Sept. 7, 2010
Day 6: DMB Then Home A sore group of Huskies dragged themselves out of bed early this morning and gathered out front of the Holiday Inn for 8 a.m. practice, and a long run in the town of Wenatchee. An hour run for some, and an hour and a half for others, the Huskies were finally showered, packed up, and filing back onto the Husky-Mobile before we knew it. A quick (actually more like two hours) stop at a local breakfast place where the Husky men could be found ordering the "Big Foot" size of chicken fried steak...and yes, this was for breakfast. Back to the buses and we ventured to the town of Leavenworth, an authentic German village that finds many tourists visiting to get a taste of what Germany must be like. Entering the village, buildings have taken shape to look like European chalets and in character with true European style, boxes of blooming geraniums decorate virtually everything in the small town. Horse drawn carriages, tents set up with jewelry and paintings, crepe restaurants, and of course, gelato shops around every corner mixed with enough souvenir shops to keep you busy trinket shopping for days. Some of us enjoyed delicious homemade crepes for lunch, while others delved straight into the sweets shops, coming home with different flavors of fudge, gelato, and of course a few coffees across the board. One last stop at a local grocery store for some snacks for the concert, and it was then back to the road and on our way to the Gorge Amphitheater for the Dave Matthews Band Concert! Arriving at the concert, our Coach bus was directed to "VIP" parking where we filed off the bus, beloved tickets clutched in our hands, and directions to be back at the bus around 11:30...that left about six and a half hours of pure fun to be had. When we finally completed the long walk to the amphitheater from the parking lot (yes, runners are in fact wimps about walking), we mounted the hill and looked down on the venue. Spectacular would not even begin to describe the view from the top of the Gorge amphitheater. A towering sloped grass hill overlooks the stage and behind it, a breathtaking view of the Columbia River Gorge; a canyon that has been carved out of sandy cliffs the color of clay over hundreds of years. Being virtually in the middle of nowhere significant, the amphitheater gives the sensation that it is just you and the music. The sound echoes off of nothing, interrupted by nothing, and comparable in sound to nothing. It was incredible to say the least. With Ben Harper as the opener for almost two hours, the Dave Matthews Band finally came on stage and delivered an awesome seventeen-song show--topping it off with a two-song encore. The diehard DMB fans on the team ventured down lower on the grass slope to take in the craziness of the true fans, while others of us remained higher up, enjoying the music all the same, but more comfortable lying on blankets and cuddled up with one another to keep warm. Snacks were shared...Mikey Miller's kettle corn was demolished, Laura Schmitt's chips n' salsa enjoyed, and Joey Bywater's Teddy Grahams reminding us all fondly of our childhood lunches. Some of us danced, while others simply swayed in time to the music in true fashion with Dave Matthews's music. A fun night to say the least...thanks to Husky coaches that were "cool" enough to bring their athletes to a concert and more importantly trust that a safe and good time would be had by all. In the end, a hard and focused week of training at camp, our first meet, and a decent amount of travel time meant that a good time was in order...the DMB concert was just that. It appealed to all likes of music...offering smooth, soulful music in the same hour with some rock and dazzling lights on stage. We thoroughly enjoyed the company of one another, taking in the music while also carrying on conversations with friends and learning new things from acquaintances. A walk back to the bus found the better part of the team with smiles on their faces, humming their favorite song from the night and perhaps creating a new lyric here and there as we all grew tired. A three hour bus ride back home and a 2:30 a.m. arrival, found the freshmen practically sleepwalking back to the dorms, the upperclassmen back to houses and apartments, and virtually everyone ready to go to bed, but eager to download their favorite new DMB songs as soon as they got some beauty sleep. Will the Huskies be returning to the Gorge and the soulful tunes of Dave Matthews? As long as we're not in Terre Haute the weekend they tour Seattle, I have a feeling we'll be there, and this time with a few new acquired DMB fans :-) Day 5: WSU vs. UW Dual Thursday was a short night in the dorms, for the freshmen, that is--the upperclassmen enjoying the benefits of an actual apartment--and virtually the entire team was scrounging different dinner combinations made up purely of "camp food" leftovers. One night "home" and the Husky runners hit the road again! And so the three-hour bus ride began, riding comfortably on a Coach bus--a definite upgrade from the typical twelve passenger vans. Also along for the ride were Coach Metcalf's wife Kristen and his six-year-old daughter, Mackenzie. When we weren't entertained by Coach Metcalf's out-going personality and seemingly never ending energy, one could overhear random comments from Coach JD that were hilarious every time without fail. While Metcalf made his way around the bus talking with different athletes, little Mackenzie could be seen trailing her dad as he made unsuccessful attempts to get her to say "the word" they had apparently been practicing at home. It went something like this...Metcalf: "Mackenzie, how do you feel about this trip?" Then followed by nothing but silence and a mischievous smile from Mackenzie. Those of us listening quickly realized that Metcalf was trying to get his daughter to say that she was "stoked" about the trip, although Mackenzie pretended to have forgotten "the word" and preceded to simply look at her dad like he was crazy. To say the least, it was thoroughly entertaining. The "Mackenzie Show" ended with Mackenzie boldly (and loudly enough for most of the bus to hear) declaring that her dad had disgusting breath and that he really should do something about it. Nothing like a six-year-old to say it like it is! :-) After a quick stop for a grocery store lunch, we arrived in Ephrata, Washington and ironically, Coach Metcalf's hometown. Driving into the small Eastern Washington downtown in a towering Coach bus, kids playing on the side of the street stopped to stare and people riding bikes quickly jumped off the road to avoid being hit by the giant object lumbering down the street. It was as though we were touring a presidential motorcade through the town the way people stared as though they had never seen a vehicle so large driving through their small town! We then pulled into the parking lot of Ephrata High School, where we would soon race the Washington State University Cougars and first witness a local high school dual meet. As tents were set up and packages of waters laid out, the freshmen and other Huskies not racing headed out for a tempo run on the local Ephrata Canal dirt road. Those Huskies that were racing laced up their racing spikes and hit the course. After a near slaughtering of both men and women's Cougar teams, there was a general consensus among the Huskies: give us some water and please, please take us back to the cool breezes of Seattle. Despite the general dislike of the hot, dusty conditions, the highlight of the night was yet to come. Post-race cool-downs took place, a short strength circuit and then it was back to the buses to head to dinner at Coach Metcalf's childhood house. I could go into the details of the food (which was delicious), but I will cut right to the best part of the night. After a dinner on the back lawn, a setting that heard crickets chirping in the dusk of the late afternoon, and willowing trees shading from the leftover afternoon heat...the team was introduced to Coach Metcalf's relatives, high school coach, and high school teammate. After Coach Metcalf took the opportunity to thank his loved ones for their overwhelming hospitality, Metcalf's high school coach took the stage. He not only took the stage, I think he may have took the breath out of Metcalf for a few seconds as he delved into stories of Metcalf's high school days. As if the content of the stories weren't entertaining enough, each new detail saw the color of the ever-so-confident face of Coach Metcalf turn a darker and darker shade of crimson until everyone on the team realized two things: One, that these stories were in fact true and two, that Metcalf was, once upon a time, a hormonal teenage boy just like the rest of the male population. Loading up the bus once again, we took a short drive to the town of Wenatchee and to the every so luxurious Holiday Inn. A tired and worn out group of Huskies filed off the bus, collecting room keys from Coach Lauren in somewhat of a catatonic state that made it clear that sleep (or pure unconsciousness) was going to take place in the very near future. Room assignments were made, and to the disappointment of a few upperclassmen, random assignments were made between the upper and lower classmen. New friends were made, but only for a short time before everyone hit the pillow for a good night's rest and the best part...8am practice tomorrow!! |
