Dates: 7/25/22 – 7/31/22
Miles: 3 (how pathetic!)

Commentary: I know I said last week was my first week of training. But considering it’s mid-September and I’m just now writing about the last week of July, it’s safe for me to say that it wasn’t my first week of training.

Anywho…

When I moved from California to Idaho I took two weeks to explore and hike before finally making my way to Idaho Falls. My circuitous path meant no destination was too far out of the way. I had just finished a book called The Cowboy Way, a memoir that took place on a ranch in White Sulphur Springs, MT. Of course I had to go.

White Sulphur Springs is a small town with a relatively large downtown area considering the population is less than 1,000. One of the shops I stopped in had posters from a local music festival – Red Ants Pants. Some of the headliners were quite impressive. I made a mental note to look up the festival and see if it would be worth going to.

Last year went by in a blur, and I didn’t get tickets to Red Ants Pants. But after perusing their website, I definitely wanted to check it out. Their campground rules said, “No running on the dock. Just kidding, we don’t have a dock.” Little comments like these were scattered throughout the website. Sounds like my kind of folks!

The day tickets went on sale for this year’s festival I bought festival and campground tickets. My husband mentioned Red Ants Pants to a friend of his, and she told him her aunt has gone every single year since the festival started. He got the aunt’s contact info, and we made plans to meet up.

After a miscommunication Thursday night, we finally parked our van near the aunt’s campsite on Friday morning. By 10:30am we were in line for the festival gates to open at noon. Much to my surprise, once you set up your chairs inside the festival grounds you left them their the entire weekend. So, getting in first to get a good spot was key.

The festival grounds also had two areas. One was for chairs only, and behind it was an area for tents, canopies, or whatever you wanted. We found a good spot close to the stage but not too close. Between sets my husband and I chatted with the folks behind us. All of us instantly hit it off, and just like that, we acquired a handful of new friends.

One gentleman in particular, Dave, got my undivided attention for a bit because he used to live in my hometown! It’s not often I meet anyone who has heard of Shingletown, CA, and it’s even more rare to find someone who has lived there. He now lives a couple of hours north of Shingletown, and my husband and I promised to visit someday.

By the end of the festival, I didn’t want to leave. I sent my boss a message and asked for Monday off. We had such a good time and met so many amazing people. The musicians and bands were great, the atmosphere was more than welcoming, and Red Ants Pants is now my favorite music festival.

Training Journal exercise fitness garmin journal running strength trail running training