Today, we left Seattle for The Gorge. The Gorge is a beautiful 27,500-seat outdoor concert amphitheatre near the Columbia River in George, Washington. Many consider this to be the most beautiful outdoor venue in America. The setting is dramatic, with the Columbia River down below and the foothills of the Cascade Range rising up from each side. We had premiere camping, which was great and there were a few thousand Deadheads camping out for two nights.
Dylan went into the show early to get up front as he always does. Cassidy and I followed a little later and as we were walking into the venue, a couple came up to us and asked if Cassidy would take their photo. I had my phone camera on too, and at that moment, the guy drops to his knee, pulled out a diamond ring and proposed to his girlfriend right there in front of us! It was such a special moment, and we were so fortunate to have been in the right place and the right time…which seems to be a common thread for us.
Cassidy and I walked all the way down towards the pit, for which we did not have tickets. We immediately saw Dylan who had already fenagled his way into the pit and encouraged us to jump the waist-high fence. Cassidy, in her youthful exhuberance, immediately hopped over the fence and disappeared up front. There I was, debating whether I wanted to see my 54-year old self escorted out of the venue for fence jumping, and a guy on the pit side looks at me and says, “If you’re ever gonna do it, NOW is your time dude!” With that, I turned into my teenage self and hopped the fence into the pit and we all watched the show from 3rdrow! It was an interesting setlist: Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo, Bertha, Tennessee Jed, Mr. Charlie, Loser, Crazy Fingers and Cumberland Blues to wrap up the first set. They started the second set with Playin’ in the Band, a beautiful Eyes of the World, Comes a Time with Oteil on vocals, a smokin’ Terrapin Station>Drums>Space>New Speedway Boogie and Black Peter to end the show. They encored with U.S. Blues, and as it always does live, made me feel so American and everyone sung, “Wave that flag….wave it wide and high!”
After the show, we went back to the bus and hosted a party at the bus with Dylan playing electric guitar. Terri Wixson Danielson, a neighborhood friend I grew up with and hadn’t seen in 30+ years stopped by with her lovely family to say hi and catch up. That was a nice treat! Dylan, Cassidy and I stayed up until around 3:00 am, knowing that we had to get on the road tomorrow at 7:00 am. Morning came early, and I was up by 6:30 and we hit the road on time at 7:00. It was a beautiful drive down to Eugene, Oregon for the next show at Autzen Stadium.
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