Welcome back to another week here at Solitude State of Mind And it has sure been a week.
We are coming at you officially POST-ABGT 700, and all we can say is...
WOW.
After months of traveling across the country, thousands of miles, countless campgrounds, RV problems, wrong turns, new friendships, and green dots slowly making their way across our map...
WE FINALLY MADE IT TO ABGT 700!
But before we get into the craziness of the weekend, let's rewind a few days.
As we mentioned last week, most of the beginning of the week was spent preparing for ABGT 700. Then on Tuesday, we found out that some of our Anjuna family were staying at the campground right next to ours.
So, of course, we invited them over.
And, of course, William brought out the DJ equipment.
William, Krysta, Dustin, and Brianne spent the evening sitting around listening to music, talking, and sharing how excited we all were for the weekend ahead.
At this point, ABGT 700 wasn't something months away anymore.
It was DAYS away.
Before we knew it, Thursday arrived, and we had a couple of friends coming to stay with us for the weekend.
Once everyone arrived, we spent some time catching up, hanging out, and—most importantly—introducing them to the three wieners for the first time.
That night, we decided there was only one appropriate thing to do...
GO TO THE PRE-PRE-PARTY!
We headed over to The Gorge, where there was already a DJ playing under a tent, food and shops were open, and Anjuna family seemed to be everywhere.
It was the perfect way to kick off the weekend.
We danced, listened to music, met some awesome people, and enjoyed finally being surrounded by the community we'd spent months traveling across the country to see.
We didn't make it home until around 2:00 AM, so Friday morning started a little later than usual.
Once everyone was awake, Chef William went to work.
And apparently, he thought he was feeding an entire campground.
Eggs.
Pancakes.
Biscuits and gravy.
Bacon.
Potatoes.
We DEFINITELY weren't going to ABGT 700 hungry.
Then it was finally time.
THE ABGT 700 PRE-PARTY!
Krysta loaded our hydration packs with all the goodies we'd brought to give away, everyone got ready, and we headed toward The Gorge.
We were camping about 30 minutes away, and when we arrived, we quickly learned that security was NOT playing around.
Everyone had to get out of the vehicle, and dogs went around the car as part of the security check.
Then we parked...
And discovered the hike.
About ONE MILE.
Uphill.
On a very uneven path.
Day one hadn't even officially started, and we were already tired. 😂
But we'd come WAY too far to let a little hike stop us.
Once we finally reached the venue entrance, we went through ID checks, bag checks, metal detectors, another bag check, another metal detector, and then were wanded before finally scanning our tickets.
Was it a lot?
Absolutely.
But security was doing its job and making sure everyone could enjoy the weekend safely.
And then...
WE WERE IN.
One of the first things we saw was a HUGE ABGT 700 sign.
Obviously, pictures were mandatory.
Then we found another massive photo-op area.
More pictures.
A couple of drinks later, it was finally time to head toward the dance floor.
And there they were.
Jono, Paavo, and Tony.
Above & Beyond.
After everything it took to get us here, standing in the middle of that dance floor watching the three of them together was pretty surreal.
But one of Krysta's favorite parts of these events isn't something you can schedule.
It's running into people.
You know certain friends are somewhere inside the venue, but there are thousands of people around and you have absolutely no plan to meet.
And somehow...
You find each other anyway.
That's exactly what happened Friday when we unexpectedly ran into Jennifer, Aaron, and Amy, friends we'd met a few years earlier.
Out of all those people, somehow our paths crossed again.
Krysta likes to think that's fate.
The rest of Friday was spent dancing, reconnecting with old friends, meeting new ones, and soaking in everything we'd waited so long to experience.
We originally planned to go to the after-party.
Then we remembered...
THE MILE-LONG WALK BACK TO THE CAR.
Yeah.
After making that trek, we collectively decided our bodies had had enough.
William, Peter, and Krysta made it back to the car and waited for Jose to meet us.
Thankfully, we apparently had our own comedian with us because Peter kept us laughing the entire time.
Eventually, everyone made it back, we headed home, and we crashed.
Because Saturday was the BIG ONE.
ABGT 700.
Saturday morning started the same way any festival morning should...
With more food.
William made breakfast burritos, everyone got ready, and we loaded up on Tylenol because every muscle in our bodies had apparently decided to remind us about Friday's hike.
Then it was back to The Gorge.
Another mile.
Another hike.
And finally...
Back to the dance floor.
We were about four artists into the day when suddenly giant red warnings appeared across the screens.
EVACUATE.
High winds were moving into the area.
At first, the weather didn't seem bad enough to justify evacuating everyone, but security wasn't taking chances.
Thousands of people started moving.
And somewhere in the shuffle, William, Peter, and Krysta got separated.
Krysta found our friends David and Teagan and stayed with them. Before long, about ten of us were huddled together underneath a blanket trying to figure out what was happening.
Then William called.
He and Peter had found shelter...
In the porta-potties.
And William told Krysta she might want to get over there because rain was coming.
He wasn't kidding.
The rain started POURING.
Soon, everyone was being told they had to leave the venue completely.
Suddenly, nobody knew whether ABGT 700 was going to continue.
You could feel the disappointment everywhere.
For us, it hit especially hard.
We had spent months traveling across the country to get here. This was our first ABGT milestone show, and we'd built an entire journey around reaching this moment.
And we certainly weren't the only ones who had traveled a long way to be there.
What Krysta didn't realize at the time was that while William and Peter were hiding in the porta-potties, William had managed to finish almost an entire bottle of wine by himself.
Combine that with exhaustion, rain, confusion, and the disappointment of thinking the event we'd traveled across the country for might be over...
And William had a rough moment.
He got far more drunk than he intended and ended up lashing out at a few of our friends.
It wasn't his finest moment.
Thinking the show was over, we started making the long walk back toward the car.
About halfway there, we found some shelter under a building and sat down at a picnic table.
Peter, Jose, and Krysta asked William if he wanted to try going back.
He did.
So...
WE TURNED AROUND.
After already hiking toward the car, we made the trek ALL THE WAY BACK to the venue.
And when we got there...
ABOVE & BEYOND WAS ON STAGE.
THE SHOW WAS BACK!
We couldn't believe it.
We rushed toward the dance floor and made our way into the crowd.
William stayed for a little while before telling Krysta he was going to the bar. She wasn't exactly convinced that was the greatest idea considering everything that had already happened, but she told him to go ahead.
Except...
He didn't go to the bar.
He went back to the car.
A few minutes later, he texted Peter to let him know where he was.
So Peter, Jose, and Krysta stayed.
And what happened next made every mile, every problem, every hike, and every soaking-wet piece of clothing worth it.
We watched Above & Beyond at ABGT 700...
In the pouring, freezing rain.
And it was MAGICAL.
There we were, soaked from head to toe, freezing cold, surrounded by thousands of Anjuna family members, watching the group that had inspired this entire journey perform at The Gorge.
It wasn't the ABGT 700 experience we'd pictured in our heads.
It was messy.
It was cold.
It was exhausting.
And it was unforgettable.
Eventually, the music ended and reality returned.
We still had to walk that mile back to the car.
Again.
By the time we made it home, everyone was wet, freezing, exhausted, and ready for sleep.
And sleep we did.
Sunday morning brought another change.
Jose packed his things and decided to head out.
Krysta made omelets for William and Peter, and after the craziness of the previous two days, the three of us made a decision.
We were sitting out Anjunadeep Open Air.
Our bodies were exhausted.
William was VERY hungover.
And watching the livestream from the comfort of the RV sounded pretty amazing.
Meanwhile, William had some work to do.
After Saturday night's rough moment, he started sending apologies to the friends he'd upset.
Approximately 1,000 apologies later...
The rain stopped.
We looked at each other.
And you can probably guess what happened next.
"Should we just go?"
Yep.
WE WENT BACK.
And we are SO glad we did.
William, Peter, and Krysta headed back to The Gorge for Anjunadeep Open Air, and Sunday ended up being exactly what we needed.
We danced the night away.
We spent time with friends we hadn't gotten nearly enough time with during the previous days.
And somehow, before the weekend was over, we found ourselves becoming part of an entirely new group of Anjuna family.
Because that's the thing about this community.
You can arrive knowing a handful of people and somehow leave feeling like your family got bigger.
When midnight arrived, ABGT 700 weekend officially came to an end.
We headed back to the RV one final time and, once again...
CRASHED.
The next morning came with a goodbye we weren't particularly excited about.
Jose was picking Peter up and driving him back to Seattle since they both had flights leaving from there.
We got up early, said a very sad goodbye to Peter...
And promptly went back to bed.
After four days of music, dancing, hiking, rain, laughter, exhaustion, old friends, new friends, a few mistakes, a whole lot of apologies, and memories we'll probably be talking about for years...
Our Road to ABGT 700 had reached the destination we'd been chasing since Florida.
What an adventure it has been.
But if you think the end of ABGT 700 means the end of our journey...
Not even close.
It's time for the NEXT adventure.
And like we told you last week, this next one might just be the adventure Ivy is looking forward to the most.
She just doesn't know it yet. 🐾
First, we have four LONG days of driving ahead of us.
So for now...
We'll see you next week from the road.
See you down the road. 🚐❤️🎶
