PEARL JAM BABY!

After a frantic visit to the chiropractor on Friday after work, in an attempt to fix my incredibly sore back (see my previous blog for more info), I went to bed jittery with excitement. Pearl Jam baby!!! My alarm went off Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m., and the screeching from my clock radio didn't even bother me as I jumped out of bed to check the weather report. Partly cloudy, 106 degrees. Just as I suspected.

I showered, threw on shorts and a tank top, dried my hair (a pretty miserable experience, considering it was already about 85 degrees in my apartment), and began to pack the necessities: Swimsuit, sunscreen, jeans, sweatshirt, a couple skirts and tank tops, beach towel -- vodka, mixers, fruit, bagels, granola bars, and an entire case of frozen water bottles. Lacey arrived a little while later to help me pack up the car. I double-checked for the essentials: toothbrush, BC, cash, ID, and most importantly, my TICKET, which has been taped to my fridge for the past couple months.

We arrived at Jeanna's house promptly at 10 a.m., right on schedule. Kristen arrived soon after, and the four of us were on our way. ALMOST. Always the responsible one, I checked to make sure everyone had her ticket. Nope. Kristen had forgotten hers at her house on the Eastside, so we detoured before finally heading toward the mountains. On our way to the Gorge we met up with four more cars full of friends, and together caravanned to the campground.

At the gate, we were presented with a pretty lame dilemma: we were required to pay for TWO nights of camping, even though we were only camping overnight. Apparently the second night's fee would be refunded on our way out the next morning. We managed to scrape together $80 between the four of us, which unfortunately left us with zero cash. Great. We chose a campsite conveniently located near a garbage can and port-a-potties. (But obviously not TOO close!) We quickly set up our tents in the sweltering heat and mixed some drinks. Then there was nothing left to do but sit and wait. And drink. And smoke. And generally party like rock stars. The sweltering heat was miserable -- ice in drinks melted within five minutes. We were sweaty and sticky. The only thing to do was alternate between drinking vodka/diets and guzzling down water bottles.

Needless to say, we were all pretty tipsy by the time we decided to head to the concert. We had hiked about half way there when Lacey realized she had lost her ticket. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! The combination of heat, alcohol, and trudging through the grass was too much for me, so I sat down and waited for her to run back and find it. Luckily, she had printed out an extra copy and was back in no time, panting and covered in sweat from her sprint back to the campsite. We continued toward the concert gates until SMACK, we literally hit a wall of people and there we stopped. I felt way too much like those thousands of people who were crammed into train cars in 100-degree heat before being taken to concentration camps during the Holocaust. (Have you seen Schindler's List?)

FINALLY, we made it to the gate. Again, another roadblock: blankets/towels were not allowed into the concert, and we had brought one of each. More than a little pissed off, and armed with liquid courage, I tied the towel around myself as a "skirt," stuffed the blanket into my backpack, and headed through the gate. "You'll need to hang that on the fence, you can't bring it in," a gate-Nazi informed me. "OK, sure!" I replied, before strolling past the fence and into the concert, towel still securely around my waist. Whatever. Did they expect me to just sit on the grass? Funny that they spent so much time policing my towel that they failed to search my bag and find the fifth of vodka I had in there. Ha. Suckas!

We settled down to wait for "An Evening with Pearl Jam" to begin. I can't describe the concert to you in any other way but EUPHORIC. Pearl Jam is without a doubt one of the top five bands of all time! We stood up the entire time, screaming, clapping, singing, and generally trying to get Eddie Vedder to notice each one of us personally. (Yes, I realize we were at the very top of the hill and probably looked like tiny little ants to him). Quick concert recap: Although the band jammed for a little over three hours, I just plain felt I didn't get enough. Eddie didn't talk much to the crowd, and only played two songs off the new album, not including Track 12, "Come Back," which I really wanted to hear. However, they did play most of their old popular stuff, which is always amazing to hear live.

After two encores, we finally admitted that the concert was over. However, we weren't in a huge hurry to join the mass exodus of people headed back toward tent city, so we hung out on the hill and finished off the last of the vodka. Jeanna also decided it would be a fantastic idea to roll down the hill, now that it was clear of concert-goers, so we proceeded to tumble through the grass (and garbage) laughing hysterically all the way. I barely managed to control the vomit that threatened to spew from my mouth as I dizzily stood up and hiked back to the top. On our way out, Jeanna grabbed a PJ t-shirt and we trekked back to camp. I hung out for about an hour, and then crawled into my tent to pass out, already feeling a hangover coming on.

A couple hours later, Jeanna popped her head in. "Hey G, what's up?" I asked. Another face appeared next to her's. Jeanna made the introductions: "This is Prez. He's pretty cute! You're pretty cute, aren't ya Prez? Hey, do you guys have Prez's flashlight?" Obviously we did not, seeing as we had just met Prez, so off they went. I woke about an hour later as the sun started to come up. Looking out of the tent, I noticed Larisa crawling on her hands and knees to the backside of her tent. I don't think she felt very well, yuck. Jeanna stumbled past. Talk about a rock star, she was STILL drinking, and had not gone to bed at all.

I dug into the cooler for some water and fruit, ignoring Jeanna's insistence that beer would be a much better choice. As the sun continued its climb, people began groaning and crawling out of their tents, which were quickly becoming mini-saunas. Kristen made it halfway out of her tent before falling asleep again, mid-threshold. As Lacey and I began to pack up the campsite, anxious to get out of the dust bowl before it got any hotter, we noticed that Jeanna had become unusually quiet. Looking down, I saw that she had hit her limit, and passed out. This will forever be my favorite image from the weekend: Jeanna, passed out at 7 a.m. in the middle of the campsite, wearing her Pearl Jam t-shirt, one flip-flop, using a cottage cheese container as a pillow. She was snoring. Priceless.

The campsite was totally wrecked. I've never seen anything more disgusting. Lacey and I made a trip to the port-a-potties and only a couple of them were still in commission, the rest being in major disrepair -- one with vomit running out the door, another with the seat cover ripped off and flung toward someone's tent. After finding one that was reasonably usable, we wandered back toward the car, and I couldn't even count how many people I saw bend over puking their guts out. Thank God I stopped drinking early.

We packed up camp while the drunkards slept, and then forced them into the car. Our original plan had been to stop at Vantage and go swimming on the way home, but the girls in the back seat were in no condition for that. Instead, we went on a wild goose chase for a Denny's, were Kristen claimed they were having a $5.99 breakfast special. Unfortunately, there is no Denny's in Ellensburg, which I still find really unbelievable. How can a town contain every single fast food chain known to man, but not have a Denny's?!? Totally bizarre. Instead, we stopped at a random little diner in Cle Elum.

The girls went into a food coma on the way home, and I rocked out to some more Pearl Jam -- I swear, I just can't get enough! Back in Seattle, the temperature was still soaring, so there was nothing else to do but take a shower and sleep the afternoon away under my ceiling fan. My Pearl Jam weekend was everything I had expected it to be and more.

"And the days, they linger on -- And every night, what I'm waiting for -- Is the real possibility I may meet you in my dream -- I go to sleep -- If I don't fall apart, will the memories stay clear -- So you had to go, and I had to remain here."