So as we arrived back home we were hitting the ground running. Not even a few days later we were headed to our favorite yearly event- Salmonfest!
Serenity was the perfect home base throughout the weekend. We paid for a parking spot for all weekend that landed us right next to the event- so after a 2 minute stumble and we could be home.
My buddy with the other Dolphin camped in his truck right next to us- and was our companion for a few days of the festival. We ran into some friends of mine from high school that I hadn’t seen in forever! We spent some quality time playing cards and enjoying some drinks in Serenity. On the other side of us we had a small group with a pop-up tent that definitely kept us cracking up the whole time! It was a perfect setup.
Later that afternoon, after my friends from high school had left I ran into an unexpected issue- all the power in Serenity’s camper was out. I started trying to trouble shoot it- and it didn’t long after I popped the hood before I was surrounded by people trying to help. I super appreciated it and everyone had their own idea of what could be wrong. One of the people though, stepped up and gave some suggestions and then let everyone else try their ideas. He waited patiently till the other people petered out and left, and then let me know he was a mechanic. He stayed and we worked through the steps on what could be wrong. Eventually I went back to check the fuse box for the camper- lifting up half of the galley seating while I told him my observations. As I leaned over the compartment I looked up- and the answer was staring me right in the face. On the cabinet next to the seat I was looking in was the battery / converter switch- and it had been switched to the converter position. In other words- it had cut the power from the camper battery off… right where Laura had been sitting when we played cards. 🤦 I laughed as I told my new mechanic friend and flipped the switch. Instantly power was back- and a few hours of my life were gone for no reason.
But not true! Laura’s butt might have killed the power and wasted my time, but meeting our new friend was totally worth it. That’s when I officially met Nick Tucker! I chatted with him for awhile and we hit it off well! I took his number, gave him a million thanks, and we parted ways for the time being. With the issue resolved, I went to awake my napping butt-switcher. 💑🍑
Funny side story Laura just told me… So I guess Serenity’s last owner had a similar tale. His wife took their gran-kids camping, and that evening when she went to turn on the lights but they would not turn on. So they spent that night and the next day with no power until he traveled up there and met up with them the next evening. He immediately fixed the problem with a flip of a switch. So with that… we have officially continued the butt-switching tradition in Serenity! 🤣
We volunteered with The Cook Inlet Keeper again, and had a fun time doing it all weekend. We even got the praise that we were there #1 volunteers and would be first on the list for next year!
We were tipped off about a band playing at the festival I had never heard of. We decided to go watch their show that night and it was way more awesome than we expected! That is when we discovered Wookiefoot! We were treated to not only some fantastic music- but their performance was so shockingly amazing and professionally done we were caught in awe of what we had stumbled into. It was all done in black light, with crazy costumes that lit up accompanied by fire spinning and topped off with coordinated dancing. Positive vibes all the way around! Now we are huge Wookiefoot fans! 😀
We didn’t think anyone could compare with Michael Franti & Spearhead’s show from last year. The main headliner for this year’s festival was Jason Mraz! I was stoked but even after demoing his whole discography Laura was still skeptical that he could pull it off. Man was she wrong- it was absolutely an AMAZING show in it’s own way. We were fortunate enough to catch the last show on his summer tour- so we were getting the perfected experience. Jason and his band’s heart shone through their music so brightly that the vibes were intoxicating throughout the whole crowd. It was a perfect night to remember! After 3 days of fun in the sun, we were pretty worn out.
We made our way home that Sunday, and as we finally showered and relaxed for a few minutes, we came across an unexpected Facebook post- Zac Brown was going to be playing that night in Homer. We looked at each other, and though we were tired we decided destiny was speaking and we had to go. I made a point to call my new mechanic friend Nick to thank him for his help when even more exciting news happened. He and his girlfriend were in Homer, and he had just helped someone fix their boat engine. That person was so grateful that they paid him a couple hundred dollars- and when I told him about the concert that night he wanted to buy our tickets and join us for the show! It’s kind of ironic though- we all paid to get in but we were able to park Serenity in a position where we could watch and listen to the whole show right from the parking lot!
So we stayed the night there- having another great evening. What an amazing weekend!
Geoff Murphy 3/1/2020