This was the third year (second in a row) that Lester and I made the pilgrimage from Vancouver down to the Gorge in Washington State. Both Sasquatch 2009, and Sasquatch 2006 were great times, so I didn’t expect anything different this year.

We left a little after 1pm from Vancouver and made it into Seattle in decent time. Lester had told me about this burger place in Seattle called Lunchbox Laboratory that apparently made some of the best specialty burgers around. I can’t remember which burger I got, but it had so much bacon in it I actually had to take some out as I felt my heart was on the brink of failure. Overall though it was a really fantastic burger, wonderfully presented. My only complaint is that is was just too over the top, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

After stocking up on groceries, we hit the road for the final stretch to the Gorge. The traffic was pretty horrible, however Lester used his super powers of driving in a lane that was apparently closing. I think he probable shaved a good 45 minutes off our trip with that maneuver.

Unfortunately once we hit the Gorge access road we weren’t as lucky. We got to the access road at around 11:30pm and the lineup of cars was something I had never scene entering the Gorge. It was somewhat reminiscent of our 4+ hour wait getting into Bonnaroo. By about 3:30am we had finally got into the camping area. We had a pretty good idea from last year where we wanted to camp, so despite the warnings that it was full, we made our way to the area. We were finally able to find a decent spot (albeit tight) close to the entrance, showers, and bathrooms. Once the tent was setup, we slammed a few beers, had a pull of whiskey, then crashed in our tent.

The next three days at the Gorge rank up there with the best of them. The music was fantastic. I think I spent the majority of my time on the main stage, however made the switch over to the side stages on occasion. Some of my highlights were Mumford & Sons, Vampire Weekend, Broken Social Scene, The National, My Morning Jacket, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, LCD Sound System, Massive Attack, The New Pornographers, Band of Horses and Ween.

Festivals are more than just the music however. Getting to party with old friends and make new ones along the way is all part of the fun. While it was just Lester and me who made the trip down together, between us we probably knew a good 15 other people who went down to for the festival. A bunch of them we didn’t even end up seeing!

Another fun pass time during Sasquatch (or any festival for that matter) is people watching. Last year Lester and me player hipster bingo which was a load of fun. This year we didn’t do the bingo but the people watching was just as good. My favorite this year was the dancing viking guy! The next day he showed up as the dancing chef. Unfortunately we didn’t catch him on the final day. Second favorite would probably be the group of people who dressed up as power rangers and other super heroes. One final costume I have to bring up was the couple who dressed all in black and used glow sticks to make them look like stick people. Very cute.

Another fantastic year at the Gorge for Sasquatch shared with some really great friends. Barring any unforeseen events I don’t see myself missing this festival too often in the future.

Here are a few more random photos from the weekend.

From their website:

“Vectorial Elevation” was an interactive artwork that allowed you to direct powerful light beams and transform Vancouver’s skyline between February 4 – 28, 2010.

The light show was one of my favorite additions to the city during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. It added a feeling of intrigue to our skies, and gave you a sense that the city was alive. Many nights walking home across the bridge from Downtown, I would stop to watch as the lights danced across the sky.

Despite being on the go for most of the Olympics I did find time to go out and photograph the lights on one occasion. The weather was wet and we were socked in by fog, but I think it added to the effect of the photos. Here are some shots from my photo walk. Also definite thanks to Jordan and Oliver for bearing with me, and helping me setup.

Most people who know me knew I wasn’t a big proponent of the Vancouver Olympics. The city of Vancouver has a laundry list of problems that the money spent on the games could have gone towards. Despite my opinion the games were going to go on, and I had the choice to make the most of them, or sit them out sulking. I decided since I would likely be paying for these games (along with the rest of Canada) for many years I would do my best to enjoy all they had to offer; and to be quiet honest, it was hard not to.

My Olympic experienced started off with the torch running through my neighborhood down 4th avenue. Chip Wilson of Lululemon fame was the torch bearer, and got to run it past his flagship store. I was blown away by how many people were on the streets. hundreds packed 4th avenue in both directions as far as the eye could see. The city was excited.

One of the things I was looking forward to during the Olympics was all the free concerts that were going on around town. I was able to catch a good number of great bands. The Arkells and Broken Social Scene at Ontario House, The Stanfields and Julie Doiron at Atlantic Canada House, Wilco at Livecity Yaletown, and Wintersleep at the Ozone in Richmond. The sheer musical talent that was in the city over the 2 weeks was outstanding, I just wish I was able to catch more of it.

I was also able to attend one event during the Olympics; a hockey game featuring Russia vs Latvia. It was a bit of a blowout by Russia what was expected. I got to go with Jason for free courtesy of our good friend Brian in Lethbridge.

In addition to the concerts and the events I tried to get out to many of the houses and pavilions after work. It was often tough to get into specific places as the lineups were just horrible. This is to be expected when over a million new people show up in your city.

Ultimately though the Olympics came down to experiencing the excitement of the games and the city with friends. The experience wouldn’t have been the same if it weren’t for my buddies.

It was also great to have visitors from out of town in the city. Joe and Kasie made the trip up from California, Sophie was in from London, Bryan from Lethbridge, and of course Mr Newfie Joe made it to town as well.

In the final few days of the Olympics I got more and more into watching the events, especially the hockey and the curling. Out of shear luck we were able to find a place to watch the semifinals game against Slovakia as we just happened to be watching the womens curling finals outside a fully booked bar that happened to have one table just come available.

Since finding a bar to watch the gold medal hockey game was near impossible, I invited friends over to my place for an impromptu brunch to watch the final game. It was an amazing finale to the Olympics, and a nail-biter of a game to watch. Eventually Canada pulled out the victory in overtime thus calming all of our nerves.

After the game we took to the street and marched down Granville Street to join the city wide party to cap off an amazing 2 weeks.

Despite my opposition to the games I did do my best to make the most of them. Now that the party is over, it will be interesting to see what happens with this city. Will it go the way of Barcelona and turn this city into an exciting, “fun” city? Or will we be the next Athens riddled in dept. Only time will tell. One thing is for certain, that 6 billion dollar price tag certainly won’t be going away anytime soon.