A Weekend with Dave at The Gorge Amphitheater

One of my favorite places in the country is the Gorge Amphitheater.

One of my favorite bands in the world is the Dave Matthews Band.

Combining the two (plus 5 boys plus The Head and The Heart and Lord Huron on the side) surely made for a fantastic weekend.

We spent Labor Day weekend galavanting around Seattle for a few days, and then we loaded up in our sexy mini van rental car and headed east.

For the first part of our northwest adventure go here.

We assumed our rental car would have a roof rack, so we packed a rooftop cargo carrier to stuff camping gear and luggage into.

What were we thinking.

No roof rack.

Six people, six suitcases, five sleeping bags (Bart didn't pack one?), an eight man tent, six chairs, food for four days, and enough beer for five boys still trying to relive the college glory days.

We were stuffed to the brim, but we made it.

Needless to say, the car was a lot less loaded down on the ride home.

Nearly every bite of food was demolished, and the beer disappeared quick (of course).

Home sweet home.

Mike's Sweetwater frisbee was vital throughout the pre-show downtime.

Our view from the campsite was pretty glorious.

The walk from the campsite to the venue was a bit taxing, but the weather and the view along the way and the weather made it worthwhile .

I was apparently really into taking photos with the glare of the sun.

The boys brought a little love from our wedding (and the PBR gave me flashbacks)

In case you missed the story behind our wedding koozie's, go here!

Lord Huron and The Head and The Heart were fantastic, and Dave and the boys (of course) were incredible.

Sorry, iPhone pics only.

Mornin' partner.

This is Mikey.

My brother.

Also the guy who randomly, in a moment of deep contemplation, asked "Y'all, what exactly is a booger?"

Even though we bought breakfast food, we ended up having some pretty fantastic neighbors who made coffee and bagels each morning.

We sought shade most afternoons, but we couldn't complain about the weather.

The "heat" in Washington has nothing on August in Texas.

Day two at the show was a blast.

. . . so we took senior pics.

Gorge Yoga Love.

Bags didn't quite make the group photo.

He was napping.

He was also the one who said "The beauty of this place just makes me want to throw up."

Kinda loved this license plate.

The neighbor's tent was quite a hit as well.

On our final night there, we chose seats in the shade at the top of the hill overlooking the venue and the Columbia River Gorge. 

(We are way past the days of trying to get there early and race to the stage only to get gut punched and have our hair pulled in order to be a foot closer to Dave.
Kidding, actually the hardcore Dave fans up close are really nice.)

Before the show started, we sat around talking for a while and ultimately developed a five year plan.

We each agreed that we all had to end up living in the same city in the next five years.

As we each threw out random "fun" cities, someone in the group casually mentioned that it truly wouldn't matter what city we chose, as long as we were all there.
ehhh, Detroit?

The highlight of the weekend was probably the moment Josh said this (which may not have been his most sober moment of the weekend):

"Honestly, all I want is to be able to wake up Christmas morning, look at the mantle, and see stockings with the names Mike, Marsh, Bart, Bags, Em, and Charles."

As cheesy as that was, it nearly made me tear up. 

These are our friends from all walks of life; some of Josh's high school friends, our college friends, and my brother, yet we all seem like we've known each other our whole lives.

Josh later told me (in what would probably be the most feelings I've ever heard from this man's mouth in his life) that on that Sunday night at The Gorge he was the happiest he has ever been.

He said he was in his absolute favorite place with all of his favorite people.

He said he couldn't imagine adding anyone or subtracting anyone from the group, and that it was truly each of his very best friends.  

This trip will definitely go down in the books as one of our favorite of all time. 

. . . on a lighter note, after not showering for four days, and wearing the exact same outfit for that entire time, how did he manage to still look hot?

(and kinda like a boy from One Direction)

Speaking of showering, another one of my favorite quotes from the weekend was this:

Marsh: "Whats the rules with showers in the place?"

Josh: "If God wanted you to shower he would make it rain with shampoo clouds.

One last thing that can't go without being mentioned:
 THE setlist game

Anytime Josh and I go to a Dave Matthews weekend show, after the first night's concert we always try to predict the songs for the next night.

Even though he is truly the "bigger fan" (he's seen over 35 shows) I still beat him from time to time.
Night two: I won
Night three: He won
Marriage.