This weekend was the 5th Annual Cracker & Camper Van Beethoven Camp-Out in Pioneertown, CA! I had the best time ever – great friends, great music, great atmosphere, and great memories!
This past week was pretty damn incredible overall… here’s the recap:
Monday, Sept 7th – Worked with Zander & Michael on designs and styles for our initial launch. At night, I met up with Jason & Violet at Koji’s for dinner before heading to Lucky Strike for some bowling. Violet came in 1st during our 1st came of the night. I came in 2nd. Pretty awesome night! Pix up on Facebook.
Tuesday, Sept 8th – Trivia bowl! My team “Squid, Inc.” came in 2nd!
Wednesday, Sept 9th – Worked from home (research, bridal show registration, 877 set up, etc.). At night, I hung out with Dorwart, Scharff, & Katie at the Palace. We played Rock Band. I got 100% singing STP’s Vasoline!
Thursday, Sept 10th – Hung out with Scharff & Katie. We went to the Americana for crepes and walked around Glendale.
At night, I met up with fellow Crumbs for the Cracker / Camper Van Beethoven show at the El Rey. I had dinner with Sal, Frank, Johnny, Hans, Valena, David, Linnaea, & Greg at this great little Thai place next door. Great samosas!!!
The show was incredible… afterward, I took Vicky & Tippy back to their hotel and headed home to pack. It was such a great night!
Friday, Sept 11th – Marcos got to my place around 11am and helped motivate me to pack. He played with Gracie while I finished up. We drove to Billy’s Deli for breakfast and I spilled cream cheese on my lap. Oops!
Once in Pioneertown, we set up our tents and ran out to get food and supplies. We ran into Missy on the way back. We all gathered at Spike & Mona’s for a bit, where I ended up getting a little too buzzed, then went up to the Pioneertown Motel to hang out for a bit. After taking a group photo, we went inside to get our passes and listen to some great music!
After the sets ended inside, I headed to Porchstock to watch McCabe & Mrs. Miller play, followed by Gary, Phil & Ryan, followed by Johnny & Chris (and everyone with an instrument – Chilleye and others). Morst did an incredible bit during the Costco song!
Violet & Jason arrived during Porchstock. Great times!!! After, we stared at the stars for a while before passing out around 4:15am to the sound of yodeling.
Saturday, Sept 12th – Woke up around 8am and got a shower in room 13 (thank you Lee, Rosemary & Mungo)! I sliced my knuckle up with my razor on accident and it bled like mad for about 5 minutes. Eeeek! Thank you, Chilleye for the band-aid! Marcos, Violet, Jason, Missy, Lee & I went into town for breakfast at John’s Place Cafe, then headed back to Pi-Town to hang out. Marcos & I wandered around taking photos, then joined up with Violet & Jason for the wild west gun show. Got some more pix, then headed back for the group photo.
After the photo, we went to the band signing, then had dinner. I LOVE Pappy & Harriet’s cheese fries! I want some right now! We then went inside to see Monks of Doom and Cracker. AMAZING!!! After the show, the superlatives were given out. I won an award – Most Spirited Crumb!!!!!! I am so excited about this! Thank you, my dear Crumbs! I love you all!
Once the show was over, we hung out with Zillah & Ryan for a bit. Zillah & I had our eye on this super cute merch boy. We finally decided to tell him we thought he was cute so we could take a photo with him! He’s known, apparently, as Little Jesus. 😉
Inside, we watched more bands play – incredible sets, then went to look at the stars by our tents for a bit. Violet, Jason, Marcos & I went back to the motel to listen to some music for a bit, then back to look at more stars before passing out sometime after 3am.
Sunday, Sept 13th – Woke up at 9:10am with a great breeze outside! Got a shower in room 13 (thanks again), then after everyone got showers and packed up, we said some “see you laters” and got some breakfast at the Water Canyon Cafe before heading to Lo-Fi in Loma Linda.
Lo-Fi was really fantastic! I got some cds and enjoyed spending a few final hours of the camp-out weekend with amazing music and people! At 5pm, Lee, Marcos & I got back to Glendale and relaxed for a bit. Then, Marcos took Lee to LAX and I reconnected with my online world…
What a freakin’ fastastic week!!!! To all my crumbs, I can’t even say how grateful I am to know you and to have spent this weekend with you! It was the time of my life, and I miss you all so much already! I consider you family, and I look forward to our next reunion!