OUR ROCKIN' THE HILLS ADVENTURE!!

This is the story of two sisters who left their husbands at home in order to have a good time! Just another version of Thelma and Louise only no one gets killed, no trucks are blown up and my name's Mary and her's is Josette. We were ready for 3 days of classic rock music. 23 Bands from the seventies and eighties were featured to play near a little North Dakota town called Bottineau.

We left for the Hills of Bottineau the morning of June 24th. The sister had arrived from Minneapolis on Tuesday night and had made plans to leave my nephew with the grandparent's. There was nothing and no one to stop us now!


Here's our camping spot. I refer to it as the swamp. Our's was the last spot in the row. Any more rain and we would have floated out there with the cattails. Fools would drive around the backside of our camper and each time the road would get alittle muckier. One guy's girlfriend got her car stuck so he got the bright idea to strip naked, crawl under the car and attach the tow rope. Too bad he didn't do a better job of attaching the rope. It came off with the first tug. He got a butt crack full of mud for nothing.


At first glance you might think the people on the hill have a better camp site. MIGHTY dang tough to level a camper up there. And many's the poor drunken tenting fool that rolled over his buddies in the night. That hill side was packed by Friday night and so was the rest of our swamp.

Like I said we were in the swamp and here's the snake to prove it! I thought he was cute but the sister wouldn't let me feed it. She said it would just follow us home. It was so wet in our spot we actually got stuck just parking in our space. A fellow with a tractor gave us a little tug backward and then we were able to get some traction. When I was gone finding the man with the tractor, Josette had to explain to some enebriated boob that "Sunday Worship", listed on the program, was NOT a band scheduled to play. Hey not that we didn't become enebriated boobs later but I think this guy started in the 70's and hadn't stopped yet.


This is how things looked early on Friday. Unfortunately this is when the Minot newspaper took their photo. It just doesn't do the event justice. Trust me, it got much more lively later that night.


This is one of the many security guards patroling the grounds. Nice bunch of guys, really. When my sister left work on vacation for this concert her boss said, "Just don't get arrested." And she meant this with all sincerity. Apparantly our reputation is well known. Anyway the first two days security was thick. Why, there were helicopters circling the grounds nearly nonstop. I quess there were some uneasy people worried that there might be riots on schedule. (Remember ZIP TO ZAP?) When no real trouble appeared security lightened up. Just for the benefit of my sister's boss we had a photo taken with this friendly fellow. That's as close as either of us came to getting arrested.


This was my favorite band!! Steppenwolf!! Fantastic sound! This picture was taken on Saturday. Joan Jett was great too, she played on Friday. I had never been a big Joan Jett fan before but she made me a convert. We had the most fun on Friday and Saturday. These two days had the older bands and an older crowd. Everyone had fun and got along. Things got a little bit tougher Saturday night when the younger crowd arrived. Oh, well. I think next year they should have a designated "mosh pit". Only I would rename it "The Darwin Pit." Enter if you dare, and if you survive fine, but don't expect anyone to save your sorry ass. Heart was also mighty fine. Although only Ann Wilson was there. Nancy, her sister was on a sort of maternity leave. Ann did some Led Zepplin songs that were fantastic!


There were a couple of older gentlemen running tractors with wagons. These fellows drove up and down the hill between the camping area and the concert arena giving rides to the concert goers. With all the stops they would make to pick up passengers it was quicker to walk up but a ride was much more fun! I think there were some people who never actually made it to the concert area they just rode the tractor all day! Drinking beer and showing their sign reading "Show us your Tits! Actually a very nice bunch of guys,...really.


Now this is more like it! The press missed the real show. This was early Saturday evening. Notice alot of rain slickers? Yes it rained. But it wasn't a real big deal. We brought rain gear and wore hats. The rain didn't really hurt anything other than delaying the concerts on Sunday.


These are some of the members of Molly Hatchet. Which ones? I don't know. This was the only band that stuck around and signed autographs. I've got to pick up a greatest hits CD by these guys. They were great and so damn nice!

Just a couple of shots of the dynamic duo. Sister Josette on the left and me on the right. We had a great time at the concerts. There were plenty of different food vendors to sample and at least three bars set up. There were also some merchandise vendors. We both picked up a tie-dye tshirt dress. Don't laugh. They're gorgeous. We bought them from a couple of really neat guys who insisted we model them so they could take a picture.


This was the only mishap of the event for us. On Sunday I fell down go boom. We were walking very carefully up the hill to the arena, and yes I had a few to drink but not that much, when I had a close encounter of the mud kind. I just plain lost it. My feet flew out from under me and I fell on my ass in the mud. Well I have plenty of cushion on my ass so I just gritted my teeth and said "Oh, Well". But then I noticed my hand hurt. I looked down and there was blood oozing from my hand. Laugh if you will but I broke my thumb nail down to the quick. Well here I am in mud and blood. The sister said "Hey they have a medic tent. Let's go there." Well I know I didn't need real medical attention but I didn't want to have an open wound with mud stuck in it so I agreed so that I could at least get it cleaned up. The personal at the tent were great. Actually I think they were bored and I gave them something to do! There was only one other "patient" in the tent and I think he was just plain passed out. They cleaned me up, disinfected and bandaged me. We were out the tent when suddenly it struck me. What a fool! We promptly turned around and insisted we get a picture of these fine people! To think I nearly blew such a great photo op!


Cheap Trick is shown here. Yes they are, look close. This is when the crowd started getting a little stoopid. There was some pushing and shoving and fools who wanted to body surf. A real nice young couple, 19 or so of age, were standing by us when a body surfing boob dropped on the gal's head. It must have hurt pretty bad cause she was crying and her boyfriend had to take her out of the concert. I hope they outlaw that crap next year.


There were some really nice people at the concert and one gal was kind enough to snap this picture of us. Look happy as two hogs in the mud. Figuratively speaking of course! No cracks about our weight or I'll pound you.


This was my favorite tshirt when I was at the concerts. Alot of people seemed to enjoy it too. And it was so appropriate. You've never seen ugly till you've seen a full porta potty. EEEEWW. Oh well squat and aim.


This is Monday. I have a hangover. I can't get any traction to get up the hill. I'm not stuck but I'm not moving on this slippery grass. There were tractors going around giving people tugs out of the mud. This was a very nice young fellow that helped us out. He said he didn't have much experience towing vehicles and he wasn't sure where to hook on the truck. So we took a poll of the available males. Came to a consensus, hooked up and got pulled out. Later when I got home I learned that there is no good place to hook on our truck to pull forward and that I bent the truck strut thingys. Causing the wheel alignment to be slightly, well, trashed. OOPS live and learn next year I'll bring some sand for traction. Or kitty litter. Cause next year were going again! Hey maybe we'll even bring the husbands. If they can keep up with us!! If you can find the time you've got to come to Rockin the Hills next year. You won't be disappointed!! Good music, fun, food and people. It's well worth the trip to Bottineau, North Dakota!

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