Home for Zac Brown Band!

Ok, so I've been a little slow in making this update because I am leaving for a conference this weekend and have been preparing a presentation and a poster.  That combined with posting pics, working on my area survey and wedding stuff has left little time to work on regular blog posts, but it seems I've finally found a little window of freedom. :-) This past weekend, I traveled up to Bristol because my mom had acquired tickets to see Zac Brown Band.  They were playing as the big finale concert to Fun Fest in Kingsport and it definitely sounded to be an awesome time.  Maricruz was, unfortunately, unable to go due to some stupid work stuff so my buddy Dustin came up from Birmingham to join in the fun.  Luckily I was able to hit the road early enough on Friday to get there in time for an evening wakeboarding session.  I got a few pics, but I was brain dead apparently and didn't set things on my camera the way they needed to be leaving me with many blurry pics like below.  Some still came out kind of cool, but I definitely need to learn to think about everything going on with the camera a little more if I want to improve my photography Saturday Dad joined us out at the lake for a morning session.  My sister came out this time so we had an official photographer and some better pics :-)

Dustin stylin' a grab

Scarecrow!

Nothing makes a grab more stylish than a great mustache

I love me some roast beef

Dad still tearing it up too!

After riding we ran by the wakeboarding store to get some new bindings for Dad's board, then had a relaxing midday at the house.  My folks often go to Inari Wines for a little local Saturday wine tasting, so we all partook then headed towards Kingsport.  We stopped by Fleet Feet to get me some new running shoes (some snazzy Asic Kayanos) then parked and headed towards the festivities.  After perusing the food tents, we all ended up having some barbecue (and I went the extra fatty mile to get some banana pudding as well) then it was time to join the mob trying to get into the stadium.  The concert was outdoors (read: very hot) in the high school football stadium.  We weren't interested in sitting in the sun for too long, so we didn't get there too crazy early.  It was mostly lawn seating and we were front row, but the view still wasn't too shabby. There were two openers, who were both pretty good (though I don't recall their names) then it was time for ZBB!  They definitely put on a good show, though I must say it was a little more of a mix than I was expecting!  Some songs are pretty country, others bluegrass, a couple pretty slow ones, then one super jam (with psychedelics on the jumbotron) that was semi-Phish/Grateful Dead-ish.  Got to hear some tracks from the upcoming album and it was kinda cool having the moon rise behind the stage as they played. (sorry for the dark, cell-phone-quality pic) Since the concert marked the end of Fun Fest, they even put together a big fireworks show!  It was pretty darn impressive given the venue.  We watched for a while then headed out and we could hear the explosions of it continuing well after we hit the road. After we got back to the house, Dustin and I drove out to the lake and it didn't take us long to crash.  Two wakeboarding sessions already and neither of us have been riding lately. :-) Sunday we had another morning session.  Dustin decided to wakeskate and I did a little boarding then a wakeskate session as well.

Going for the shuv

And a nice butter slide

Definitely accidental

Almost had the shuv!

After we rode, we packed everything up and Dustin and I hit the road back to our respective homes.  It was a fairly brief trip, but we definitely managed to pack in the fun! :-)

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