Hey Everyone!
I'm back from my weeklong vacation up in Rhinelander, Wisconsin
(and finally posting about it a month later...whoops!)
And you know that the only reason that I would go up there for an entire week, with horrible cell service mind you, would be to attend the 39th Annual
Hodag Country Festival!
As soon as it turned into July, I was just itching for the day to come when I could pack up my car and head up north.
This year, Mom, Dad, and I decided to go up a day earlier than normal (Tuesday instead of Wednesday) so we could be settled in a day earlier than everyone else and be ready for the chair line.
Honestly, it was a great idea.
Day 1:
I got up there around 6:30pm, and Mom, Dad, and I went to a bar a little bit away from the grounds called "The Jailhouse". It's your average pub, serving food (if I remember, their Tuesday special is 10 tacos for $10! What a deal!) They're also overlooking water and have a boat landing right in the parking lot (which is cool if you need to grab a bite to eat after being on the water all day). We had the sausage and bacon pizza, which was pretty good!
We got back to the grounds, I got my
ever so lovely orange wristband and overflow camping/parking pass and unpacked to settle in for the night. Friends of my parents' (John and Tracy) stopped by for an hour before it started to rain. Later that night, Mom, Dad, and myself settled in to play a few rounds of Mom's favorite game, Sequence (Dad didn't quite get the hang of play a card-grab a card). We couldn't wait until the next day to for the surprise of being the first there.
Day 2:
Everyone getting settled in.
Waiting in the chair line
Got our chairs down!
Got the best seat in the house for the weekend, next to Uncle Jill (or apparently my grandma, says the jewelry man)
We woke up with no rush (just the way we like it) and anticipated everyone's arrival. The Waltz's were the first to arrive, followed by Hannah, Becky&Jim, and Uncle Jill&A1. They all unpacked and settled in then we put up the carport so we could enjoy the hot, but with shade.
It was pretty hot and sunny while sitting in line waiting for them to let us put our chairs down, but honestly, I'll take hot and sunny over raining, cold, and hailing any day. We sat where we pretty much always do, and it's always
prime. After we settled down, Mom, Dad, and I got a fish fry and then we headed to 'the pav' for some merch. Apparently when you spend so much you get a free mug thing? Neat.
We went back to camp and got settled in for the night, started a fire, y'know the whole shebang.
We went to bed and that was that.
Day 3:
The essentials
Thursday was nail day
Apparently Thursday was also cold, rainy, and have Myia be sick, day.
Thursday is always pot luck day, which was m-m-m good! Always is. So much dang food.
After the pot luck, we were still all huddled under the carport as it was raining on and off and pretty chilly. I had to put on my pants and close toed shoes, along with three shirts and a hat and a blanket...I'm pretty sure I had a cold..great. Patty and Gretchen came up to join us Thursday. Gretchen brought some sunflowers and honestly, it did liven up the carport in the damp weather :)
Uncle Jill, A1, Mom, Dad, and I decided to stay back and not go to the shows and sit in the wet.
Mom, Dad, and I played a few rounds of Sequence again, Hanna told me my fortune with a deck of playing cards (she was surprisingly accurate), and UJ and A1 spectated. Dad and A1 started a fire while UJ
tried to light a (30 year old) mosquito repeller. The rest of the night was pretty much just that. Also felt like I was going to die while trying to get to sleep, but that's another thing.
Day 4:
Friday was Margaritaville Day! My Great-Uncle Howie hosts Margaritaville with his buddies and family. They whip up about 400 margaritas with their gas powered blenders. Although it was raining a bit, we stuck it out and went, with the help of our lovely chauffeur, Tracy. We spent an hour or so drinking margaritas and schmoozing with family. We went back to camp, grabbed everyone else and headed to go see
Lauren Alaina. She was pretty good! Packer jersey and all. Then, the
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band came on! They were fantastic. Honestly never thought I'd say that I had seen them in the flesh. Ahh! (Currently listening to 'Mr. Bojangles' and you should too).
Thomas Rhett was the closer and he was pretty dang good too. Not bad to look at either ;) Mom, and Dad headed back early and I stayed back till the end. Eventually we got back to camp and sat around the fire. We laughed, and drank some more, then it was time for bed.
Day 5:
'Lois' and I
Back row: Matt, Jaeke, Jim
Next row: Chris, A1, myself, Becky w/clay head, Mom, Pam, Dad
Middle row: Ken, Jean, Amber, Dawn, Hanna, Patty, Jack
Second to last row: Randee, Gretchen, Uncle Jill, JoAnne
Front row: Rachel the selfie-stick extraordinaire
(Missing Mike)
Saturday was 'Murica Day. As you can see, I opted for stripes, Mom was my stars. I figured overalls were a good idea, it was the perfect temp, and you know that when you bend over or lift up your arms, your butt crack won't show :) All of us ladies donned star spangled flowers, pins that told everyone to, "drink up bitches!", and our pull-tab bracelets made by Randee.
No rain, and beautiful temperatures at about 72, Saturday was perfect!
The lineup for Saturday was as follows:
Clare Dunn (we didn't go down to see her),
Dallas Smith (same),
Jana Kramer (She was pretty good! Tiny too. We caught the last bit of her set),
Montgomery Gentry (They always put on a good show, good times had all around!), and
Jake Owen was the closer. He was fantastic, his music was lively and fun, the horns were a great touch (I posted a photo to Instagram earlier in the week and his horn players' Instagram liked it!). Dad really enjoyed the horns, even though when he expressed how much he liked them, he called it percussion, silly dad. I think Jake got a few downloads from my father the next week. We had jello shots all day, I ran out of drinks (but not like we don't bring enough to quench everyone's thirsts, thanks again, Dawn!). It was a fantastic night!
After the show, we went back to camp and unloaded. Amber and Rachel invited me to go with them to a campsite with a bunch of their friends from Polonia, WI. We played corn hole (of course) and watched as people got locked out of their campers, showed us some drunken pda, spilled, and fell down a lot. I also apparently offended a small, inebriated, shirtless man who wanted to play guitar for us, but meh. After a couple of hours we walked back to camp and went to bed.
Pro Tip for Hodag and personal reminder: Overalls are not the most convenient outfit, especially once you've broken
the seal.
Day 5:
(I'm gonna warn you, this one is a little wordy, so bear with me)
This was the exact moment I fell in love with harmonica players, more specifically, Chris Janson.
Sunday, as you can see, was a very wet day. They don't call in 'Rain-lander' for nothin'! I don't think I saw a single person without some form of rain protection (i.e. poncho, hoodie, ran coat, rain boots, or umbrella (which is not permitted! naughty naughty). We didn't go down to the show to see Cam, but we got there around the time
The Brothers Osborne were finishing their set (Mom really wanted to see them) and we sat to watch everyone else. There was no way we were going to miss
Neal McCoy, I mean,
he's Mr. Hodag. When we got to our seats it was only partially raining, we figured that we could easily sit through it without ponchos.
Terri Clark came out and did a great set, she still looks amazing! Also, she's a packer fan, so we like her. We gave her a standing ovation and she was flabbergasted that we wanted her to come back for another set,
surprise Terri! We loved you!
I remember Terri Clarks set really well because before she started, Mom and I went to go grab some vittles and I found some loaded Mac N' Jack bites (deep fried mac n' cheese made with Monterey Jack) and
holy balls were they deep fried bites of
heaven. Uncle Jill agreed.
We went around to look at what every stand had as far as trinkets and attire. The usual random sunglasses, expensive boots, woven everything, knock-off t-shirts (which also had bamoo (I'm assuming they meant Bamboo) pillows, and Quin (queen?) pillows as well.
I'd like to know where the bamoo grows.
We went down to the band merchandise tent and they didn't have any Brothers Osborne merch, so Mom was a bit peeved, so we went back to the seats and watched the rest of Terri's set.
Chris Janson was on after her and all I can say is, I'm in
love. Too bad for me, he's married and has a little baby girl. That string bean of a white boy can play the hell out of a harmonica. He was flying all over the stage, jumping up and down, flailing his arms all over the place,
holy spit-fire. As soon as I heard that man
play his harmonica, it was all I wanted to hear for the rest of my life. Okay, I might be a little over dramatic, but seriously, the kid is good.
Towards the end of his set, it started to downpour pretty good. Everyone was soaked, and we were totally okay with that because we were having a good time!
People were handing out plastic artificial insemination gloves in-between Chris and Neal, because for some reason, that's Neal's thing? Any who, people get them and blow them up and wave them around when he comes on, and we all go crazy. He called us crazy (and stupid) for standing out in the pouring ran for so long just to see him. Well, Neal, we'd probably stand around in
light snowfall for you too. He didn't climb on top of the stage like he usually does, most likely because he would've slipped and fell but, he did bring out his two youngest grandsons, and they were super cute! His band always has a great time, and we love them every year. People always say to us, "well, don't you get a little bored with seeing him every single year?" and we tell them, no
frickin' way. He's definitely one of the best entertainers, red-blooded American, drinks just about whatever people throw on stage, and wears whatever people give him. For a guy who is almost 60, he doesn't show it on stage.
After Neal was done, Uncle usually does her 'end of the 'dag 5-point cartwheel' but she took a tumble the night before and couldn't do it, so Rachel did it for her.
We then all packed up our chairs and coolers, and walked back to camp as it was all said and done. It stopped raining, and we played a new game. Joe Santagato calls it "Watch Ya Mouth", you basically wear a cheek retractor (like the ones used for teeth whitening) and you say phrases and hope your team can guess what you said. Someone got all of us on video singing David Allan Coe's "You never even called me by my name" (darlin') so, whoever has that, I'd love to see it ;)
After a few rounds of that, the group was a little too inebriated to continue on.
Everyone keep your cheek retractors for next year!
Monday was pack-up-and-go-home day. Hugs and good-byes all around. Not like we never see each other, but it's still sad-ish none the less. A few campers (not in our group) had some trouble packing up and getting their RV's out of the park because the ground was so soggy. Bleh!
On my way home, I always have this like slight depression that it's over because it's what I look forward to ever summer. I can't help but feel humbled because of the wonderful people that I get to spend my week with are some of my very favorites. I love every single one of them!
Overall, it was a successful Hodag. My
9th Year (although I skipped a few years in-between).
I met some great people (JoAnne, Jack, Ken, Jean, Amber, Patti & Gretchen) come back again!
Jack, the game for next year will be 100% re-vamped, and ready for next time!
Hopefully next year is less damp, and even if there isn't a whole lot of sun, warm weather is all we ask for.
Neal McCoy says 330 days 'til next Hodag!
If you've gone to the Hodag, let me know your favorite part of the week was, and if you didn't go to the Hodag but went to another music festival, let me know who you saw!
Hope you all had a great July and are enjoying the last bits of your summer!
xoxo
