Mr Mike's Hippie Love Blog

Summer 2004 -
Well this one was a little harder to prepare for. Sarah and I had to get everything ready to go in our new RV - that means move all the shit from one house to the other house in barely any time. Our friend Jake is going to rent our trailer in Mankato for the summer and we are staying out in the RV for at least 3 months - following The Dead on tour and a little Phish! Very exciting but also very stressful - transition usually is hardest.
We found out as we are driving through Illinois that we aren't as used to being on the road as we used to be... "What happened to us" we asked as if we had just awoke from a dream. Three years that the man had tricked us into working and staying stable and being responsible - two people sure accumulate alot of shit while they sit still for some time. We took 3 trips to the Salvation Army with donations while we were packing up the RV and there is still crap all over the house. Jake was moving in and we were moving out and getting it all ready to head for Tennessee - excited to get South and start living - again.
Day One: Sunday June 6
We finally got on the road around 8:00 out of Mankato - a little later than we had expected, but that is normal. We've had some technical difficulties underneath the RV right from the get go; seems we have a metal wall welded into place that is supposed to protect our holding tanks if the driveshaft were to fall apart and shoot into pieces - ok great good to be covered - but our metal wall has since become dislodged and has created a terrible racket while we drive. D'Oh. We figured out a way to fix the broken bracket while we were still in town and then realized we had no propane; we went to the Oasis Truckstop only to find out they stop filling propane at 8:00 p.m. D'Oh again since our fridge runs on propane and is filled with food. So we realize we just need to get the hell out of Mankato and we hit the road. It seems they always try you before you leave - trying to test your mettle. Down the road we filled up our propane at an RV Park in Waseca, got there 10 minutes before they closed - so score one for Mike and Sarah! We filled up the LP and hit the road hoping to get as far as Iowa City - but we were exhausted from the last couple days and only made it to the Iowa border. We bedded down at our favorite big red barn rest stop and slept late.
Day Two: Monday June 7
We got going around noon today and realized we have 3 days to go about 900 miles. GREAT! We aren't used to being able to take our time like this, but we are RVers now and we need to be able to go with the flow a little bit. We put on some miles and stopped for lunch at Pleasant Creek SRA between Waterloo and Cedar Rapids. Nice big lake with a good breeze - we have had to acclimate to the hot weather as we head south - trying to stay hydrated is always a challenge. Nothing worse than dehydration though - also find out that the RV can get very warm on the hot days - has made for some sticky sleeping and we even have been using the cab's air conditioner as we drive. Leaving Pleasant Creek our bracket fix underneath had snapped and here we go again.. So we pull into a farmer's drive way and get under the RV and rig the bracket up again. Very weak metal on the bracket and it snaps easily - this is getting annoying. Also starting to get a very smelly bathroom in the summer heat. Need to find dump station. We drove a long way today - Well into Illinois and made it to I-57 south and took our first Rest Stop here. We had plans to watch a movie tonite, but miscommunication ruined that - small fight attributed to no supper and beer instead - topped off with dehydration and exhaustion and there you go.
Day Three: Tuesday June 8
Slept late again in the semi truck part of the rest stop - started off about 11:00 a.m. heading for Wal-Mart in Matoon. Felt bad because we hadn't enough time to stop in with Chris - it always seems to happen that way though. We had plans to finally explore Shawnee National Forest a little bit later on that day (about 3 hours away). Wal-Mart took longer than we expected and costed more too. We found a great deal on rain coats and got a 5 gallon bucket for soakin' lentils and on and on. So we finally left Matoon and were back heading south when the damn bracket broke again. We exited and tried fixing it but there are no more holes in the bracket to fix it with - lucky for us there is an RV dealer/service shop on this exit. So we head over there and a nice young fella rigs it up good and sturdy with some strong wire and sends us on our way - don't worry about a bill. Great. Back on the road and finally hit I-24 East heading for Shawnee. We were heading for Dixon Springs State Park and made it there around 6:00 p.m. Had a nice hike around big boulders and little creeks - lots of wierd mushrooms and mosses. Saw two lizards which surprised us. And before we left we checked out the campground and found a dump station! Note to self = need to dump more regular - we had a very stinky restroom. Now we need to find somewhere to fill our water. I showered today and used too much. Tonight we are cruising the 96 miles through Kentucky - we bought a six pack of St. Pauli Girl for 6.99 no tax and are bedding down at the Tennessee welcome area. Sarah made a great chinese soup and we drank our 6 pack while figuring out what we are going to need for Bonnaroo. We decided to concentrate on vending one thing and only pasta to keep it simple, festivals are always tough for working because there is so much fun to be had and it is hard to stay motivated on making money. So we figure the easier the better - we made our list and felt good - realizing we are so close to the RV park in Manchester.
Day Four: Wed June 9
Today we are heading for the Sam's Club and Wal-Mart in Murfreesboro TN to pick up our supplies. Murfreesboro to Bonnaroo is about 30 miles so we are on pace. We have a reservation at the Whispering Oaks RV Park in Manchester (about 10 miles from the show) and are excited for our first RV campground experience. I drove most the day today while Sarah made final adjustments to the big pouch and other garments - the route took us through Nashville which was exciting in the RV. I must admit it is getting easier and easier to drive the rig through any situation - still have to conquer in-city traffic but that is coming up yet. We went to the Sam's Club and starting stocking up - we ended up with enough raw ingredients to serve around 500 people for pasta! Hoping for a big weeked at Bonnaroo - it would be nice to come out with a little extra cash on the side. Next we found the Wal-Mart Super for misc. groceries and then we headed for Whispering Oaks. We found it no problem and stopped at the BP for some beer and ice - found out from the paper that Willie Nelson had cancelled Bonnaroo - bummer. We pulled into our first RV spot around 3 pm and had all day to be plugged in and do whatever. So I cranked up the AC for the first time and cooled it down in there - Sarah stayed out at our picnic table and did all the veggie prep for the pasta; great idea to chop it all and seperate it into four rounds to make it real easy at Bonnaroo. I fired up the Playstation while we were plugged in and grabbed a game of Madden - ah the luxuries of RVing. We were drinking beer all day at the campsite and having a blast - different people rolled in throughout the day (some Bonnaroo some Fulltimers) - it was a nice old lady running the park and it made us think it would be fun to manage our own RV park someday - we could mix the restaurant/bar/laundromat with an RV park and really have a blast! Who knows maybe someday. We went on a hike around the place after Sarah was done chopping veggies and Mama D (as we dubbed her) told us to follow the tree line to the pond... very picturesque back there and some crazy trees along the way with blossums that smell like pink champaign - as dusk set in the fireflies came out and it was just right. We went back to the rig and decided to go meet some kids on their way to Bonnaroo - there were some tenters up by the pool. Ended up being some kids from Wisconsin and we were having fun - then someone had found out that Bonnaroo was letting people in early and some of the kids were tearing down to go get in line; moments after that it started pouring rain - so Sarah and I ran back home and decided to watch a movie - tried to get through Lord of the Rings 3 - but we fell asleep. The alarm is set for 7:00 am to get in line for Bonnaroo!
Day Five: Thur June 10 Bonnaroo
Well the day is finally here! Bonnaroo is about to begin! We woke up very excited (after a couple snoozes) - we dumped the holding tanks, filled the water and headed to the BP for a full tank of gas and more ice. We got on the road about 8 am and only hade 6 miles to go (so we thought) turns out we have to go all the way down to exit 127 (instead of 111) and get in line - the traffic was already horrible. They re-routed us around the back way through a few little towns and about 25 extra miles. Not much to say about this day we were in traffic for 9 hours and rolled in to Bonnaroo at 6 pm. We were in contact with Jake on and off because there is poor cell phone reception down here. We let a few kids go in ahead of us while in traffic, they were towing an Airstream and had pulled off the road. Turns out we would camp next to these two - Aaron and Casey - and all sorts of wildness would ensue. We all got situated in the RV half of the campground and used today to get our bearings straight - find Centeroo and the stages and get some landmarks. We were excited about our spot since it was right off the road - in front of a line of porta potties but still in front of the road. We were expecting good vending at this spot, but it didn't quite turn out that way (more to come). We had beers and met our neighbors - ended up going to bed relatively early.
Day Six: Fri June 11 Bonnaroo
Finally time for some music - the day starts and we have our shade tent up just chilling out. Sarah is setting up the clothes and getting ready to relax and work a bit. We brought two nice clothing racks but came to find out they can blow over pretty easy. We weighted them down to remedy that and were starting to get a lot of ladies looking through the goods. We were hanging out with Aaron and Casey - plus we found Jake and Aaron too; so everybody was there. Sarah had sold two mama tops (Our first profit for SoulCrafts!!) and had a couple people coming back with money when the horse patrol tells us there is no vending on this side of the street. No vending this side of the street? But we can vend on the other side of the street?! What the fuck - so we had to tear down otherwise a second warning results in them taking all of the clothes... We tore down since it was close to music time anyway - were going up to listen to Los Lonely Boys and check it all out... Now they have a checkpoint to search everyone coming in to Centeroo lots of things aren't allowed. They want you buying the beer and food inside Centeroo it seems ($$$). Today is very hot so we put lots of sunscreen on - Sarah had already exposed herself while setting up the clothes and was getting a little burnt; I got sunscreen all over my back but missed my front a little and arms. We listened to Los Lonely Boys and wandered around a bit checking out the different boothes and such. After about an hour we were getting too warm and were going to head back to the RV but then we realized Mike Doughty was about to be on the Sonic Stage and we were already there - so we got comfortable. The Sonic Stage is very small - set up for interviews on XM radio and some performances; very intimate - we were lucky to catch Mike Doughty up here and listen to 4 songs and lots of stories - afterwards Sarah and I hung aroung and shook his hand and saying thank you. Very nice - but this is where the SUNBURN came in - seems our sunscreen wore off and we both got fried - exactly what we did not want on the first day. Our sunburn made it very uncomfortable to be out in the sun and made it hard for us to have any energy to work. This had effected our weekend a bit. We relaxed around the RV in the shade - missed Mike Doughty's second set in the tent - were drinking loads of water to try to counter the burn. Also Sarah had made up a batch of pasta sauce for late night vending. Waiting for the sun to go down and Dave Matthews and Friends (Trey)... this night we were victim to bad timing - we were late for Dave which made me a little upset (really wanted to catch Trey singing Cripple Creek) and we also missed our most oppurtune time to vend at about 3:30 am. Our neighbors (Aaron and Casey) are glass blowers from Ashville NC and we had all been hanging out alot during the weekend - they were big bourbon fans and sure new how to party! We finally made it up for Dave and Friends and I was running around alot during the show - and Sarah Aaron Casey were sitting still. The second half of the show was great Trey and Dave did some acoustic songs with some Phish songs peppered in there (Bathtub Gin). After Dave there is a little time before the late night tents so we ran back for more supplies - we have a little drink cooler that we were mixing vodka cocktails in all weekend (nobody ever checked it) - Sarah and the neighbors were going to stay up at camp and I was going back down for Praxis at the late night tent. Sarah was going to have the pasta ready for 3 am. I brought a cooler of vodka lemonade down with me and drank nearly it all - I was running back and forth between the different stages (Praxis, Vida Blue, Umphree's) and getting very drunk. I knew I needed to leave a little early to help Sarah set up - so I left with about an hour left - but I got lost and it took me an hour or more to get home. Sarah was partying with Aaron and Casey and hadn't realized what time it was. I was very drunk and a little upset that we were missing all the traffic of somewhat sober people coming home from the late night tents that were hungry. By the time we got set up and boiled the noodles there was mostly spun kids walking around and they never eat. Sarah let me go home and pass out - I cranked up the air through the generator and it was very nice sleeping - cold even. I woke up again around 7 am and Sarah wasn't home so I got worried - she was still out there selling pasta and drinking beer. She went through half a pot of pasta and the neighbors kept her company, soon there after a cart told us we shouldn't be so close to the bathrooms and had to move. So we tore down and went to bed. I still had the air on and we ended up sleeping til about 5 the next day. Sarah had been up for 26 hours with the excitement of it all - and we didn't have much music scheduled til about 6 or so the next day anyway. So sleep in old timers in your AC RV.
Day Seven: June 12 Bonnaroo
Well today it was a sleepy rainy day... we did sleep until five or so and woke up just in time for a huge rain storm. We were glad to have missed most of the sun with our sunburns - but it sucked because it rained alot! We stood under our shade canopy with Jake and the neighbors for a while; then the rain let up and we were thinking about finishing off the pasta work. We ate dinner inside the RV and then it started pouring again - we sat in bed and watched it rain and lightning. Ended up finally getting down to music around 11 pm with our neighbors - we were very excited for Ween's late night tent tonight - we snuck beer into the shows and watched a little of the Dead and shortly Ween came on. We had no trouble staying up for this late night show - 3 hours flew by - but we just kinda sat in a spot and watched Ween; after awhile Primus started and I bounced back and forth a bid. We had a great time at the Ween show - those boys were fucked up! Kept babbling about LSD and this and that. The rain had stopped for the late night shows and it was clear skies - but everything was muddy and swamped and there was no getting around walking through lots of mud. We got back home around 4 and went to bed.
Day Eight: June 13 Bonnaroo
I woke up very refreshed today and it wasn't rainy during the early day - there was a lot of music I wanted to see today so I went down to the stages by myself. First stop was Marc Ribot and his band - I had seen this setup once before at the 400 bar in Minneapolis and knew it would be good. There was hardly anybody at this stage since it went at the same time as Burning Spear and Leftover Salmon. This show was definately a highlight for my Bonnaroo experience; I drank lots of water all day - nursing a small hangover. I journied over to Taj Mahal after Marc Ribot's set was done - man he was laying it down - some good old blues. Then I realized I was by the Relix tent and went and got the newspaper also found the internet cafe and waited in line to get in - I had an agenda of what to look at while on the computer, but when I actually got a chance I forgot what I needed - I checked the Ebay auctions which were ending in 6 hrs and looked at NBA scores of the Finals (Go Pistons) and the email; but that was about it. I went out and listened to more Taj Mahal and was starting to get hungry so I started heading back. Walked by a topless mud wrestling match on the way and another with two guys and a referee all dressed up in pro-wrestler type uniforms. Had a hard time finding the exit from Centeroo again - always get turned around in there. Finally made it home where Sarah and Aaron were hanging out under the shade tent - made some lunch and lounged around for a few hours. We got our backpack ready to go down for David Byrne; packed it with the rest of our beer and rain gear - we were ready to stay down for the night through Trey. However, we did get dumped on between David Byrne and Trey - we were in a severe thunderstorm warning and the sky turned a wierd orange - Sarah had went back to the RV between the shows to fill up the rest of the vodka and she got caught in it. But we both had our new raingear and kept dry just fine - I had her bring my red hat back from the house because it is good at making rain go away. We all huddled under the mist tent for shelter; next thing you know Jake wandered up - so I gave him my sitting trash bag which he converted into a poncho and we had two of his beers so that all worked great. Trey came out about 30 minutes late and his first set was with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra and Trey was conducting - this was all very cool but also very mellow. They went through All Things Reconsidered, some of My Friend, and Guyute. I went off on my own during this because everybody around me was talking through it - and when I got back Sarah and Jake were sleeping - so I woke em up... Trey took a very long set break and then his band came out and raged... but Trey shows can be long winded - he lets the songs go all sorts of ways - a journey through music - I enjoy this but it can be tiresome after a long day - Sarah & Jake were still just hanging on - Aaron had already went home - and Casey was just there - so I decided to lead them all home with a little bit of Trey left - also I was starving. We got home and still could hear fine all the while - Trey finished with First Tube and they set off a huge fireworks display - I mean huge. I ate a burrito and Sarah and I went to bed.
Day Nine: June 14
Our strategy to avoid the traffic today was to sleep in and let it all go by... we had our generator on every night during Bonnaroo so we could run the air and we were sleeping under a big comforter. I woke up around 10 and started packing everything up and cleaning out trash - basically de-festivalling. We said our goodbyes to Aaron & Casey - they gave us some pendants and a bowl - and thanked us for helping to take care of them over the weekend. We were on the road around 2:30 p.m. and didn't expect to get to far - we made it to our second RV Park just south of Nashville. It was in Smyrna TN and called I-24 Nashville campground. We plugged in and turned the air back on - put up the antenna and watched the Simpsons etc. We thought about going swimming but didn't - took very long showers - dumped the tanks etc. We took a walk around the park and realized nobody wanted to say hi to us back - very rude children also. So we tucked away in our house - Sarah made supper - I bought a six pack of tallboy Budweisers and drank five of them - we tried to watch American Beauty through the PS2 (seems the laptop is having disc drive issues and doesn't recognize anything) - went to bed fucked up and slept well.
Day Ten: June 15
Got up early today and did laundry. Need to start hauling ass towards Denver. We left the RV park and went to the library for internet - need to mail winning Ebay auctions. Also, bought a day's worth of internet for 5 bucks from Flying J (Love Flying Js) - have to find a post office too. We got on the road a little late again but made some time through Kentucky and headed to Troy IL for a Wi-Fi hotspot. It was about 10:30 by the time we got here and I couldn't connect anyway - very low signal. So we switched over to TV and watched King of the Hill and I went to sleep. Sarah stayed up later - but we pretty much have been driving a lot these days - which wears on Sarah.
Day Eleven: June 16
Today we went skirted St. Louis on I-270 and found a Ci Ci's pizza so we had to stop and spend our first money on eating out. Nice date. We made it to a Flying J for the wi-fi and ended up staying there about two hours. I had lots to do with banking and Ebay... thinking hard about the Flying J service for a year. Ended up downloading the Mike Doughty Sonic Stage from Bonnaroo while we were waiting and Sarah took care of cooler maintenance. Then we really had to haul ass - we are trying to get to Denver by 5:30 to see the Phish show at the theater. While we were driving Radha called saying there were still tickets available on the website - but I had checked the site while we were at the Flying J and now my 24 hours of internet had expired. So we are cruising through Kansas trying to think of how to get online - and I thought about the Days Inn we stayed at in Junction City on Oysterhead tour. They had an internet computer in their lobby and I was gonna try to get on there. When we got to Junction City the Days Inn had turned into a Comfort Inn and was all remodeled - no internet in lobby. But they advertised free wireless internet for guests and my wifi was able to get on through their connection! Free wifi exit 296 I-70 through Kansas! But it didn't matter because the site I needed was "unavailable". I called Bill at work and got the update - talked to him for awhile and we ate supper. Then I drove 50 more miles to the next Flying J in Salina where we slept.