I know what you’re thinking, you guys met on-line right?
As this seems to be the norm today, and it almost seems odd now. Or does it? Actually no, I didn’t meet her on-line, I met her in-person and had a crazy first date.
I went to a Funk Music festival this past summer in Northern California called, For the Funk of IT. Being a big music fan, I always want to find opportunities to listen to interesting new bands and even hear new genres of music.
My buddy Steve goes to this event yearly and camps with his RV for the weekend. He has an Early Entry pass from last year, which was honored to let him have early access to the park. Since he drives a big RV, I decided just to stay with him. We arrived on a Thursday evening before the event kickoff on Friday.
The event was in Oroville, CA, at the Lake Concow Campgrounds, which is somewhat near (west of) Lake Tahoe, Reno, and about 90 miles Northeast of Sacramento.
The campsite was great as we could walk to the event and get away from it when necessary. The area is somewhat remote, therefore it has limited cell phone service. It is apparently known for not having Verizon cell service and limited other services accept for AT&T, which for some reason works swimmingly.
To Set up Camp
My buddy Steve setup and cooked burgers over the fire and partied a bit Thursday evening. Late that night, a small RV with group of five women came and camped in the spot just to the right of us. The weekend just got more interesting.
The ladies came in late and other than setting up the camper and trips to the rest room they didn’t venture out much. The next morning I crawled out of the RV and hit the restroom.
As I was walking in, around the corner of the building I ran right straight into a woman and big mess of hair. She had a wild afro that was all over the place. I duck around it before saying, “uh” and then “good morning” and she laughed a little and apologized for being in the way. With no time to spare, since all that beer the previous night was calling on my bladder, all that I could say was “no prob,” as I maneuvered past her.
Later Friday morning, we decided that we really needed to eat breakfast, so Steve set up his grill and with the intention of cooking eggs and bacon.
The ladies next door had been shuffling around and trying to set up camp. Just then, three of the ladies came over and asked if we had experience with setting up the camper, to level it. I said “no idea.” As a mixed guy from the city I had never camped before, but as an experienced RVer, Steve jumped to it. I didn’t mind because he left behind two of the women, and the one that I had apparently run into this morning.
I hadn’t noticed how beautiful she was as I ducked the hair, but I was a little captivated with her dark eyes, and noticed her curves.
She had since fixed herself up a bit for the trip next door and was intent on apologizing to me a second time. This time I laughed and said sorry for ducking you. She said Ieshia forgives you. I said “okay,” before asking “who is Ieshia?” She said she decided to adopt that name for the weekend since she was letting her hair loose. I said great, “I’ll be Steve Erkel” as I was planning to be a geek for the weekend. We both laughed, and after talking awhile I found out her real name was Tina.
Plan for the Festival
We spent the morning making breakfast and chatting back and forth between the two campsites. I set up the picnic tables so they were right next to each other as I wanted to continue the conversation. The two campsites merged into one.
I asked Tina if she had been to the festival before, and she said no. Her friend had dragged her for the weekend. As it turns out she had just broken up with her boyfriend and wanted to get out of town.
Since I had never been there before either, I asked her if she would go with me and we could get lost together. She agreed and since the music was starting at 6:00, we met at about 5:00 that night and walked over together to grab some food before drinking at the event. She looked great with her big hair and dressed in some sort of flowing hippie top and tight shorts, and I was happy to go together. We had a fun time getting to know each other and we were both glad we went early with just the two of us.
Steve showed up about 6:30 with the other four ladies, beaming as if he had just won the lottery. He was holding court with all of them after showing off his manly camping skills, talking about the festival and cracking jokes. I thought he actually stood a pretty good chance with a couple of them. They grabbed something to eat and Tina and I continued talking. We all went on to the concert, and as the bands started playing we all got pretty excited.
That Night at the Festival
Since I do actually geek out for the music, (yeah I did do that) my favorite band was Sal’s Greenhouse, although the Grease Traps were great. We danced for hours and we all let loose a bit. We had some beers and I pulled out the flask I has stashed. There was also a lot of smoke to go around at the festival, as it smelled like a weed factory. At the minimum, I got a contact high as those around me imbibed in whatever was floating in the air.
Steve and the ladies got in on the act, and I think may have even done some other psychedelics. I cannot confirm nor deny anything. Tina said she had never done anything like weed before and wanted to try it. I tried to stay out of the fray but again, it was everywhere so I’m sure my body didn’t get away without absorbing some of it, maybe through osmosis or something. Things got out of hand for the most part and we all got separated throughout the night except for Tina and me.
Hours later and late into the evening after we had had enough, we made our way back to the campsite.
Tina went by her friends RV, but it was occupied with someone sleeping. Steve and at least two of the ladies were engaged in activities in the RV, so I just reached in a grabbed a blanket. Tina and I spend the night sitting by the fire and then fell asleep on the blanket under the stars on the ground near the fire.
She had to get up and leave the next day, so in the morning we exchanged number since we did live close to one another. We went out a few times after that, but sometimes life gets in the way, and we lost contact with each other eventually. But that was a memorable night and a great “first date” to remember…
