Journey of the Lizard King: DMB and The Gorge

I am an admitted Dave Matthews Band fanatic.

I have seen the band so many times that I have actually lost count.

Two years ago, my now husband and I went to the Gorge to see them for three shows over Labor Day weekend.

We had such an amazing time that we swore that we'd go every year from then on.

Well, life and lack of vacation time didn't allow us to make it last year.

This year, a wedding in Hawaii and a much needed trip home to Buffalo mean that there'll be no time left by Labor Day to make the trip.

But I'm feeling nostalgic.

So I'm going to re-live my trip right here.

And add the Gorge to my list of goals for next year.

(And maybe a show at Red Rocks in Colorado...)

I've heard the acoustics are one of a kind there!

We started our trip by flying into Portland. My very good friend Stacy lives there and I decided if we were going to make a trip to the Pacific Northwest, it would make sense to kill two birds with one stone... visit a friend I miss terribly and see a city I'd always wanted to see.

Well, Portland was all I dreamed it would be and more.

It's so green! I don't think that any picture I could take could possibly do the beauty of the landscape justice. Let's put it this way. I live in the desert. It's brown on brown. Brown mountains surrounding brown ground. I miss green trees and grass more than I could possibly describe. That's probably why I spend so much time desperately trying to grow things here.

In Portland... things just grow. Naturally.

It's also organic! Just like me!

Portland has a really great art scene going on as you can see from the picture below. ;o) We were lucky enough to find some street art while walking around the city. Who knew that donuts on a fence could be so original.

We borrowed camping equipment from Stacy and packed up the SUV for the long drive to George, Washington. (Yes, the town that the Gorge Ampitheater is located in is actually named George and it's in the state of Washington.)

As you can see we purchased enough beer and food for a one month camping excursion for approximately 12 adults.

The landscape changed as we drove from lush greenery to completely flat farmland (with lots of wind turbines that I was so happy to see) to high desert. For the record, high desert is much, much better than Las Vegas desert. It's dry. And warm. But it's not completely barren and it's not 120 degrees. It was beautiful. Here's the sign we'd been looking for for 5 hours.

Traffic was backed up getting in but no one minded. Everybody was blasting DMB music and totally content since we were all going to the same place. Peace, love and happiness was all around. (I realize reading that statement that it sounds a little fluffy but really, I felt it.)

The campgrounds were insane. I'm pretty sure it would be similar to a Dead show in the 60's. Tens of thousands of people, setting up camp, playing guitars, singing, playing frisbee, drinking and having an all around amazing time. (There's something to be said for camping at a show. No drinking and driving. No rush to get out of the parking lot. It's magical I tell ya!)

We set up our tent and were ready to go. I will mention that we spent a little extra money to get the premium camp site. It was so beyond worth it. A little more space. A little less crazy. A shuttle to the doors of the show and back nightly.

I couldn't wait to see the venue the first night! When we got through the gates (which was super easy because of our premium camping priveleges) I was astonished at how breathtaking this place was. The Columbia River at the base of the Ampitheater, the mountains behind and the stage at the bottom of the hill created, in my opinion, the perfect venue.

The show opening night was fantastic! (Looking back, I wish I'd paid more attention to Leroi Moore. Never in a million years would I have thought that he'd be gone just one year later.)

The next day, Stacy and a friend of hers drove up from Portland. Here's the thing about Stacy. She has 1000 times the nerve that I do. I don't like to break rules. Stacy? She came to the Gorge with no concert tickets whatsoever. As you can see from the photo, she got her ass into the next two shows, no problem. I've never seen someone slip by security so quickly.

We had so much fun the next two days. The concerts were amazing. Camping was amazing. The weather was perfect. I couldn't have asked for more.

And they had Molson Canadian! It's rare to find that in the Southwest but it paid to be that close to Canada. You can see the giant can of it in Kevin's hand. Judging by my face, I'd probably already had too many Molson Canadians. ;o)

On the day of the third show, we went to the river for the day. Of course I hadn't brought a swim suit so you can see my lovely tank top sun burn lines in the pictures.

Overall, it was an amazing trip. Every show was perfect. I was surrounded by great friends. It was one of those weekends that can probably never be duplicated.

On our way back to Portland to catch our flight, we decided to detour and head West to Seattle. I've wanted to go to Seattle since the original Pearl Jam album came out and I decided that Seattle must be the coolest city on the planet.

Well, I didn't get much time there, honestly a few hours at most... but I wasn't let down. The city is beautiful. Pike's Place Market is incredible. And, it didn't rain while we were there!

Of course, I had to get a Starbucks at the original Starbucks store.