JACT Under The Big Sky 2021

It was Christmas morning 2019 when James & I watched my 72-year-old mom open her gift… a ticket to join us in Whitefish, MT, to see Emmylou Harris at the 2nd Annual Under the Big Sky Music Fest! We enjoyed the premier event so much that we had planned our return before leaving. Once we saw the line-up included Emmylou, we wanted to help mom check off her list the lifelong desire to see this multi-Grammy-winning Country Music Hall of Famer. Before I immerse you in my detailed account of our adventure, here's our video!

Right away, you may notice the time-lapse from Christmas 2019 to July of 2021… yes, the 2020 festival was postponed due to the Pandemic. We opted to keep our 2-day festival tickets & in exchange, the Outriders organization added a free Friday night of music for us the following year! Most of the original line-up signed back on, including Emmylou, but now we were getting 9 more performers!!

The three of us hit the road in Big Blue on Wed, July 14th, pulling our trailer Truedat to Spokane to have dinner with friends. Dad stayed behind to care for the parrot, the dogs, cats, horses, goats & chickens. You are laughing at how he has embraced caring for all the critters if you know my dad! Thurs, we continued into MT to stay a night at the 50,000 Silver Dollar Bar & Casino taking advantage of the free parking with power on our high rolling adventure. We barbequed cheeseburgers, mixed some cocktails & cranked our Big Sky Fest playlist. Warming up for the big event!

Fri morning, we drove 3 hours to check in to Mountain View RV Park in Columbia Falls, MT, located just 3 miles from the venue. Nestled into our own personal space with full hookups, we sent up our drone to spy on the Scout & Gather Campground across the street for dry campers. It looked brutal. The vehicles were all packed into the lot like sardines! We basked in our space, ate some lunch then left for our free night at the festival!

The music fest takes place on the 350 acre Big Mountain Ranch which boasts of two stages, rodeo grounds, a creek, and spectacular sunset views. There are paved pathways to tread in flip flops or boots, whichever you choose, but it is a lot of walking. I took it slow with mom, stopping to rest & gander often. Upon entering, James hightailed it over to the Great Northern Stage with our lawn chairs to claim our spot.

The venue designates where lawn chair seating starts, so as to open the stage area for standing. You need to arrive when the gates open to get prime real estate in the chair section, but it’s yours until you leave. We pick our home base according to the artists we want to see then leave our chairs to visit the other stage anytime. This worked well for my mom, who couldn't trek back & forth a ton between stages, & the first night was all about Dwight Yoakam & Ryan Bingham both scheduled on the same stage.

So I'll be upfront... there are pros & cons in taking my elderly mom on this adventure. We were fine slowing down our pace, but of course, her stamina was not the same as ours. We knew up front she could not stay out late & it tore us up to leave during the last act Fri night to get her back. Billy Strings started at 9:30pm & was our favorite performer of the entire weekend… we watched the first 10 minutes, then gathered our chairs & drug our feet the whole way back to the truck. But hey, we will see him again & my poor mom was exhausted.

She slept well that night & Sat morning woke excited for Emmylou. We ate a good camp breakfast cooked in cast iron on the propane stove then dressed in our festival attire. She looked awesome & all day, people of all ages stopped to tell her so! You literally see every fashion at this festival… which mom embraced & made her mark.

We took in all the festivities this day, watching shows on both stages, shopping at the vendors, eating lunch & dinner, cheering at the rodeo, relaxing by the petting zoo & watching 20,000 people! My hippie mom enhanced her experience with some edible gummies while James & I maintained a slight beer buzz for most of the day, although I quit early as the DD for the night. Our exciting discovery of the day was Paul Cauthen, whose country voice can't be ignored & whose attitude & passion rocked us. James listens to him all the time now.

Emmylou was, of course, all my mom had dreamed she would be. We walked up close to the stage, which wasn't as crowded as it should have been, as many kids weren't interested, & that worked out well for mom. Some groups were very intoxicated, & I became her bodyguard, taking the brunt of sporadic collisions making sure no one knocked her down.

I gazed upon my mom, having one of her best days... and I choked up. I hid behind my sunglasses as love leaked out of my eyes. Then I laughed when a handsome drunk cowboy wanted to know her story. He talked a long time & shared pictures of his fiancé, which, honestly, mom couldn't see. We were rescued from his endless chatter when his friends claimed him, but mom planted a kiss on him before they stole him away. LOL

By day 3, I explained we would not be leaving early for the final night, so mom gladly stayed to relax at the trailer, content with her festival experience. It sucks that some method of re-entry can't be compromised by the organizers so that I could take her “home” after half a day & then I be allowed to return.

However, it was a relief not to worry about how she was doing, so James & I cut loose without her. This final day was hotter & in the 90s, & the thick smoke from state wildfires irritated our eyes & lungs. After the first few hours of festivities, we spread a blanket in the shade by the petting zoo & power napped!

We got our second wind well before the final performance of the night, which was my favorite artist Tyler Childers. I love his edgy songwriting & I could have died when his beautiful voice rang out over the mountains. I wasn't his only fan; people went crazy for him & knew all the words to his songs. I had to laugh, though, when he covered a Kris Kristofferson tune that stumped the younger crowd. I really enjoyed the gal sitting next to me who came to the festival on her own just to see him. She was young, confident & exuberant. She'd scream & exclaim with joy, "Mother Fucker!" She changed something in me… that term in my life had only been heard in rage & anger. She said it over & over until I was laughing & shouting it with her!

We stayed 'til the show was over & didn't even bother to rush out. Why fight with 20-30 thousand people all bottlenecking to leave? We let the tide pass by while we stayed seated in our lawn chairs… in the dark… eating our leftover pizza, LOL. Then we packed up to meander at the back of the line, waiting our turn. It took quite a while, but by the time we reached the truck, the parking lot was starting to empty. We drove 5 minutes back to camp & snuggled into bed to rest up for our trip home.

We left first thing in the morning, making a stop at the St Regis Travel Center for some huckleberry ice cream & souvenirs. James then drove us to Airway Heights, WA, where we parked for the night. Made it home the next day to my dad & the critters, who were glad to have our company again. Another adventure checked off & what a joy to help mom with her bucket list! #JACTventures