Friday, July 4th
Alex and I pack up the van and head towards Aspen, Colorado for the Wanderlust yoga festival. One of our favorite musicians, MC Yogi is playing on Saturday at 6 pm and that's really about all we know. And that neither of us have ever been to Aspen, so it will be a fun journey.
We don't leave Ogden until about 3 pm and it's about 446 miles to Aspen. (The day before we volunteered at the Michael Franti Soulshine yoga and concert event in Salt Lake City and didn't get home until 1 am. It was a great experience!).
We hit the road and head toward Vernal, Utah. We stop for gas just outside of Duchesne and on the wall of the gas station is a flyer for an Indian pow wow happening nearby and I tell Alex I've never been to one. As we drive up the road, we start to see long lines of cars going to the event and decide to stop and check it out. Just as we walk into the main area, the Calling All Nations event was beginning. We are some of the only white people there, and as the hundreds of Native American Indian people filed into the grounds in their full regalia, I sit on the ground and begin to cry. It was one of the most beautiful and sacred things I have ever witnessed. Stunningly beautiful costumes, drums beating in time with my ancient heart and people singing and chanting....I feel so very blessed to be there. After I gather my composure, we walk around and look at wonderful crafts and I purchase a beautiful dreamcatcher for the van. We munch on delicious Navajo tacos and roasted corn and leave the grounds just as it's getting dark. We end up sleeping at the visitor center/rest area in Jensen, Utah just outside of Dinosaur National Monument. We have a wonderful sleep and wake up feeling rested and ready for adventure.
Saturday, July 5th
We get an early start and head down highway 139 to I-70 where we head east through Grand Junction, Rifle, then a left at highway 82 through Carbondale and Basalt and finally roll into beautiful Aspen around 2 pm. It is hot as hell. We find a shady place to park the van and stretch our legs walking through town. We ask the visitors center about the Wanderlust event, where to park, and I ask if they know a good place to park the van overnight. There is a woman there who tells us about a parking lot near the event that is out of the way and no one would bother us there (and more importantly, we wouldn't bother anyone else) for the night. So nice when that happens.
Aspen is high up in the Rockies and I am definitely feeling it. We drive to Snowmass, just outside of Aspen and climbed even higher to this little ski resort town. There are lots of yogis everywhere and the event is a huge, corporate 'do. We walk around looking at the many booths selling shirts, yoga mats, Ganesh statues, books, vegan food, flow-y yoga pants, music, water, and so much else. It is a little overwhelming and I am a little high from the altitude. We buy our tickets for the show, get our chairs out of the van and settle in for some great music. MC Yogi and DJ Drez are fantastic. We have seen MC Yogi several times and had the pleasure of practicing yoga with he and his wife Amanda in Provo and at their studio in Pt. Reyes, California.
More people start to arrive for the next two bands, Nahko and Medicine For The People and Jurassic 5. We really enjoy Medicine For The People and the beautiful vibe that is flowing forth. Everyone is dancing and swaying, happy and smiling.
There is a long period of time before the main group, Jurassic 5 and more and more people are filling the hillside. There is so much (now legal) marijuana in the air and the vibe is changing. The hippy-dippy tattooed yogis are gone and young soldiers of party town show up with pipes filled, edibles eaten and dancing shoes on......
We don't leave Ogden until about 3 pm and it's about 446 miles to Aspen. (The day before we volunteered at the Michael Franti Soulshine yoga and concert event in Salt Lake City and didn't get home until 1 am. It was a great experience!).
We hit the road and head toward Vernal, Utah. We stop for gas just outside of Duchesne and on the wall of the gas station is a flyer for an Indian pow wow happening nearby and I tell Alex I've never been to one. As we drive up the road, we start to see long lines of cars going to the event and decide to stop and check it out. Just as we walk into the main area, the Calling All Nations event was beginning. We are some of the only white people there, and as the hundreds of Native American Indian people filed into the grounds in their full regalia, I sit on the ground and begin to cry. It was one of the most beautiful and sacred things I have ever witnessed. Stunningly beautiful costumes, drums beating in time with my ancient heart and people singing and chanting....I feel so very blessed to be there. After I gather my composure, we walk around and look at wonderful crafts and I purchase a beautiful dreamcatcher for the van. We munch on delicious Navajo tacos and roasted corn and leave the grounds just as it's getting dark. We end up sleeping at the visitor center/rest area in Jensen, Utah just outside of Dinosaur National Monument. We have a wonderful sleep and wake up feeling rested and ready for adventure.
Saturday, July 5th
We get an early start and head down highway 139 to I-70 where we head east through Grand Junction, Rifle, then a left at highway 82 through Carbondale and Basalt and finally roll into beautiful Aspen around 2 pm. It is hot as hell. We find a shady place to park the van and stretch our legs walking through town. We ask the visitors center about the Wanderlust event, where to park, and I ask if they know a good place to park the van overnight. There is a woman there who tells us about a parking lot near the event that is out of the way and no one would bother us there (and more importantly, we wouldn't bother anyone else) for the night. So nice when that happens.
Aspen is high up in the Rockies and I am definitely feeling it. We drive to Snowmass, just outside of Aspen and climbed even higher to this little ski resort town. There are lots of yogis everywhere and the event is a huge, corporate 'do. We walk around looking at the many booths selling shirts, yoga mats, Ganesh statues, books, vegan food, flow-y yoga pants, music, water, and so much else. It is a little overwhelming and I am a little high from the altitude. We buy our tickets for the show, get our chairs out of the van and settle in for some great music. MC Yogi and DJ Drez are fantastic. We have seen MC Yogi several times and had the pleasure of practicing yoga with he and his wife Amanda in Provo and at their studio in Pt. Reyes, California. More people start to arrive for the next two bands, Nahko and Medicine For The People and Jurassic 5. We really enjoy Medicine For The People and the beautiful vibe that is flowing forth. Everyone is dancing and swaying, happy and smiling.
There is a long period of time before the main group, Jurassic 5 and more and more people are filling the hillside. There is so much (now legal) marijuana in the air and the vibe is changing. The hippy-dippy tattooed yogis are gone and young soldiers of party town show up with pipes filled, edibles eaten and dancing shoes on......
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