There is always magic at Horning’s Hideout, and this year’s Northwest String Summit was no different.   Those of us from Portland always feel so lucky to live near a place like Horning’s.  In the past, it has been the ultimate setting for some incredible stories, experiences, and adventures.  We expected nothing less as we rolled into this year’s String Summit, the annual bluegrass music festival that is held at Horning’s Hideout every year.

First we had to survive the scare of losing our tickets!  My girlfriend Christy and I searched through both our places for about 2 hours before we finally realized that they were gone for good.  Luckily we made a final effort call to the box office, planning to beg them to replace our tickets so we could get in.  But there was no begging required!  They re-issued our tickets and left them at will call for us.  Disaster averted!

We manged to find a good spot up in the hills at Horning’s, close to our group’s regular spot.  We were a bit more spread out this year, but that was okay.  It gave us some good excuses to wander around to visit people.

This was my first String Summit without my daughter, and it was definitely a whole new expoerience.  The one aspect of the festival I was able to really take advantage of was the performances!  With all the distractions of Horning’s, my daughter usually likes to go wandering most of the time we’re there, and then catch a set or two of music, as long as there is hooping involved.  This year, I was able to really enjoy the music, and dance like crazy!  The dust bowl that is created at Horning’s is stuff of legend, and this year didn’t let us down.  I must have breathed in a whole hand-ful of dirt and dust.  Did I care?  Hell no.  I was having way too much fun!

The festival ran from Friday through Sunday, and bookended our trip with two more nights.  On Saturday, I wandered around with my camera, hoping to capture the feel and the warmth of the weekend.  There were so many great kids to shoot at the Kids’ Parade, as well as all the crazy and free people dancing to the bluegrass music.  Late Saturday night (or should I say early Sunday morning), a few of us wandered down to the lake, hoping to catch some of the sunrise bubble making that goes on across the lake.  While we found no bubbles, we turned the journey into a peacock feather hunt that lasted until the sun was high in the sky.

Overall, the weekend was full of great moments with close friends, powerful and energetic music, and lots and lots of hill walking.  Our feet and bodies were tired, but it was all worth it!