The last few days in Stanley were amazing! We spent Friday afternoon on an incredible horseback ride with our new friend, Jeannie. We took all 7 of us out for an hour ride above Redfish Lake in the warm sunlight. We made a late afternoon reservation and our awesome guide told us funny stories, sang us songs, and gave the boys directions such as, "Straighten up and get that horse moving!" Jax and Columbus did pretty well considering it was the first time in the saddle alone without a lead rope. The views were spectacular and stunning and we couldn't ask for a better ride. Jeannie was nice enough to book us the last ride of the day so she extended it by a half hour. After our ride was over we had to scurry back to the cabins to get ready for the first night of the festival. This was my first time attending the festival so I didn't quite know what to expect. I have been to several in California including 10 years of Reggae on the River. This was the 6th year of this festival growing from a few local bands jamming together with the local river guides to over 3000 attendees and a dozen or more bands from Colorado to Oregon. Upon arriving we saw a huge stage set up against the majesty of the Sawtooth's! I have never seen a better backdrop for a show!! We entered and trekked around looking for a friend of Isa's who had rockstar camping on the grass of the concert bowl. I was able to locate her by Isa's description, "She looks like she could be our sister, ok." She was right, there Jennifer was with her rugged camo shorts, tank top, blonde hair and cowboy hat. I introduced myself and the next thing we knew, we were set up with our tent in front of hers. There were plenty of vendors selling burgers and wraps, and a few selling twirly toys for the boys. The first band was pretty good, kinda a twangy knee slapping sound, then a band that sounded like Johnny Lang followed by a blown out performance by More Than Lights! If you like Black Eyed Peas with a lot more funk, soul, and reggae, these guys and gal are the bomb!! That party was moving and swaying with even a little crowd surfing going on. We ended the night after the show returning to our cabins down the road for a little late night giggle and well needed sleep.
Saturday started off slow but I wanted to get back up to the festival to check on our stuff we had left the night before, but not until we stopped at The Stanley Backing Co. for a delicious breakfast. The weather had been fairly hot up until now and I thought I wouldn't be able to handle a whole 12 hours out in the blazing sun. While we were enjoying our scrumptious meal, the clouds began to roll overhead. Stanley Backing Co. is almost always packed with a line extending out into the road. So needless to say, we were sitting outside as the sprinkles came down. We noticed a few people picked up their food and headed for cover but not us. We were too hungry to move and seeing how the food had just arrived, we were in the midst of a serious food session. The sprinkles turned into pelting rain but that did not detour us. Why? Why we are Lionhearted of course! (Jax grimaces whenever I say that line ;<0) After breakfast the rain slightly subsided and we headed up to the festival. The cool cloud cover quickly turned into burning sunshine that we thought would never relent. The bands that started off the day were very fun, including our personal favorite, The Snook Twins. By mid afternoon the sun was beaming down on us and we had little shade cover. Then almost out of nowhere came a thunder storm with dark clouds, lightning, and cool rain. We were so happy to have a few moments of shade and dampness, then the blaring sun returned. We hung out dancing and frolicking until again suddenly, a black ominous sky was lurking in the distance. On stage arrived the show's promoter warning us to stay away from the stage at least 50 feet due to coming lightning. She began to tell us that the safest place for us was in our cars but not to worry, the show was just being delayed not cancelled. So we gather as much stuff as we can and take off for the car. I have never been in such a storm, the rain was sideways with flashes of light every few seconds. Mind you, we are on an open field at a very high elevation where lightning typically touches down. The boys and I huddled in our car and decided we weren't going back, there was no way the show would go on....
We all retreated to our cabins once again and waited out the storm. By this time it was 9 pm and it wasn't going anywhere fast. Around 11 pm, I was awoken to Isa and Anouk trying to sneak out the cabin, "Hey, wait for me!!" I said as I jumped out of bed. We had heard a few bands that played earlier where playing at some of the local taverns so we were off on our next big adventure to find some music. We made our way to downtown and found our friends waiting to get in to the Rod and Gun Saloon to hear Langhorn Slim play. They were the festival headliners that were being relocated to the tavern. When we finally made it in, the band was standing on a small platform in the corner surrounded by a hoard of fans. They had been kicked off the main stage because the bar's regular Saturday night crowd wanted to listen the the jute box. Then the band was moving the jam out into the streets and there was word that the festival was back up and running on generators. As we were standing in the street, I noticed the band looked a lot like a group of guys I had seen hanging out earlier at our cabins. I had said hi to them while I was taking my dog out for a moment of relief. I had also passed this guy in the parking lot that I thought looked like a funky fisherman with his goofy cap, high waters and boots. Little did I know, the band was staying in the cabins next to us! So I went up to one of them and said, "Hey! Your our neighbors down at Jerry's!" They quickly recognized me and in the scramble to figure out what to do, I offered that we all go back to our cabins and have our own little jam session. However, they were obligated to the show promoters to give it a try up at the festival. Off we all went, with the bassist Jeff tagging along in Isa's minivan for a ride. It was now hitting midnight and we picked up a few stragglers hiking up the hill to the festival. After getting lost amongst a slew of tent sites, we finally made our way onto the main lawn. There we found our Hailey friends, Jennifer and Rebecca hanging at their rockstar campsite along with a 100 or more hardcore show goers watching a band play from the back of a pick up truck. The band playing was the second headliner, Free Peoples. They were rocking out with colored lights hanging from the back of the truck for lightening. What was intended to be a large concert with thousands of people, turned out to be a private show for only a few lionhearted souls willing to brave the storm! We hung around until I finally had to give in and ask Isa to take me back to the cabins. Then off Anouk and Isa went, back to the festival until twilight. I was so wound up I had a hard time falling asleep, but sleep sounded like such a sweet song to me right now. It's been an incredible 2 days, what a wild and fun ride! I have one more day in Stanley before heading home. What adventure will tomorrow bring??
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