Ok so I’m going to kick off my first official LC website forum post with a fun story… not a coming out story or a she broke my heart and it is in a zillion pieces type of story.. this is more of a get to know Heather at the core of who she is through her adventures story… a FUN story…but just so you are not deterred from reading on I will give away that a part of this story does involve a truck bed full of beautiful women.. So do I have you attention? Good 😊 Let’s carry on…. But be warned, I do have a sort of rambling Hunter S Thompson Gonzo Journalism type of gift of gab so saddle up… this is a bit wordy. But fun! Ok so Joni at the Gorge…. I’m a huge music person a connoisseur if you will. Music is not how I make a living but it is most certainly my life’s passion and pleasure. I’m a hippie at my core,  my parents were hippie types and by default I have the hippie blood running through my veins… my parents didn’t play me lullabies when I was a baby…. They played the Beatles. That being said, my gosh when Brandi Carlile announced a three day concert event that she was organizing that had the legend herself Joni Mitchell headlining the event for the first time in over 2 decades…in Washington State…at the Gorge Amphitheater… I live in Philadelphia.  The distance wasn’t a concern to me..I didn’t even think twice about buying a ticket and following my bliss…there was no way I was missing this event. So just a little background as to how special this Joni Jam was to those of us who got on the proverbial bus ( so to speak) and made the trek out to quite literally the middle of nowhere which is where the Gorge is located…. The official slogan for the venue is “middle of nowhere center of everything “ I digress, back to Joni! This was a special event because Joni Mitchell had retired from  public performances in 2009 due to a range of health issues that seemed to be a solidified decision after she suffered a brain aneurysm in 2015 that left her unable to walk or talk… wait..y’all this woman had to relearn how to walk and talk and now at the bright young age of 80 this badass is standing up on stage and shredding a guitar ( look up Joni Mitchell surprise return to the Newport folk festival). Ok ok sorry ( I digress again , I do that ) So all by myself (I solo travel ALOT) I buy the  concert ticket, I buy the plane ticket rent the truck and make my way out to the Pacific Northwest. I rent a Toyota Tacoma pickup as I like to have a heartier vehicle when I am solo traveling out to the middle of nowhere ( I do that a lot too.. go to the middle of nowhere… solo—- just call me Han 😉). It is about a 4hr drive from Seattle to the Gorge. Fast forward through a stunning 4 hr drive to my hotel which is an hour from the gorge ( did I mention the gorge is in the middle of nowhere?) I did the whole clean up and begin another stunningly beautiful drive out to the venue, a pilgrimage if you will to witness what one could only call greatness. I have decided that if I have the chance to witness greatness I should take it! Here I am driving thinking “I left early I’m just going to get there early walk around the parking lot ( hippies love a good parking lot scene) and head into the venue on the early side to find a good spot”. I had no idea at this point in time exactly how remote the venue was and that it is surrounded by long long 2 lane roads flankewd by fields that look like farm lands… think of those old movies where there is a blues man with guitar in hand standing at the crossroads in the middle of nowhere…. That is what it was! So I’m driving I start to file in behind other vehicles that are driving no doubt to the event.. and then more and more vehicles and also people walking these miles long stretches of road and then..everyone stopped.. accept the people walking … all the vehicles were at a dead stop and the road was LONG to get to the end and then there was another few miles….  I left a few hours early but with all the traffic and barely moving I was beginning to get really really nervous about making the show on time… I thought ok… I’ll miss the beginning…. And then oh shit I’ll miss the opening act… GUYS the opening act for Joni Mitchell was fucking Brandi Carlile… wait let me say that again… BRANDI CARLILE was opening for Joni that’s how big this event was in the music world… how amazing and humble is Brandi?? Seriously!! That woman owns a piece of my heart! FINALLY things started moving albeit slowly but the truck was moving and alongside the entire time there was a parade of people trekking along the dirt roads by foot to get to the venue. So I get to the end of the long road I was in and make the turn everyone was making and I see this group of women who were on foot talking to the security guard who was directing traffic… it was all moving so slow that I was sitting there and could hear their conversation with him.. turns out they had been walking for miles and there was another 3 to go to get to the parking lot ( complete shitshow!) they were tired and there was an older woman with them… so I yelled out the window to them and asked if they wanted to jump in the back of my pickup I would be happy to give them a ride the rest of the way… They were elated and jumped in! The older woman asked if she could hop in the cab with me and I said sure. She was with her 3 daughters and she raised them on Joni Mitchell and they were all going to the show together ❤️.  As we were talking I told this woman about the first time I saw Brandi Carlile live was when she performed Joni Mitchell’s album Blue in its entirety at Carnegie Hall… the woman says “wait Carnegie Hall? Like New York City Carnegie Hall?” I said yes! And then I said “Oh wait I forgot to say … I’m from Philly” ( we were all out in the middle of nowhere on the opposite side of the country) … she became so excited she said “no way! We are from Bethlehem!) - that is just outside Philadelphia—it was like instant serendipitous friendship… all of her daughters grew up in the Philly area but now lived in Washington and she flew out to go to this concert with them… Magic… old school concert magic is a real thing! We finally reach the venue and these women have a special pass that gets me special parking close to the venue (more magic) and when we park everyone jumps out of the truck super excited and happy and expressing so much gratitude… and then I say “hey guys guess what… I’m from Philly.”. then is was on!! These ladies were overjoyed at the mutual connection and gesture of me picking them up and taking them into the venue. They were hugging me and taking pics with me.. it was amazing! We parted ways and made our way into the show where Brandi and the twins were tearing up the stage with the backdrop of a beautiful sunset. Truly Magical. I wasn’t newly out, but i wasn’t out for a long long time at this point either and there was no romantic connections or interactions with any of these women that type of vibe wasn’t what the moment was about… my thoughts were: How in the world?!?!?.. like how fucking cool is it that I somehow rolled up to this musical pilgrimage to this iconic Woodstock level event with a pickup truck bed loaded with gorgeous (and I do mean movie star gorgeous) women AND we had the familiar connection of growing up in the same place and time but met here…. In the middle of nowhere… center of everything. Idk just a fun story about the amazing  connections that women have with each other. So tell me your favorite concert going experience…. Let’s share the magic 🪄!