken to wipe down the inside of the windows, and a few other of Rick's inane distractions that kept us from getting on the road, I was a little wound up that we were going to miss the concert -- my whole reason for even going. We got down to the Seattle Center, and I pushed for closer $11 parking space over the 20-minute walk from a free parking space. Once parked, it was an odyssey trying to find our way inside of the 8 foot high fence that separated us from the festival. The faster I walked, the more time ticked closer to start time, the more wound up and anxious I got to get inside. And the more frustrated I got thinking about all of the time wasted before even getting to the Seattle Center. A slight challenge to find the way to the mainstage, but we finally made it.

Crowded House had already started their set, and by now it was 12:45 pm and we were hungry. Rick opted for a gyro and I wasn't in the mood to eat quite yet. We found ourselves some seats on the risers and soaked up the sun while I sang along to "Don't Dream It's Over", and "Something So Strong." And no, they don't sing "Burning Down the House" -- that's by the Talking Heads. The sun was shining, and I was loving life. And then Eddie Vetter got on stage for a "special appearance." Tres magnifique.

After they closed their set, we wanted to check out some of the other stages, and so took the long walk out of the Memorial Stadium to the rest of the stages. I saw a blackened salmon Caesar salad that looked pretty decent for fair food and we took some time to sit down and enjoy a late lunch. The Shins had already started by the time we finished, but I figured it would be worth checking them out. I hadn't seem them since the Deck the Hall Ball several years ago, where I wasn't too impressed with them. However, their new album is supposed to be much better. We found more seating in the bleachers, this time in the shade. We stayed for about 30 minutes. I heard a couple of songs that I liked, but overall I wasn't overwhelmed by their performance.

It was 4 pm by now, and Rick was losing steam. His feet were bothering him (not that he told me this), and it was clear that he was not interested in sticking around. I was really bummed and disappointed, as we really had only just started listening to the bands. I didn't really put up a fight, but told him that I was surprised that he wasn't interested in staying longer, and that I thought we would have spent at least a few more hours there. We walked out of the festival. I was clearly not happy. He said something, and I just responded with the waterworks. He was taken aback, as was I, about how upset I got. I told him that he would never pay for a golf game and then just walk off the course after the second hole. This is my golf game, and two hours and two bands just wasn't what I had in mind when we planned to come down to Bumbershoot.

Stephylou was there with her friends, so I called her to see if she was still around. She was, and I decided that I'd stay with them and Rick could go home (and play golf, ride his Harley, or whatever he had planned to do with his afternoon). Either way, I had made him feel like crap by now, so he wasn't really to keen on just leaving me at the festival alone. He walked back in with me to find Stephylou and her friends who were lounging on the grass in the shade. We sat there for a few minutes chatting when Rick reminded me that the Saturday Knights were playing right now. I told Stephylou and the girls I may meet up with them later. We missed the Saturday Knights because they ended their set early, but we did get to catch The Lashes and The Aggrolites. By 6 pm I was done and ready to get some dinner. So it wasn't that I really wanted to spend ALL day there. I just wanted to feel like I got some time in and that it wasn't a quick experience.

Leavenworth
I've been in the mood to "get out of Dodge" quite a bit lately, and so when we woke up this morning, and I knew we wouldn't be heading back for another day at Bumbershoot, I suggested a possible day trip to Leavenworth. It had been a long time since I'd been there and Rick had never been there. We stopped for a good ol' fashioned breakfast at a local diner before hitting the road. I had thought about whether I should suggest that we take the Harley, but it had been a long time since I'd gone to Leavenworth via Hwy 2, and so I wasn't certain how the road conditions would be.

Hwy 2 is a gorgeous, scenic drive and Rick was noticing all of the Harleys out on the road and that this would have been an ideal drive on the bike. We pulled into Leavenworth and immediately headed to Icicle Canyon so Rick could see the old rocking climb craggs and the river. A quick scenic detour and then back to the over-the-top Bavarian style village.

It was a sea of people for the holiday weekend. We had a little trouble trying to find a parking space, but found something off the tourist path. I wasn't adverse to walking just a little farther. The shops were packed, and we walked up and down the street occasionally popping out heads into the specialty shops -- Christmas shops, the Hat shop, and other gift shops. A couple of hours was all we needed before grabbing some so-so dinner at Gustav's and heading back home.

We passed a fruit stand out the way out of town and stopped to pick up some fresh produce before finishing our day trip loop, this time returning via I-90 and making it home in record time.