Our adventure starts on Thursday evening around 10:00 pm when I was picked up by the party bus, opporated by Montreal's finest, Thierry Emard, and packed full
with 8 of the most wonderful individuals I never knew. Destination: Salmo, British Columbia. Reason: Shambhala Music Festival. With a sold-out crowd of 10,000+ people, and a lineup including A. Skillz, Excision, Beats Antique, Bassnectar and a few hundred other artists that transcend the usual ranking of musicians into a finely selected group of elitists all brought together for one reason, to party like it's the armageddon at the best damn music festival BC has seen this year! Sun down to sun up, we drove the packed out school bus from one side of the province to the other, passing some of the most amazing landscapes under the cover of night, as well as stopping and absorbing the views once the sun came back to show us what it was we were driving through. Interior BC is a very beautiful place, indeed!
Twelve hours later, we finally arrived in Salmo. Although the drive was over, the excitement was only beginning. You see, only 3 of the 10 people on the bus had tickets, and with the festival being sold out,
that didn't leave to many options for the rest of us. Good thing the magic school bus comes equipped with a couple hidden nooks and crannies to stow away enthusiastic festival goers, but the yang to that yin is the fact that an abundance of original artwork graffitied all over the side of the ride turns the camper into a cop magnet. With a mere 3 kilometers to go before we reach our finish line, we get snagged by the fuzz. Boo!
As these sort of situations go, one cop was not enough. No no no, a bus like this deserves at least 5 cops, and if available, might as well throw a drug dog in the mix.
After an grueling search through everything in the bus, the police deemed us clean in the illegal substance category, but decided the bus wasn't safe for the road, i.e. not enough seat belts for the amount of passengers, low tread on a tire, loose battery box and so on. Final decision, impound the bus. Not exactly what we were hoping to hear. Luckily, T is quite the convincing conversationalist and managed to talk the police into towing the bus onto the private festival grounds and letting us deal with the fabrications afterwards, but not before taking the license plates to make sure we weren't going to be driving anywhere.With the tow truck on the way, everything started flowing in the right direction again. Only problem now, those of us who were looking to sneak in were left with no other option than bushwhacking for a few hours. Now, I have no problem with trekking through the woods, but in my mind it seemed like a much better idea to take advantage of the stow pockets in the bus, so with everybody's backs turned, I jumped in and crawled under the bed, with Thierry right behind me to secure me in with a sheet of plywood and a handful of screws. Operation sneak-in was now well under way!
Now, this cubby I was quietly stowed away in had plenty of room for me to stretch out, but the lack of airflow turned it into an oven, slowly baking me away with every gruelingly bumpy second. After about 5 minutes, the smell started coming out, and I can honestly say that it was up in the top 10 worst smells I have ever experienced. I was really beginning to worry about by health and hygiene when I was reunited with T, Gaz, and Even, and informed that the odor wasn't coming from me, but a 1-year-old subway sandwich that had been discovered in that corner just before departure. Quite a relief to hear. The ride wasn't quite over yet, though. There were still 2 checkpoints I had to make it through: one for drugs and alcohol and another to check tickets. Thirty some odd minutes more in the incinerating stink hole, and the anxiety was over. We were in!
Only a few hours later, base camp was set, and the rest of our lovely crew came strolling out of the forest with equally as entertaining stories and an overwhelming urge to get the party started! So, with no further ado, I give you this past weekend at Shambhala! The lights, the artists, the activities, and all the beautiful people who made this past weekend everything I never could've imagined it would be!
And now for the nights. Purely magical...
Thanks again to all the wonderful friends I made this weekend! It wouldn't have been the same without the presents of your presence!
Now all there is to do is get myself ready for this weekend. Biggest mountain bike festival of the year up at Whistler, and somebody's got a media pass...
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