On Saturday Will and I went to the Sasquatch Music Festival held at the Gorge Ampitheatre (central Washington.) It was about a 3 hour drive there, which was significant, so we set out at about 9:30 AM. It was a lovely drive, as I got to see parts of Washington east of Seattle. When I drove in last year, it was dark from the time I hit Spokane (far east) so I missed all of Washington’s glorious scenery. Needless to say, I was blown away by its stunningly gorgeous views. I became an iPod DJ in the car as I exposed Will to some of the music we were about to hear (he’d only heard one of the acts before.)

There was a ton of people there, and we only missed the beginning of the first act by 10 minutes or so. It was really sunny, bright, and warm out most of the day, and I ended up with some sunburn. Throughout the day we saw Rogue Wave, Gomez, Iron & Wine and Sufjan Stevens. Neko Case got on stage and sang one full song, and partway through the second one, it started hailing marble-sized pellets! Having learned from previous experience going to Summerfest in Wisconsin (another outdoor music festival) I had bought us some disposable ponchos. We wrapped ourselves in little cocoons as the hail pummeled us for about 20 minutes. Neko left the stage as it turned white with all the hail, and someone announced the show would continue once Mother Nature ran its course. The hail kept coming down and luckily I was pretty decently protected by the billowy nature of the poncho, in that there was enough air inside that not every hit was direct. When they did hit, OW! I was wearing sandals, and when they struck my toes, that was a whole world of pain. After the heavy part of the hail turned into rain, Will peeked through a little hole in his hood and asked if we should go. I’d already seen the acts I’d been really excited to see, so I said sure. It wasn’t likely to get any more comfortable anyhow, and we were sitting on a really steep, grassy hill that was ready to turn into mud as soon as the hail melted.

So we headed home, mostly dry. On the way, Will asked if I wanted to stop in Roslyn, WA for dinner. On the way in I’d commented that Roslyn was the town they filmed Northern Exposure in, and I’d always wanted to see it. So I squealed with excitement and said yes, so we took that exit and drove for quite awhile until we came upon a tiny little town that looked *exactly* like Cicely did in the show!!! I took a bunch of photos of Fleischman’s office (notice they repainted his name on the opposite side of the door from where it was in the show :o ), the Brick, KBHR radio station, and the Roslyn Cafe, where we ate dinner. I was grinning like a madwoman the whole time. When I went to the bathroom I looked at myself in the mirror and saw my eyes glowing with this intensity that frankly quite surprised me. I was so happy and excited I couldn’t contain myself. :D What a wonderful experience to have had, and so unexpected at that!

Will and I decided that the hail was a blessing in disguise. We had planned on staying until 9:30 when the Flaming Lips were over, but by packing up early, we got the chance to make an unplanned detour so I could see Roslyn, and Will would have more time to talk to Hiroko and I to Jules. It worked out nicely. :D

In other news, today I had the day off, and it felt very odd. Jules called early but I was too tired to talk, so he called back an hour later, and he was tired, so he decided he’d get up early and we could talk then. Yesterday I’d noticed that the craft store was going to be open today, so after breakfast I drove over there and got some yarn for my d20 project. Someone outside my apartment noticed my car was dripping some watery fluid so I took it over to Jiffy Lube and had them look at it. They couldn’t find anything leaking, so I just got it serviced. That took a lot longer than expected, and when it was done, I went grocery shopping, which I hadn’t really planned on doing. I spent a ton of money, which I felt really guilty about, then came home and unloaded it all and put it away. I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting outside on my balcony with my laptop. The light made it really difficult to see so I went inside and grabbed a cardboard box, stood it up, and made a little light shield for the computer. It must have looked incredibly silly and suspicious, especially when Jules called me on Skype and I started *talking* into the box. Hah. I felt really tired in the evening so I took a nap, which helped a lot. I made soup and grilled cheese for dinner and watched some episodes of Northern Exposure and Frasier. I started working on one of the faces for the d20, but the actual size doesn’t match the pattern so I’m going to have to make some adjustments. I was too tired and wiped out to worry about that tonight though, sadly. :(

As I was standing there doing my dishes tonight, I felt this pang of sadness as I realized I’m becoming ordinary. Not that my insides have changed or anything…I am still the insanely creative, wacky person I’ve always been…but all I have time for these days is the ordinary bits of life. Going to work, traveling, eating, showering, and sleeping. With little side trips to do the dishes or laundry, or go grocery shopping. Moving has eaten up a lot of my “free” time and resources (I’ve had to take a dip out of my sleep time to get things done) so there’s no time to do anything like sit and relax for a bit, write, or crochet. It’s beginning to eat at me more and more each day and I’ve definitely come to realize this lifestyle is not sustainable. It’s okay for now because I’m working to get myself established again, to pay off my debts, and to be able to afford marriage. But once those things have been taken care of, I will absolutely need to find a change. If I have to keep pushing aside the most important parts of me in order to survive, I won’t be happy.