BONNAROADTRIP.

we left Tallahassee for Tennessee last wednesday afternoon around 3. we dropped Luna off at amber's mom's house, met up with the 3 girls coming with us, and packed the car to the brim with camping stuff, not quite enough food, 20 jugs of spring water, 2 handles of vodka, and too many cases of beer. 

the drive took about 8 hours, including traffic to get into Bonnaroo. the whole ride was filled with tons of energy, thanks to anticipation, inspiring music, and caffeine. there was so much singing, some of which was at the top of our lungs. we played "would you rather" and laughed hysterically. i made flower crowns with hemp and hot glue. we got lost in Atlanta just in time to fill up the gas tank. we took pictures and howled at the first sight of mountains. we enjoyed the most beautiful sunset and continued to pass by semis just to keep a good view of it. when the stars came out, we opened the sunroof to see them in all their Tennessee glory.

and all the while, i couldn't wait just to be in line for the entrance of Bonnaroo. just to be a little closer and feel the energy of the people who also couldn't wait to get in. to feel their excitement and mutual love of music. to meet them and know them.

and then we started seeing signs for Bonnaroo traffic and the waiting began. but it was much shorter than we expected. before we knew it, we were being herded into lines to get our cars checked and our wristbands registered. "Are you Stefanie? Welcome to Bonnaroo! Have a lot of fun, stay hydrated, drink a lot of alcohol, smoke a lot of weed, but don't do too many drugs!" the volunteers working Bonnaroo are fun young Bonnaroovians who get the spirit of the festival flowing right at the entrance. 

we slowly followed the line of cars to our campsite, located on the corner of Camp Ferris Bueller (all the camping areas have names like that: Chewbacca, Ace Ventura, Don Draper, etc.) right on east 2nd street by the food and clothing vendors. In other words it was the absolute perfect spot. it was only a 5 minute walk to the entrance arch of Centaroo (where the bands play). we were stoked.

we got to our little campsite at 12:30 am and set up the tent in a frenzy with all of our neighbors doing the same around us. we sat in the tent drinking beer as we blew up our air-mattresses, and then we went exploring. we walked the parameters of our corner of Bonnaroo, which we later realized was only 1/5 of the mass of the campsite. 

then, the five of us went back to our tent to sleep, but i stayed awake a little longer trying to wrap my head around just how huge this thing was that i was now a part of. the vibe started creeping into my skin. and a euphoria came over me just knowing that when i woke up in the morning, 80,000 people would be waking up all around me.

and thus the story of bonnaroo begins.

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