The Nice Family Merritt Tour 2006!

 

Tracy (Marketing & Administrative Assistant Arbutus RV Nanaimo location), husband Duncan and their daughter Molly heading off to Merritt

AKA Diary of the Mountainfest Virgins

Day 1

A Brit, an aging rock chick and an 8 year-old girl – an unlikely group to be heading out to Mountainfest, “Canada's Biggest Country Music Festival”.

Unlikely, but very lucky and excited to be given the opportunity to experience cowboy country. My husband Duncan, daughter Molly and myself moved to Vancouver Island three years ago from England and aside from a few trips to Vancouver and a couple to Whistler, we haven't seen anything of the mainland. At this particular point in time however, we're just so thrilled with our beautiful Class C that we're having a hard time tearing our attention away from all the great features of our “home away from home” for the next four days. Not that there's much to distract us as we've just driven into the dark lower deck of one of BC Ferry's finest.

Well, we've reached our first night's camping spot, The Wild Rose Campground near Hope. What a beautiful drive through the Fraser Valley! Fantastic mist and cloud shrouded mountains encompassing deep green fields, barns, and the massive Fraser river. They're probably nothing compared to the mountains we'll see tomorrow but rising up from the valley floor they sure seemed impressive today! It's nice to see some of the places we've heard people talking about – like putting a face to a name. It truly feels as if we're in the midst of a ‘Beautiful British Columbia' TV commercial.

“The Majestic Mountains of British Columbia”

So, settled into our cosy site we start to unwind and kick back. Molly can't wait to climb into her ‘Fort' bed, Duncan and I are enjoying a beverage and we're all really looking forward to tomorrow's main event – Merritt!

Day 2

We wake to rain (on the roof), cows (in the pasture behind our RV) and rainbows – spectacular vivid arcs stretching from one side of the valley to the other. After a truck stop breakfast we head to The Coquihalla. We keep saying to each other how lucky we are to live here. It isn't long before the mountains turn to rolling hills and we see our first sign for Merritt.

We check in, get our wristbands and head to our site. Feeling like old pros (having done it twice) we whipped up the awning and lawnchairs in no time, and then headed out to explore.

“Setting up camp in Merritt”                              “Exploring Picturesque Merritt”

 

 

 

Things are pretty quiet on the Mountainfest front – it's only noon though so most people, those without children anyway, are probably still in bed. We head back to the Citation for a bit of lunch and a game plan for today's concert viewing.

Dunc starts things off by heading out to ‘The Pumphouse Saloon' for a 2:00 show by Rose Ranger. Hhhmmm, name's familiar, could it be our very own Arbutus Rose appearing under a stage name? She has the voice for it. Then again, maybe not, I'll have to wait for Duncan's review when he returns.

In the meantime, Molly's still having fun exploring the RV. She's discovered that you can reach the rear storage space by crawling under the bed and has decided to set up camp there (under OUR bed!) for the time being. Not for long though ‘cause we're all heading over to the Mainstage for the Opening Ceremony soon.

“Molly's secret hiding place”

 

Wow! What a night! Backstage, under the stage, directly in front of the stage – what an experience! We get our VIP feet wet at the Opening Ceremony. Molly loves being right up close and personal. First up was Amber Nicholson and, at only 16 years of age, she's close enough to Molly's age that I can see my daughter imagining herself up on that stage some day.

We catch some of the house band, March Hare, and then head back to Mainstage for Aaron Pritchett. Now, confession time, I'm not the biggest country music buff but I've got to say that so far everyone we've seen has been great and I particularly liked Aaron & his band. The main event of the night was Big and Rich. They put on a dazzling stage show and performed their huge hit “Save A Horse Ride A Cowboy”. There's was the perfect act to satisfy the crowd and a real test for the big new sound system. They cranked it up and it was booming well past the back of the crowd.

 

“March Hare” Merritt House Band                   “Big & Rich”

I ask Molly to jot down her thoughts about Merritt and here's what she writes:

(this is Molly speaking – the little 8 year-old girl!) I'm in Merett, thaugt i whoud never settle down in Meret but after I saw a little bit of a show I think i will settele down in these next feuw days. iv made friends. i am feeling better now. I have a big YEE HA!!!!!

What a busy day! We all drop into bed and fall asleep to the sound of music playing in the background.

Day 3

Okay, we've obviously been having too much fun. Turns out that there were three bears right outside our RV at 4:30 this morning! Half the campsite was here, flares were being set off, everyone was in a frenzy of excitement and fear – and we slept right through it! Duncan's SO disappointed. He's been aching to see a bear up close ever since we arrived in BC. Oh well, maybe they'll return tonight and we'll be with-it enough to notice.

We head into the town of Merritt for a bit of a stroll. It feels like a western movie set with all the clapboard and timbered buildings. The Coldwater Hotel looked particularly nice. We kept expecting John Wayne to come sauntering around the corner. Molly and I browse the stalls at the street market and come away with a few mementos of our visit.

Back to the site we realize that it's really like a large friendly village here. We're already on a first name basis with a few of our ‘neighbours' and more than a few faces have become familiar. Molly's made a couple of little girlfriends and she spends hours playing Polly Pocket under the awning with her new-found buddies.

We've also settled into a bit of a routine. The daytime is family time but around 4:00 Duncan heads over to the Pumphouse to take in an act or two. He's started giving them marks out of 10 – today's got an 8! We're also really enjoying ‘Annie Okie's Karaoke'. We can't get over the quality of the ‘amateur' singers. We are entertained by an amazing young boy, couldn't have been more than 12 or 13. What a great way to catch the stars of the future!

One of the acts I personally have been most looking forward to is Michelle Wright. I wasn't disappointed. She put on a great, simple, show. She seems such a genuinely lovely lady, the kind of person who'd be more than happy to drop by for a visit and a chat with any of her fans. She's just returned from entertaining our troops in Afghanistan and the experience has so affected Wright that she's thinking about writing a book. A great entertainer with a huge heart.

“Michelle Wright”

The light at this time of the day (8:00 p.m.) makes the Mountainfest setting particularly beautiful. All the shadows and highlights on the hills and rocks, with the backdrop of the deep blue sky, make for a stunning vision. We've had perfect weather so far. 24 degrees, puffy clouds, breezy and bright – so much for dire warnings about furnace-like temperatures!

“View from the top”

I headed out to Main Stage around 10:30 to see some of Martina McBride's set. She was running late so I got a chance to see the last of the Little Texas concert. I don't know if it's the new sound tower, the setting or the company but I do know – I'm really enjoying ‘country' music!

Martina appears and sends shivers through the crowd with her mesmerizing and explosive vocals. Looking around me I see a whole new side to the Mountainfest site at this late night show. The Pumphouse Saloon Beer Garden, virtually empty in the late afternoon, is now a heaving party mass. The concertgoers who surged in at 11:00 a.m. to get a prime viewing spot are now being rewarded with great views of the amazing performance. Everyone looks happy – it's fantastic to be a part of it all!

 

Day 4

Another perfect day in the neighbourhood and the Nice Family is up for it! We start off by heading across the river and up the steep track to tent city. It sure is a different world. Everybody's friendly, if a bit dusty and tired. Noon is just WAY too early to rise when you didn't get to sleep ‘til 4:00 a.m.! There was a steady stream of people and coolers headed down the path as we clambered up – all headed down to the river for the popular Merritt daytime pastime of soaking up the sun, sipping a few beverages and admiring a few bods.

The views from tent city took in all of the thousands of tents, RVs and people spread out across the rolling acres. You really have to see it from here to appreciate what a huge undertaking mounting this festival is. We've met a few of the volunteers but we can see that it must take hundreds to keep this party up and running.

It was a really exciting Pumphouse session this afternoon. Duncan and I got to ROCK. Sweeney Todd with Nick Gilder lit up the stage with a blistering performance that was enjoyed by all. We followed this up with the Dr. Hook show at Mainstage. He's a favourite at Mountainfest and his big moment was when he unleashed the well-known “Cover Of the Rolling Stone” and had most of the audience singing along with it. Not bad for a song that was a hit 33 years ago.

“Dr Hook”

Travis Tritt ended the evening with a two-hour plus performance. The crowd was pumped and ready for him and he gave them what they wanted with pure country that lasted into the night.

Tucked up in our cozy quarters we had the unexpected bonus of being able to enjoy the brilliant fireworks display from our bed. What a treat, what luxury!

Day 4

A Merritt sunrise, a first for us. We were given the opportunity to experience this breathtaking sight by our campground neighbours who decided that 5:00a.m. was prime motorcycle time. I'm thinking many people may have been slightly (!) annoyed to have been disturbed from their sleep but, after the initial shock, we were grateful that we had a chance to see such a beautiful sunrise.

“Merritt Mornings”

 

Things got quiet again very quickly and we were able to catch a few more hours of sleep before packing up and heading home - full of the stories, the excitement, the experiences and last, but certainly not least, the dust, of Merritt!