Flocking to the Gorge...

The Gorge rocked.  It was better than I could have ever expected!  Camping?  Great!  Phish?  Awesome!  New friends?  Sweet! The Gorge?  Amazing!

We flew into Seattle and met up with our friends Dani, Ryan and Graham.  We rented a car and started the trip to George, Washington (where the Gorge is located.)

We stopped for a casual grocery store run on the way.  Dani (that's her on the right with her phone) and I thought we had the car packed pretty well, right?

Clearly the boys didn't think so....

Ha ha ha.  After they got it all fixed back the way they wanted we were back on the road.

We passed this beautiful windfarm on the way.  I have never seen one this close before, and it was beautiful...

I took this photo on the way into the Gorge on my phone.  I've never seen anything like this in my life.  It was so cool to look out and see all the boats (not in this picture).  I spend most of my time on Lake Lanier and Lake Blackshear, so this was very different :)

On the way in we stopped at this amazing hotel/winery.  It was called Cave B and was breathtaking.  It was about a mile and a half from our campsite.  I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the winery to the campsite.

This is a picture of the main building as we walked in from the parking lot.  I was immediately drawn to the roof line.  I did some research and found out that the hotel was designed by Olson Kundig Architects. Huge props to them.  The hotel had a very modern yet organic feel to it.... as if it belonged in the side of the mountain, but was still cutting-edge.

I grabbed this image of the view walking in through the vineyard from their website.  Do you love?

There were these very cool cliffside houses.

We of course walked up to the hotel to check it out.

I saw this very cool chandelier inside, which I would describe as industrial organic.  Sorry for the terrible picture.  I did not want to take all my camera equipment, but was impressed by how well my Canon Powershot preformed.  This being the one exception.

Then we walked over to the winery for a wine tasting.  Doesn't everyone do this before a Phish concert?  Ha ha.  I thought so.  It was such a great deal... we got 10 tastes for $6.  It was a great way to spend an hour.

Before we head over to the campsite I want to take a moment to tell you about Dani (as I always say... it's my blog so I can do that if I want.  You thought you were coming here to look at houses?  he he)

Dani is the girl on the right.  She came with her awesome boyfriend Ryan, and we had a blast hanging out with them.

Dani has the best style ever!  I was totally obsessed with the necklace she had on at the tasting.  She owns an hip boutique in Boston called Flock. I really want to go to Boston just to shop there, but I am afraid I would come home with no money.  I love her website and her style.

If you know about my bird obsession you may be able to figure out why I like her style and the name of her boutique. :)  So if any of you guys are from Boston please go check out her store.... and then report back and make me jealous!

Back to the story of the Gorge :)

We went over and picked out our campsite, which was toward the back and fairly quiet (luckily)....

This was the view in front of us.  Not bad, huh?

After we set up camp it was time to walk to the Gorge...  which was actually a pretty far walk....  and after you just didn't want to walk anymore you crested this hill and saw this...

Can you believe the view?  I have never seen anything like it.  Ever.  It's hard to get a sense of the scale because the stage is at the bottom of a huge hill, but the stage is massive.

This shows the perspective a little bit better.  :)

I love this picture.  For those of you who suffered with me through what to pack, what do you think?  Good choice?  It was a fairly painful packing process, but I was pretty happy with what I chose.  I even rocked those feather earrings, which is a fairly bold choice for me, but I thought it was appropriate.  :)

Saturday afternoon we hung out at the Cave B pool and just relaxed before the show Saturday night.

Both shows were absolutely amazing.  If you are into Phish at all I highly recommend downloading the shows.  Some of the best I've ever seen.

Thank you guys so much for putting up with my totally personal posts :)  You won't regret it!  I'll be back with an amazing house later this week.  Until then you can occupy your time on the Flock website...

Phish- The Gorge- Help me Pack!

Hi guys!  Guess what time it is?  It's time for another personal post.  Yippie!

So about a month ago I wrote about going to see Phish in Charlotte and Raleigh...  remember when I discovered the perfect kitchen?  Well... I am going again, but this time I am flying across the country to Washington.  I'm so excited.... so excited.

I'm going with my boyfriend, Jimmy.  (I know... he's so cute!)  I was telling my mom the other day that I don't think I have ever been this excited for a trip in my life, which is saying something because I LOVE going on trips.

I am excited about this trip for so many reasons.  First, the venue is supposed to be amazing.  There is really nothing behind the band... it just sort of drops off into the gorge.  I've seen Phish at a lot of different venues but never anywhere like this.  I might go to see it even if Phish wasn't playing!  I've also never seen anything like this period. I've never been to the Grand Canyon or even spent much time on the West Coast... so all very exciting.

Second, we are camping.  If you know me at all you can go ahead and stop laughing.  I know.  It's funny.  I am very much an inside girl.  About 6 months ago I decided I wanted to get into camping.  I haven't really camped since Discovery at Westminster, and that was kind of a disaster.  I enjoy things like washing my hair and sleeping in a bed.  I decided I wanted to get into it as a challenge to myself.  It's always good to do things that make you uncomfortable in order to grow as a person.  Well, camping makes me a little uncomfortable.  I have been talking such a big game though that I couldn't pass up the opportunity.  (plus the phish aspect.  duh)

Apparently what I am going to do is less camping in the tradition sense (see the serene picture I used at first) and more like a big party.  When I was searching for pictures of camping at The Gorge I came across these amazing photos by Matthew J. Van Deventer on his blog.  What a talented photographer, and I think the pictures really tell the story.  I thought I would include a few so you can get an idea and just because they are so pretty!

I included this picture not so much because of the feeling, but more because it's just so beautiful!  Isn't it?  Can you believe the feeling portrayed in that shot?

I love this picture too... just hanging out before the show.  I am very intrigued by this photographic process.  It looks like HDR to me, but how could it be?  In HDR you combine 3 images, but if he did that the jumprope would be moving.  I wish I could figure it out because I think it would be ver cool to use on some of our listing photos.

I love this picture of this girl brushing her teeth with the bottle of water!  1. it's AWESOME, and 2. it seems to give a pretty good idea of what it will be like.

I don't know if you guys do this too, but before I go on a trip I spend so much time in my head trying to figure out what it will be like.  Especially this, since it is so far out of my comfort zone and so far beyond anything I've ever done.  I think these pictures give a great idea of what it will be like, but at the end of the day I am still having trouble imagining it.

Allow me, if you will, to be totally self-indulgent for a minute.  Well, I guess it's my blog, so I can do what I want....  but I am having this problem with packing.  There is so much going into the decision.  First, there is the thing about us actually being outside the whole time (not to mention is should be 90 in the daytime and 60 at night), so you would think fashion was not a priority... but then there is the whole "first trip with a new boyfriend have to look super-cute thing."  Stressful!  ha ha.  (I know, what a life, right?)

I really want to bring this necklace.  You know I like birds a lot, plus it's durable... so that's good, right?  You never know what kind of dancing I might be doing :)

I am going to bring this one too.  Birds.  I know.  I have a problem.  What about clothes?

I love this dress so much.  I got it on my trip to Venice when I was 17.  It is so lightweight that it would be perfect in 90 degree heat.  The only problem is that it is white.  Do you think it will get too dirty?  I guess it can always be bleached.  (do you love my mirrors?)

I love this dress.  I got it from Rachel Farmer after she daughter ordered the wrong size for prom.  Lucky me!  It is orange (brand=T-Bags), and I was thinking it would be great to wear on the plane with a cute sweater (you know it gets cold on those planes!).  What are your thoughts?

This shirt is awesome.  It is silk and the straps are braided.   I wore it to the Furthur show the other night and was impressed with how roomy and breezy it was.  I got it on sale at Anthropologie if you're interested :)

And finally I want to bring this awesome shirt!  This is the back.

And here is the front.  I literally cannot say enough nice things about this shirt!  It is from my friend Dana Spinola's store Fab'rik. If you have not been to this store, GO!  I love it.  Amazing finds that won't break the bank.  It is definitely my new favorite boutique in Atlanta.  I have gotten so many of my favorite summer outfits there... including this shirt.  I wore it hiking the other day and it was so great.  Of course it was about 100 degreese, but the open back was so nice and kept me cool.  I am looking forward to breaking it out in Washington (plus, who doesn't love an american flag shirt at a concert... duh.).  Again, go to Fab'rik.  You won't be sorry. :)

So... that's all I have so far.  What do you guys think?  To much?  What should I leave behind and what else should I bring?

I leave on Thursday and I am so excited!  To see the play by play you can always friend me on facebook (Blayne Beacham).  I will upload pictures throughout the trip, but I will also write a post about it when I get back home :)

Wish me luck! :)

And remember to enter to win Wicked tickets!