Monday, August 11, 2008

Tarheel Country


Yesterday, the last day of the all Points West Festival, we arrived at the venue to weather reports predicting 30-60 mph winds, and of course, rain. We battened down the hatches, and braced for the bad weather, putting away anything loose but keeping up the tents and our tables and pledges and petitions. We apprehensively watched the sky all day but the wind never really materialized although we did get enough rain to thoroughly soak everything. My volunteers from the Jersey Shore and NYC chapters were troopers, sticking it out through everything. We had more traffic to the Village Green than the prior days despite the rain since on this day our All at Once Volunteers were allowed to roam the festival directing people there with the promise of the chance to sit on the stage when Jack played that night (we have a drawing every show for people who fill out the passports and turn them in. Check out allatonce.org for more info on how that works).

The highlight for me was watching part of the Ben Harper performance from the stage. We weren't able to get on the stage in prior days but since Jack was headlining on Sunday, our passes were good for everything that day. We got the Village Green down in time for me to watch part of Jack's show from the stage too. Matt Costa and Trey Anastasio joined him at various times for some songs, which was pretty cool. [As an aside I will mention that in taking down the Village Green, I have been tasked with folding the 10 vinyl tent tops since I have developed a knack for folding them very small and neat, making them fit in the cases much better. The tops weigh 30-40 pounds each, are 10 x 10, and folding them involves being on my hands and knees in the dirt, grass, mud, asphalt or whatever surface we happened to set up on.]

Today we awoke cruising down the interstate in North Carolina! I was so tired I fell asleep on the bus before we even departed Jersey City, so it was kind of a shock to wake to the green, rolling scenery. We are staying in Chapel Hill, next to the University of North Carolina campus, in the historic Carolina Inn. The town is quiet at the moment since school has not started, which is probably better for our "rest" day. Today is all about laundry and getting some exercise. Elissa, my roommate from Patagonia/Vote the Environment, went off to find a pool - a great thing to do today since it is about 80 degrees and sunny. Having been outside all day in the elements for the last 5 days straight has left me craving some quiet time inside, so I am catching up on emails and this blog.
Tomorrow we have the show in Raleigh, then drive to Atlanta for a show the next night.

I am going to enjoy this rest day!

Elizabeth

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