If the last post didn't speak to adversity, then this post surely will. About a week ago, we took Sugaree to McLain's RV because the AC kept shutting off. I even went to Home Depot and bought a new breaker and changed that, but it continued to shut off. On Thursday, they told me that they had ordered a new compressor and it was coming from the manufacturer. Then, on Friday morning, they call to say that the manufacturer, Coleman, is out of RV AC compressors in the US and Canada. I say, "ok...give me the model number and I'll find one". He says that Coleman's system can see who has one in every mom and pop RV place in the country and they're flat out, and they'll have to make one and send it out. That news as we are supposed to be leaving the following morning, Saturday 8/10 for Bethel Woods to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Woodstock. "Ok...when will you get one?", I ask? "Thursday or Friday of next week", he says. Ringo plays on Friday of next week, so Woodstock is out.
As most know, the BIG celebration planned for the 50th anniversary of Woodstock was Michael Lang's vision. Lang was the promoter for the original Woodstock, and he planned for 75,000 people with bands as diverse as Dead & Company to Miley Cyrus and $400 tickets. Ultimately, his financial backer pulled out. Then, as he found another financial backer, his venue, Watkins Glen pulled out saying that he doesn't have the necessary permits. He bounces to a couple other venues, and then lands at Merriweather Post Pavillion in Maryland, but by that time, Jay Z, Dead & Co, John Fogerty and others begin to bail out like rats on a sinking ship, and that Woodstock festival was cancelled.
We were planning on going to the OTHER Woodstock celebration in Bethel, NY, where the original festival was held at Max Yasgur's farm in August of 1969. We have tickets to Ringo Starr & His All Star Band on Friday, the Doobie Brothers opening for Santana on Saturday and followed Sunday night by John Fogerty with Grace Potter and Tedeschi Trucks opening up. There were no RV parks available when we decided to go to Bethel, but we ultimately found the Bethel Hills RV Park who made a spot for us and Sugaree. They even kindly featured us on their Facebook page as they did other folks who were coming for the weekend. Now, our Woodstock plans are pretty much dashed (unless a miracle occurs and they get a new compressor early in the week). The disappointment was pretty heavy, but we kept out spirits high. We are also going to the Lock'n Festival in Arrington, VA the following week, so not all is lost. Lock'n will feature Bob Weir & Wolf Brothers, Oteil & Friends w/Bob Weir, Joe Russo's Almost Dead, Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, Gary Clark Jr., Tedeschi Trucks, Keller Williams Grateful Gospel, and other great acts.
Update: It's Wednesday, August 14th and we were supposed to leave four days ago on August 10th for Bethel, NY. Nathan at McLain's told me they weren't supposed to get a new compressor until Thursday or Friday, but I had to at least manage my expectations. We had pretty much conceded that we weren't going to Woodstock, and at this point, our hope was that Sugaree would be ready in time to make Lock'n. I picked up the phone several times to call to check on Sugaree, but didn't want to be a pain in the ass. Finally, I called McLain's to get the latest. Brittney tells me that Nathan is out in the bus and will call me soon. This sounds potentially positive...why would he be in the bus if there wasn't something going on there?
After a little while, Nathan calls to update me. He said that Coleman was not able to make a new compressor in time. Then, the golden road to unlimited devotion opens again, and he says the following: "Coleman couldn't get a new compressor here in time, and it turns out that you have one month left on your warranty. Therefore, Ava at McLain's pushed them to give us an entire new AC unit ($4,000) at no charge, other than the labor. He said they were installing the new AC unit, and I could pick it up this afternoon. Yippee!!!! We are going to Woodstock! We are going to Woodstock!! We spent the afternoon packing up Sugaree, and getting her road worthy and looking beautiful. Now, it's 10:30 at night and Sugaree is packed and ready to roll. We will get up early on Thursday morning and hit the road around 7:00 am.
So....we left at the crack of dawn on Thursday and made it through Little Rock, Memphis and all the way to Nashville. At this point, we're hoping to make it to Bethel before the Doobie Brothers start on Saturday night. We pulled into a Super Walmart and nestled up to some trees in a far-off point of their parking lot right under the "No Overnight Camping" sign, cooked a chicken pot pie and went to bed. Like the day before, we got up early Friday and hit the road by 7:30. We pushed on up through the beautiful Appalachian Mountains and got as far as Winchester, VA, which is north of Roanoke, so we really made some headway. Tomorrow, we will only have three hundred miles, which is about six hours. If we leave at 7:00, we should roll into Bethel around 1:00-2:00. That's when the fun really begins!
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