Well, I am just coming off of a physical, emotional, soulful, and enjoyable music festival.  I was lucky enough to pull out of town Friday morning with my family in tow, to enjoy the Fort Desolation Music Festival in Torrey, UT

My head is resonating still with amazing sounds from passionate people who are in love with their craft.  My liver is still processing the beers that I challenged it with - so it got me thinking.  Did I do it right, was my cooler properly packed, and how did I pick those special festival beers?

While I reflect on the weekend, I am thrilled that we have the opportunity here at RoHa to host a similar, but smaller-scale event next week.  We will have the local music, and the local arts and crafts, and we will be showcasing some local art with live mural art, and live chalk art (for all ages).  The Kensington Street Festival will take place next Saturday, August 27 from 1 - 8 pm, on the street in front of the brewery - which will be closed to the public.

As I thought through my beer selections Thursday, I tried to think ahead, what would I want in 3 days at 2 pm - pffffttttch, I have no idea.  I’ll tell you my cooler ended up with 3 beers, and 2 seltzer waters in it when I returned home on Monday - so not bad from a volume standpoint.

First, I have never been to Torrey, UT, and I have never been to a multi-day fest with onsite camping, so we are breaking into new territory.  Torrey is an amazing place - to visit, and an exceptional place to hear live music.

Upon arrival as the gates opened, there was some stress about getting “the right” spot for the weekend.  Nearby the right amenities (music and porta potties), with a view of the stage, and far enough away from the mass gatherings that our kids might sleep a full night.  We found it, the perfect 20x30 spot to call home for these four days.

The camper was set, and we started seeing and hearing some of the sites and sounds as bands started their sound checks.  A couple of chairs on the tailgate of my truck, and cold beverages were almost mandatory. The lineup for me started with some easy-going crisp Three Deep Blonde Ale, that quenched the thirst, and minimized the stress of setting up the perfect campsite.  I knew this beer would be a go-to throughout the weekend, so I did bring a lot of these.

As the afternoon progressed, I wanted some hops, but I wasn’t quite ready to go above that 5% level of alcohol yet - so I poured a few High on the Hop Lazy IPAs to keep the vibe rolling.  Gates dropped at 5:30 for an opener at 6:30.  We cheffed up a little dinner, and made our way inside the festival.  At this point, I knew where the night was headed - and I was thrilled to be in this place, with these people - and I went for it.  I took it up a notch, to the 8% easy drinking level and tried out our Big Green Couch DDH DIPA.  It's big, it's green, and it's packed with that hop aroma I was ready for.

These sent me.  So I had to take it down a little for closing out the night.  So I backed down a bit, and went for our False Prophet Hazy IPA, a newer beer for us, so I haven’t really figured out where it lives in my quiver.  But it was the perfect quencher, backed off bitterness, and pounded with those tropical fruity hops that we have all come to know and love.  A successful first night landed us in bed at a reasonable hour - to prep for the next day.  As I will later learn, sleeping for a full night is an unusual occurrence at a festival, and sleep deprivation becomes a hot trend the next few days.

We woke up at a reasonable hour, breakfast on the griddle, and the kids and wife are in good spirits.  We wanted to see the area so we pulled on our hiking shoes and headed out for a hike and lunch.  This was a perfect way to go, and yes, I had packed a few Gemini Seltzers for just this sort of occasion.  Warm temps had us hunting for water, and we found a nice spot by the Fremont River [LINK] to dip our toes and skip some rocks.

Day two brought bigger headliners - so of course, we wanted better seats.  Waited in a short line with a “Red Butte” type frenzy at the gate and a scramble to get blankets and chairs down.  Gotta reserve that real estate!

As evening turned into night, I followed the same general beer path on night two, but I was setting up for what I thought was going to be a much later night of consumption - and boy was I right.  With the discovery of a “secret stage” for a show-after-the-show that cost me a few additional late-night beers, I was more ready for bed than ever before.  I made a few missteps as well in my calculations and consumption rate.

By day three - I felt like a festival regular.  Get up stretch the legs, find a short activity (on or off-site), eat some food, and start the day of live music.  

The lineup was amazing, and I was so stoked that I was introduced to some fantastic new artists.  One of these artists we saw on the big stage the second night, Marty O’Reilly & The Old Soul Orchestra [LINK] - absolutely blew us away.  These kids were not just up there to play music and entertain, there was a sense of passion towards the music they wrote and played, the instruments that allowed them to project their passion into our ears, and the way they seemed to dump their hearts into every note and every lyric.  We were stunned.

OK, we are off track now.  But, let me tell you, we stayed up way too late the last night, kept our kids up way too late the last night, and probably exposed ourselves and our kids to one of the coolest experiences of our lives.

Back at the secret stage (remember the secret stage?), beer in hand, we huddled up close to the stage to see who would be presenting - well lo and behold, out walks Marty and his band.  Barefoot, standing in the grass, encouraging the 50 of us to come closer, bring it in, and become a part of the music experience.  We sat up front, within 4 or 5 feet of the artists, who once again, stroked our eardrums with amazing sounds, and a deep passion for what they do.

As I reflect on festivals and beers, I guess what the weekend turned into was a new experience for me and my family.  Beers were certainly present, and I was glad to have a variety of beers to enjoy throughout the weekend, but the music and the camaraderie between campers really had a bigger impact on the experience.  I challenge you, to get out there, take a risk, and go do something you’ve never done before - and take the perfect beer line-up for the occasion!