Here are the videos I took at the Glen Hansard workshop during Bluegrass.
Glen covers Astral Weeks by Van Morrison
Glen talks about the crappy altitude
Glen and Marketa cover the Pixie’s Levitate Me – Clip
Glen talks about being nominated for (and winning) the Oscar.
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After much hemming and hawing on my part, we finally left the house and hiked up Bear Creek Preserve up to the falls.
Here we are at the start of the trail:
Here are the rest of the pictures from the hike. As usual, click on thumbnail to enlarge!
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I’ve definitely done my fair share of cooking since we’ve been out here in God’s country. I already talked about the Goat Cheese Pasta I made when Pat and Steph were here.
I have also made homemade calzones, my famous Raisin Swirl bread, and yesterday I made these Apple Crumble Bars Note: my pictures are not as pretty as hers. Click on the thumbnail for the full size:
I added raisins to half of them. There are lots of crumbs because they fell on the counter! as I was transferring them to the tupperware. They mostly stayed together, and were really delicious.
I also grilled for the first time yesterday, grilling some Buffalo steaks on the Weber Grill that hardly ever gets used.
And just for fun, here is me in my new Frames shirt:
Y’all are lucky I have my iPhone, otherwise you’d have no pictures at all.
Thursday, June 19th
We certainly had a memorable start to this year’s Bluegrass Festival. We headed down to the park at around 11:30ish, arriving around Noon. My dad had gone early to set up our blankets and chairs, and it was pretty easy to find. We were pretty close to the front, right in the second section. We had easy in and out because we were right on the line that marked off the walking paths. Matt went off to explore, and I sat in one of the chairs reading Cat’s Cradle and listing to Cadillac Sky, who’s set included a kick-ass cover of Longview by Green Day.
During the set, I notice a lanky young man with bleach blond hair and a Black Sabbath t-shirt walking toward me. My heart started palpatating a little bit as he sat down on the tarp next to me. Immediately my eyes went to the tattoos on his arm: yep, I was sitting next to Ryan Adams. I, being a chicken, just sat in my chair. Soon, Matt returned, and introduced us to Ryan. Shortly thereafter, he asked if he could join us on our blanket.
Over the next few hours, we talked about everything from the setlist to what music he listens to (classical and death metal), his arthritis, his relationship status (single), other musicians (Bob Mould), Telluride, and more. He even took a phone call and told the person on the other line that he was going to hang out with his friends (us) for a while longer and not to worry about him.
He left shortly after Uncle Earl finished
their set, but not before I got a picture. We definitely bumped heads in the process of taking this picture. But that’s okay.
He came back after an hour or so with Laura Meyer, an artist who was playing in between acts. He introduced us to her and also gave us her CD’s – earlier he had talked about how much he liked her. It was a pretty thoughtful gesture.
Also, Matt mentioned to him that we had used his version of Wonderwall in our wedding. Apparently he thought that was pretty cool, and he played it during his set. We’re kind of hoping it was for us.
In addition to all that excitement, we saw Arlo Gurthrie (who told more stories than sang songs) and Ani DiFranco. Ani was great as always, and played a great mix of old and new.
Ryan was the last act of the day. He opened with Peaceful Valley, and also played a pretty okay mix of songs. I know a lot of people want
ed to hear more of Gold, but I was happy with what was played.
Friday, June 20
We really blew it out on Thursday, so we decided to take it easy on Friday. So easy, in fact, that we only made it for one set, Paolo Nutini.
Paolo was pretty awesome – everyone seemed to dig it and everyone was dancing their asses off.
After that, we went to Smugglers for dinner and just hung around the house.
Saturday, June 21
I’m not going to lie, I was pretty effing happy about this day. We went to a workshop in Elk’s Park help by Glen Hansard (of Frames and Once fame) and it was really just a really intimate concert. He played a few covers and a song he wrote when he was 16 or so. Marketa (Once) was with him, as was the fiddle player from the Frames. After their set, we stopped for a minute to get a picture with them. I also got some videos. All these are on my camera, which I neglected to bring the cord for, so those will come later. Below are some pics that Matt took. Click the thumbnail for the full size.
After dinner we headed back to the fest for the Frames. I have been a HUGE Frames fan since around 2000, so I was VERY excited to see them play. They did not disappoint, even though the next day Glen apologized for the bad energy – I thought they sounded wonderful.
Sunday, June 22
We had another easy day here. We went into the fest to see The Swell Season – otherwise known as the band Marketa and Glen formed because of the movie Once. They were just magical, playing almost every song from the movie, as well as some covers and a couple Frames songs. They finished with a cover a Heyday (of Guinness commercial fame) with everyone singing along. It was amazing.
Best. Bluegrass. Ever.
The more time I spend here, the more I realize that this really is one of the most beautiful, natural places in the United States. The fact that it is ridiculously hard to get to doesn’t hurt, either. The weather has been beautiful since we got here, and everything just seems to be a little magical.
Two days ago, we hiked down the mountain that separates Mountain Village (where our house is) to the town of Telluride. When we reached the bottom, we were greeted by the sight of a horse-drawn stage coach, which was part of Wild West Fest. Wild West Fest is put on by the New Sheridan and it’s a celebration for the boys and girls clubs – 50 kids from around the country get a free trip to Telluride and lots of stuff to do.
Past the stagecoach was what we had wandered into town for – the Farmer’s Market. Everything was there from jams and jellies to elk meats to jewelry to whatever you can imagine. I just had to buy something – so I bought a jar or spiced peach preserves (yum!) from a company in Durango (about 2 hours from Telluride) called High Desert Foods.
That night, we came home and I cooked dinner for us all, and mixed some of the peach preserves in with some balsamic vinaigrette. This dressing went with a salad of fresh herb lettuce, apples, and walnuts. Yum! The main dish was one of my old standbys: Rotini pasta with chicken, tomatoes, and goat cheese. However, since we were among vegetarians, I used seitan instead of chicken. We took advantage of the wonderful weather and sat outside on the porch.
That was our farewell dinner to Patrick and Stephanie, and life here in paradise has calmed down a bit. Matt’s nursing a blister on the bottom of his foot, so we can’t do any hiking together – but our next trail will be Bear Creek. I’ve been trying to master running at this ridiculous altitude (about 9500 feet) along the Mountain Village Blvd. Trail. I’m getting a little better each day – yesterday I only made it to the grocery store (about .75 miles) and today I almost made it the whole way, about 2 miles one way. I did not run the whole way though.
Until next time.
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The husband and I have been in Colorado since last Friday. We started out in Denver and made our way to Telluride on Tuesday, where we will remain until June 29th.
We arrived in Telluride with our friends Pat and Stephanie, and with them we embarked on an adventure that I will probably remember forever. We hiked up to Bridal Veil Falls, which was about a 10 mile hike round trip from the base of the Telluride gondola to the base of the Falls and back.
The next hike we did was from the top of St. Sophia down to the town. My goal is to do as many of the trails a possible.
Pictures will come eventually.
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I’m spending almost the entire month of June in Telluride, Co, which in case you didn’t know, is just heaven.
My goal for the month is to hike as many of the easy to moderate trails as possible in the town. Over the past week, I’ve hit four of them – 3 in one day. PIctures will follow, but just so you all know, I am in paradise. If I do not return, you know why.
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