Sunday, July 20, 2003

:: Merritt Mountain Music Fest ::

PART 1: AN OVERVIEW

I've just returned home from Merritt where I spent a week in the scorching hot sun drinking my face off and listening to some good country music. It was a wicked week overall - I met tons of cool people, partied with a lot of friends - it was awesome.

The festival could have very easily been called the Dirt Festival, as high winds and dry conditions combined to coat everyone and everything in inches of dirt and dust. It was pretty gross, and my tent was so dusty I basically slept in dirt (and when the cooler spilled, I basically slept in mud).

First of all, here are the cast of characters: Me, Chris, Ian and Jeremy were there first. on Sunday. We waited in line until the gates opened on Monday and we finally got a spot in Tent City around 4 PM on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday, Kyle (my cousin Tracy's fiance) and his friend Neil drove up and the partying officially started. Next up, on Wednesday, came my cousins, Tracy and Jen, Jen's boyfriend Dave, and Tara and Leslie. Also there were two friends of Jen's - Allison and Alicia. On Thursday came the last of the party-ers, Kyle's friends Craig, Fraser, Steve and Sheila.

We spent most of the first few days just hanging out in Tent City, although we went down to the infamous campsite C a few times to check out the craziness - loud music, guys ripping around on Harleys, beer bongs, Wet T-shirt contests and all kinds of debauchery.

:: Beer Bong ::

Speaking of beer bongs, Chris was hitting them hard. There were all kinds of elaborate bongs around the place, and at one time, we had a cool one too, but it sat around uncleaned for months and got moldy. So instead we had to break out a beer bong that Chris and his friends made in like grade 10 - an old, dented 2 litre 7-UP bottle and a piece of stolen garden hose. Compared to other bongs in Merritt, this one was disgraceful. So much in fact, that at first Chris didn't want to even bring out the "ghetto bong" until after it got dark. We all did a few bongs, but on one day, I think it was Wednesday, Chris did about 16 or 17 in one day, then passed out at 2:30 PM and didn't wake up again until 9:00.

Jeremy also made a name for himself with the beer bong while we were still waiting in the lineup on Sunday. He was already pretty drunk, then some people came around with a beer bong and convinced Jeremy to do a few. The first one didn't only have a beer in it, it also had three-quarters of a mickey of Fireball in it. Then, soon after, he did a bong with one beer and a large glass of rum and coke mixed together. He didn't puke, but needless to say, he was done for the rest of the night. However, he was recognized throughout the week by those who saw him on Sunday, and "Hey! It's Tan-Jacket!!" was heard on more than a few occasions.

Also, in an impressive display of beer-bongery was my cousin Tracy. She doesn't drink beer, and refused to do a bong all week. Finally, when he was drunk, Craig offered her $60 to do one. She was worried that she would puke, but she did it very well, and pocketed 60 bucks from a slighty poorer, drunk, Craig.

:: Intensity in Tent City ::

While it was widely known that for partying, Campsite C was the place to be, we did our best to make Tent City a good spot to party. Between us and some people we met from Chilliwack, we partied pretty hard, and it was lots of fun. The partying in Tent City culminated with 2 drunk topless girls making out in our very own campsite, and for nothing more than a string of beads that somebody offered them, Mardi Gras style.

NEXT UP: THE QUOTES

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