On Saturday we knew we had to be on the road by 9 in order to park inside the Sorrento Centre before the Bluegrass Festival started.

We skipped the make-your-own-waffle breakfast at the motel, bought some coffee for our travel mugs and headed to Sorrento.  Once again we had no idea where we were going and put all of our faith in the GPS.

Brief recap:  rivers, twisting roads, trees, construction, sunshine, lakes, rivers, campgrounds, no place to stop for breakfast, campers, trucks, mountains.

We arrived.

Just kidding.  This isn’t our room.
We whipped out our pickin’ stools and found a place in front.Our teachers arriving!  The woman on the left with the yellow violin case will be teaching Intermediate Old Time Fiddling.

Our new home for the next six days!  The banjo case should have been a clue of what was to come, but on Saturday I was totally oblivious.  The room was perfect, set up dorm-style with twin beds and a tiny bathroom.  Our window looked out to the outdoor chapel and the picnic tables where we would eat our meals.

The cabanas looked great, but had no bathrooms.  Some folks brought their RV’s, others pitched tents.We shopped, but only ended up buying mango smoothies.  I really regret not buying a pair of these:

So…let’s review:
Missed Clue #1:  banjo case at Lodge
Missed Clue #2:  banjo earrings
Missed Clue #3:  two different festival attendees told me banjo jokes

Moving on…we took a break from the music and walked up the hill to the main road, where we ate sweet potato fries at a restaurant behind the gas station.  Fabulous food and a beautiful view of Shuswap Lake (the southern end).

We unpacked the car, organized our little room and were tucked into our cots before 10 pm.  The Lodge–two wings of 8 or so rooms with a big living room in the middle–was empty, because we’d arrived a day early to attend the festival.

Registration would start at noon Sunday.  Tomorrow “camp” would start, with a meet-and-greet BBQ at 3:30 and the first class at 5:15.

We couldn’t wait.