Wow. I can think of no other word to describe the greatness that was ACL. It wasn't just the great music (although, there was plenty of that). It was a combination of the group of friends, the amazing rent house, the beauty that is Austin... it was just a mostly perfect weekend.

We arrived on Thursday. We went to the grocery store Thursday night, and stocked up the fridge with a lot of beer, and a few snacks.

So, Friday, we walked seven minutes from our front door to the festival. We got hooked up with some wrist band. We saw Blues Traveler, and then discovered that our passes got us free drinks. Ruh roh, Raggy! After that show, I started drinking. We'd wanted to get back over to catch The Black Keys. I think we made it for some of that show, but it gets a little hazy at this point. I distinctly remember lying down in the grass and taking a little catnap.

Woke up during Spoon, and decided it was time to head back to the house. Washed my face, hung out for a while, and then went to bed.

Saturday, I woke up, cleaned up, and then had to leave. I had to work Saturday night. I drove all the way to Dallas, worked my shift, and left to head back to Austin immediately after. I was gone from 1:30 pm until 2:20am. Got back in time to enjoy quite a house party. Still pretty bummed that I missed a lot of great shows on Saturday, but to dwell on that might ruin some of the greatness. It was no fun to miss out, but there's still plenty I enjoyed.

Sunday, when I woke up, I cleaned up again. Then we decided to see Flaming Lips. We had artist passes for Sunday. So, we went backstage, but it was full. We went around the other side, but it was full, too. Then, someone in security said "if you have artist passes, you can watch from the soundboard." So, we pushed through the crush of people. Stepping over blankets, trying to maneuver around clumps of humanity and taking a long time to get in there. On the way, one of our party said "excuse us, we're going to the soundboard" as we tried to squeeze by. The lady rolled her eyes at us and replied, "yeah, I'm sure." So we made it to the barrier. The guy opens the gate, and we began to dance. It was a pretty great show. They closed with Do You Realize, which is already a lovely song, but will now forever remind of that beautiful time and place. After the show, someone threw a water bottle at us. Whatever, hater. Don't be mad because we are where you wish you could be.

I opted to go home and clean up after that show, since we were going to see Blues Traveler at 11pm at a club. So, we headed over to that little bar to see the show. We once again had all access passes, so we were just chilling backstage before the show. After the band walked out, we went to a little gated area next to the stage. They put on a really great show, and we had a ball, dancing, singing and drinking.

We went back to the house for one final gathering. Another long, great night with amazing people. I was slightly amped up after the whole weekend, so I was trying to clean up the house again. Shut up, it calms me. One of my friends kept saying, "Just relax. Relax. Settle down." Helpful hint: telling me to relax repeatedly does nothing to relax me. It actually only makes me more tense. I finally managed to settle down.

Today, when we got up, we opted to not fight traffic, but to bum around Austin a little, get a bite to eat and then head home. We ate a really delicious late lunch, and went back to do one final clean up, and get on the road. I was all alone in the car, so I made a lot of phone calls to people to keep me company. Finally rolled back into Dallas around 10:15pm.

I don't know if all this typing I'm doing is conveying how much fun I had. I'm so grateful for everything that was provided for me this weekend. I simply had the greatest time. It was amazing, and I can't even write about all of the things that happened. Some things must be left out to protect the not so innocent, myself included.

I loved it there, and I only hope we can have another amazing trip like that. So many people provided the greatness, and I would love to be able to give something back to them. All I can do is say THANK YOU!!