Sharing the limited living space of a chevy cavalier coup with another person is a humbling experience. Life gets simpler everyday. I've learned how to go without conveniences like a dresser, consistent indoor plumbing or a steady source of income. Each day I figure out something else I am able to do without. That was true for everyday of this trip thus far, with the exception of Deer Creek.
The actual Phish shows were incredible and it was pretty clear that everyone was enjoying themselves in Indiana despite the extreme weather conditions. 105 °F is a little too intense for me. Throw in some torrential downpours, thunder, lightning, high speed winds, hail, and you've got yourself some weather worthy of storm chasers. Now imagine this experienced from the safe walls of a 2 person tent nestled under the shadows of dead tree branches and you've got yourself a Deer Creek party.
Deadly heat during the day, portos so nasty you can't help but wonder which diseases are festering behind the sun faded doors, and 'showers' reeking of rotten eggs from the sulfur in the water (which also happened to turn my rings into stained yellow metal). Up until Deer Creek we had decided to save money on hotels by camping, but this was nothing like the sprawling shaded live oak trees of our campground on VA beach for the Portsmouth shows. This was being woken up at 2am by police megaphones warning campers to prepare for another storm, taking down the hammock, securing the campsite and climbing into Betsy's tent with just enough time to tuck my head under my arms, squeeze my eyes shut and hope the dead branches hanging ten feet above the tent weren't about to impale us while sideways rain tried to breach the walls of our rain fly. Thanks to the police and the neighbor's wake-up warnings I didn't experience this storm from my hammock and thankfully Betsy has a kick ass tent that weathered the storm (we stayed almost totally dry with the exception of the puddle at B's feet and her waterlogged toes).
Even after all that drama, I can confidently say it was worth it. Loved the fishman/ trey switcheroo and the increasingly frequent crowd interactions. Pumped to hear their covers of Sweet Jane and Old Home Place live. So many more highlights to the shows, but I've been especially amped about seeing B connect with the music more and more each show.
The Alpine shows didn't disapoint either, especially since we were able to unwind (post and pre shows) within the comforts of the Marriot... Sometimes you don't need to rough it.
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