I was up before the dawn on Wednesday and got on the road at 4:45 am CDT. My vehicle had been packed since Monday. I had thought about leaving on Tuesday and cutting up the drive but I decided to hold my horses after hearing about the flooding around Watkins Glen, NY. The weather was great on Wednesday and Thursday. I had Sbarro at one of rest stops in Ohio on the way. My goal was to get to Watkins Glen International by sundown which I accomplished. This was my third festival at this facility so I was familiar with the lay of the land. I had a great camping spot in shade atop a hill in a location in Quadratic that was closer than most of the Glen Close camping. I met all the people camping around me. Scott and his girlfiend from New York, NY, Dobbs and Tracy from Stowe, VT, and the guys who operate the Black Bear restaurants in Morgantown, WV. The vibe was great. Ryan and Heather from Auburn were camped nearby. From their makeshift living room setup you could see the lights of the stage. I was having the time of my life.
Thursday I woke and enjoyed the coffee from the nearby vendor. There were real bathrooms very close. I liked the pizza sandwiches the West Virginia guys were cooking. One wonders how many of those I would have eaten? Before the soundcheck started I walked over to the gates. They weren't letting people into the food area. The security had the gates all ready to go. They had been told to wait. 4 pm was the scheduled start for the soundcheck. Phish's buses arrived on site to the cheers of excited fans. An hour ticked by as I waited for the soundcheck to start. I was pacing around the campground wondering what the deal was. Around 5 pm someone walked by and said the festival had been cancelled. I turned on the onsite radio station The Bunny on 104.9 WNGZ and heard the official announcement about the water being deemed unsafe. It was like being gutpunched. I had looked forward to this since January and even before when the festival was in the rumor phase. After that I didn't feel in the mood to socialize. I got to sleep as early as I could. Before it started raining too hard I was able to get my campsite taken down and loaded up. I got on the road at 6 am CDT. It took me 14 hours and there were about half a dozen storms I drove through plus Friday rush hour traffic south of Chicago. It was a long sad drive. I'll always wonder what could have been?
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