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[Announcement/Recruitment] Up With The Stars: A Submod For A Better Second American Civil War
The Second American Civil War is a key and classic part of Kaiserreich, but while it's hardly bad as-is, it could be a lot better. Many of us have been pointing out issues with the 2ACW for years now, but the KR devs have limited resources to make tweaks - after all, it's a total overhaul mod; there's more to it than just the USA (sorry Dougie). So it's time for a submod, tentatively titled Up With The Stars: A Better Second American Civil War What are the problems with the 2ACW as currently implemented? Well, for some examples: 1) The lore is dubious in many places (notably in terms of how fast the AFP and SPA have gained support) and edging on absurd in others (the right-leaning state of Indiana is under the total control of the SPA yet the more heavily unionized state of Montana isn't; there are apparently lots of syndicalists in Southern California who can...revolt and join with the Longists for unclear reasons, etc.). 2) There are many missed opportunities - The Farmer-Labor Party has no real meat to it, and you either spend 200 political power to make it be a 'party of national unity' (despite the fact that conservative Democrats would have little interest in signing up to such a deal) or it becomes irrelevant. Meanwhile, whoever is elected gets to take a whopping one focus while in the White House. 3) The set-up for the war is opaque: how does 'The [SPA/AFP] Gains Political Support' determine whether Iowa or North Carolina stay loyal to the federal government? 4) Gameplay consists of 'spam units and overrun your enemies', although this is partially a failing of the base game. Because of other aspects of the base game, this makes the CSA overpowered even with the unit caps recently implemented (incidentally, I don't care if the CSA being STRONK makes sense based on the lore, see Point #1 above). 5) Flavor seems to have been largely put together by someone not particularly familiar with interwar American history, and while hardly bad and obviously the product of much effort there are many further missed opportunities and implausible occurrences. 6) The 'revolt behind enemy lines' mechanic is rather more annoying than fun. At the same time, the 2ACW as implemented definitely gets some stuff right: 1) The impacts of the war are felt not just in Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, but throughout Central and South America, and even to China, Liberia, and parts of Europe. Many countries have a chance to send volunteers and equipment to their preferred factions, making the war appropriately seem like a truly major global turning point on the way to the Second Weltkrieg. 2) The winning faction needs to take a long time to fully recover from the conflict. 3) Some of the events manage to effectively tell a story of a country spiraling into chaos and civil war, exactly the way playing the first year-and-a-bit as the USA should feel. Drawing from, among others, the recent suggestions of u/DexterAamo, this submod will seek to keep and improve upon what works while overhauling what doesn't. So how will this mod improve things? Some highlights:
Revamped lore from 1920 to 1936: While the USA has still been laboring in a crippling depression for over a decade, the SPA and AFP have not magically gained massive support out of thin air. In fact, the AFP no longer exists at game start, and while the SPA is undeniably powerful in certain regions it's struggling to push back against strong and organized pro-business resistance. The path to power for either 'radical' party is far more complicated and challenging now (and hopefully much more fun and satisfying to play). Meanwhile, the rise of the Farmer-Labor Party as a viable third party explains the mess of the 1932 Presidential Election and might make the 1936 elections even more of a disaster than those of '32.
More pre-war flavor: Experience the cheerful carefree fun of the USA in 1936. Watch as the LAPD guns down strikers at San Pedro, visit friendly Chicago (absolutely not under the control of organized crime), try to salvage something - anything! - out of your presidency as Herbert Hoover, and much more!
More political options in the 1936 election - Senators George Norris (Farmer-Labor, Nebraska) and William Borah (Republican, Idaho) join the ranks of potential presidents! Who is elected and what parts of their platform they manage to implement once in office will also affect the outbreak of the war beyond merely potentially preventing the rise of one faction.
A more dynamic and chaotic opening to the war: Make a gamble to secure the northern transcontinental railroads as the CSA, dispatch U.S. Navy forces loyal to the American Caesar to bombard New York or Los Angeles into submission, send the Minutemen to 'encourage' Texas to join your 'legitimate' Longist government, arm towboats and barges to secure the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers for the USA, and lots more...all while your opponents are working to counter you. You can't do everything, but will you manage to make the decisions you need to outmaneuver and defeat your enemies? Will some random Quaker single-handedly end your hopes of capturing Memphis? Will a Jackson County Judge and part-time Missouri National Guard Captain save St. Louis for you? Who can manage to take control of Chicago, with its railroad terminals and port on Lake Michigan?
In turn, many more starting situations for the war: No longer is the 2ACW "The Steel Belt versus the Deep South versus the West Coast versus the Midwest and Virginia, with slight variations in terms of starting states." Now the war can range from a patchwork with each faction holding territory across the nation to a mostly unified legitimate US versus a rather pathetic American Union State and MacArthur Clique, and lots in between. Recognizing this may cause problems for the (really bad) AI, precautions will be taken as possible to avoid breaking the AI and to ensure players still get a challenge out of the war.
Lots more events and decisions during the war: The CSA slaps artillery on Great Lake freighters and makes a push on the Canadian-occupied Soo Locks; the 'Five "Civilized" Tribes' help secure Oklahoma and its oil fields...or say to hell with over a century of oppression; and Huey Long takes on the KKK's efforts to undermine him. Volunteers who served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the First Weltkrieg return to offer their experience; the Federal Bureau of Investigation becomes the internal secret police for the MacArthur regime; and noted international businessman William J. Donovan proposes the USA sets up an 'Office of Strategic Services' for the war. All sides take advantage of the American film industry to crank out propaganda; Howard Hughes messes about with really fast airplanes; and fighting in New York City sees the Metropolitan Museum of Art destroyed. Meanwhile, in New England, certain communities aren't super keen at being put under the British boot again.
Cameo appearances by old friends like Charles Curtis, Jack Reed's hat, and Garner's 300-Pound Gavel OF DOOM.
I think the 2ACW is fine as currently set up! This submod is a waste of time! Great! Nobody is going to force you to download and play with this (although Douglas MacArthur WOULD like to know your location...) This is not a small project. It is, instead, the equivalent of an official United States/Second American Civil War rework done unofficially - so high quality work will be expected both by those of us on the dev team and those playing the submod. To ensure this quality, I need help, and would like to recruit:
An artist willing and able to do new portraits and focus icons
Between two and four coders to help implement all the new events, decisions, and national focuses
Anyone else with expertise on interwar American history willing to help do research and lore writing
Previous modding experience is preferred, but not necessarily required. A tentative roadmap sees serious modding work commencing after KR 0.15 (and all subsequent hotfixes) drops, with detailed planning and preparation completed before then. A first release would then come either for 0.15.x or 0.16.x. This mod will also have innate compatibility with my Revised National Focus Times submod and will include custom country path political options. All right, that's enough for now. Come on, loyal Americans! As you prefer: DOWN WITH THE TRAITORS, UP WITH THE STARS! Or BREAK THE CHAINS! Or AVE MACARTHUR! Or EVERY MAN A KING!
I think I actually have to quit and that is scaring me a bit?
God, this took way more words to accurately represent than I anticipated. Sorry. So my trajectory for a crutch started when I was 18 and deeply afraid of the world around me and having absolutely no confidence in who I was. I went to the casino with friends and loved it. Like, I will never love anything as much as I used to love gambling. Well that never ends well does it? 11 months off the bet now after six years in active addiction and four years of various degrees of trying. Problem is I turned to alcohol during the Bad Years and loved that too. I could write my own version of "Drinking: A Love Story" and fill hundreds of pages with memories from the Glory Days, which were 10% about the bonding I had with friends (none of whom I even speak to anymore) and 90% my all-encompassing internal universe blooming into this warm, ethereal world upon contact with alcohol. I was gambling, thinking about gambling, drinking, or thinking about drinking for the vast majority of the time and I honestly didn't think too much of it, even though I had a vague sense of unease about my life and my future every day. I didn't believe the future would happen to me. And then right before the peak of my gambling addiction where shit just hit the fan -- I mean it was just flying everywhere -- I discovered marijuana from a Spokane Valley dispensary and it scared the piss out of me. Absolutely blasted me away from this world and did it in about 5 seconds, from a single puff on a pipe. Could not walk for the first minute; I remember stumbling toward the couch and hitting my head on the wall. And then two minutes of panic, then thirty minutes of giggly fascination with the universe I found myself in. And then when the trip started to fade, I realized that the whole experience was unbelievably cool and I wanted that again right now. And so I smoked more. It was shortly after then that I had The Summer From Hell, where I had no job, everything in my life was deeply wrong and I felt it in the core of my being, and I tried to placate myself with weed, constantly. Not just daily, but constantly. I'd wake up and tell myself "today was going to be different", then get high and when noon rolled around and I realized I hadn't actually done anything, a dark cloud would grip me until nightfall. I'd try to pretend it wasn't there, but it knew that I knew that I felt its presence. Then at night everything felt okay. Rinse. Repeat. My finances were in shambles, I was being kept afloat by monthly checks from dad and those often went into a slot machine or a dispensary and Ramen noodles. I missed rent twice. I had absolutely no confidence in myself and I could not see a path out. I continued smoking and started becoming convinced that my breathing technique was wrong because I could not get anywhere near as high as I used to. If I was being honest with myself, I saw no noticeable effect at all. I became suicidal and my behavior started becoming more erratic with each passing day. Near the end I would take long drives around the town I was living in at the time trying to feel any sense of calm at all. A drive used to give me that. Now I just felt like I was grasping at straws to keep myself sane. Sometimes I'd get so frustrated that I'd go 100 down a residential street just to try to feel anything remotely good. I remember feeling, really feeling, that the world is a cold, calculating place, that existence itself is not just burdensome but evil. I would call the suicide hotline and sometimes that would help. I finally broke down and began to recover for my gambling with the help of the only two guys at the Gamblers' Anonymous meeting that one night. I moved back home and started job hunting, no weed was available (that I knew of at the time. I've since learned that weed is always available.). I was actively enjoying my recovery. But two months later (still cannot believe it only took that long) I relapsed. Since then I found the ideal job for someone in my exact position, with coworkers who I click with and whose company I pretty much universally enjoy. Shortly after I started this job, I found out my cousin smokes and I got back on the weed train. It was nice. Then one day in the following February, I smoked a batch and after one particular rip, I felt a deep pulsing pain in my chest. I felt my head go ice cold and my heart start to thump. I was absolutely certain I was having a heart attack. I came out and told my dad, he called 911 and then as soon as he connected with someone, I realized that maybe it was just the weed fucking with me. We cancelled the ambulance and I drove myself to the hospital. My dad followed, which I wasn't expecting. So when the doctors asked what was wrong and my dad was right there, I just told them I had a panic attack and they gave me a $50 Ativan. (It turns out that I love Ativan, too.) The past three years have brought me professional success. I continued smoking off and on during this period and every time now, I get into deep monologues in my head and feel a vague sense of shame that I always try to brush off. I have a hard time parsing out what is authentically me and what is the weed. I come away often feeling disoriented and confused. Last year I fell in love in Colombia with my first boyfriend and Sinalgen Max, which towards the end I spent $400 on in a single month. During this time I had my first real professional bomb and fell back into gambling at the ground floor casino in the building I was working in. When I came back home, I felt like I was being ripped apart from my own world and coming back home yet again was a traumatic experience, placated by the Ibuprofen bottle full of $135 worth of Sinalgen I had prepared myself with. I regretted not bringing more. It's been a rocky road since then. My work life is not exceptionally good now: between that and my dive into proper non-functioning alcoholism during the first round of quarantine, I've lost a lot of trust. And my plans to move back to Colombia and live some more months with my boyfriend have been squashed by COVID, which could not have happened at a worse time for me. I miss him everyday and sometimes have a good cry about how much I miss my life down there, but sometimes I feel like I don't deserve to miss it, or that I don't actually miss it and I'm playing tricks on myself. Who moves to Colombia on a whim?? Lately I've been using kratom. A lot. (Me? No!) Like, 'withdrawals when I first stopped' a lot. I quit it for a 3-week span during a time in which I presided over my friends' wedding and it was such a special moment. Immediately after that wedding, on the ride home, I had an honest conversation with myself about how even though I was grateful I was fully immersed in that day, facing my normal reality was making my tummy turn. That cloud. There it is. So I bought a bag and smoked it when I got back home, and the conversation continued. I'm in Idaho so I'm surrounded by idiots of the highest caliber in this pandemic and god dammit if that just doesn't piss me off and make me want to run away and I can't. So I stopped my Antabuse 11 days ago and I drank and got high again last night and got so, so gloriously fucked up. But I couldn't even maintain a conversation with my boyfriend and in my heart, didn't feel like I even wanted to. I was feeling all the love I needed already within myself from the crossfade -- my absolute favorite high of all. That realization bothered me this morning. So I smoked to try to ease the disconnect and immediately fell back into the headspace of guilt and feeling disoriented and confused and scared about my life. I don't want to be confused and scared anymore, I've had enough of that feeling to last my damn life. I can escape it for months, even a year or more on some stretches, but it claws its way back into my head and I recognize it like an old friend right away, and I know that once it's lodged in my head it's not going anywhere for awhile. Unless I tell it to be quiet for a bit with a substance or a bet. Now that I'm not high I Just wanted to get all this out because I always think about typing this and never follow through. Is it stupid that I still feel like my usage isn't the worst thing in the world? Like after typing all this out, my heart is still not convinced. I tell myself that this is in no way hurting me as much as the gambling did, but is that true? I'm in my late 20s now, am I going to be traumatized when I'm 30 because I still don't feel confident in my life trajectory? I open my journal that I only write in when I'm sober and I see a guy who sounds happy, who is "so grateful" he's "doing this". But I also know that that guy had a constant sense of unease in his heart when he wrote that. Or do I? Does my recall of how I felt back then matter more than what's on the page? I guess that's the thing: I don't trust myself and my own perceptions anymore. And I don't know whether that's my underlying anxiety, the weed, or a genuine judgment about who I am.
What everyone has wrong about Ridgway. EXTENSIVE write up on the crimes of Gary Ridgway, misconceptions about him and his crimes, a few comparisons to Bundy, and profiles of women murdered, still missing, and unidentified. Part 1 of 2.
Hello everyone. A few months ago, I posted an extensive write up on the DeOrr Kunz case and later the Asha Degree case with several other missing people’s cases sprinkled in between, which many readers seemed to enjoy. Those can be found here: https://www.reddit.com/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/fcmvmz/extensive_summary_regarding_the_disappearance_of/ Today, I wanted to do a similar long form write up but this time, I wanted to switch gears and talk about Ridgway and his victims. Terms used The scene- A term used by Bundy and LE to describe the people with high risk lifestyles those who are homeless, sex workers, exotic dancers, drug users, hitchhikers, and others who are down and out The Strip- An area of Pacific Highway South near the airport in extreme south Seattle (no longer Seattle) known for the scene. Most GRK victims were last seen in this area. The Avenue- An area of extreme north Seattle along Aurora Avenue North known for the scene. A handful of women disappeared from this area. Rainier Avenue and Central District- Neighborhoods in south Seattle near the strip. Usually regarded as cheaper places to live. A handful of women disappeared from here. The camp- An area of downtown Portland known for prostitution Dating- A term used to literature to refer to soliciting prostitutes. Ridgway used this term as did many sex workers. I use this term below as that is what is described in GRK literature. I don’t use it dull what was happening in these exchanges. Boyfriend or protector- Many of the women in this case had boyfriends or protectors who were actually pimps. Which is why some of these women had the same “boyfriends.” If the men who were involved were not believed to be pimps, I tried to note that. Introduction Living in the Pacific Northwest everyone you meet seems to have had a close encounter with a notorious criminal. I know a woman who Bundy followed on April 17th 1974 in Ellensburg, Washington before he abducted Susan Rancourt. I talked to a barber once who told me he cut Ridgway’s hair and used to watch Constance Naon (one of Ridgway’s victims) take dates to her place across the street in the Rainier area. In college I used to shop at a Safeway store that Bundy worked at. Some days it seems like everyone I talk to has the same stories, close encounters, and bizarre brushes with some of the worst men in America. This is the story of one of those men, Gary Leon Ridgway. I believe that Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer, was a much more prolific predator than most people online seem to think and I wanted discuss these crimes because his victims are often dismissed while they deserve to be remembered. In the true crime community, there is a near reverence for Ted Bundy. On the other hand, Ridgway is considered boring and banal. These feelings of course are perpetrated Bob Keppel’s book, Riverman; Ted Bundy and I hunt for the Green River Killer which contains large swathes of interviews from an incarcerated Ted Bundy. King County authorities interviewed Bundy on Florida’s death row in hopes of getting confessions out of him during the 1980s. Instead Bundy wanted to talk about the new murderer plaguing his home state, the Green River Killer. In his interviews, Bundy provides interesting insight into the mind a killer and many of his predictions about the “Riverman” turned out to be true. Naturally, some of his predictions were also false. Bundy, the master manipulator, was able create a narrative about Ridgway and his victims which has bled into the public consciousness. The descriptions of Ridgway’s crimes have been controlled by Ted Bundy’s opinions and his apparent distaste for Ridgway. In discussions on this case I often see people say things like “Ridgway isn’t interesting to me because his victims were high risk” or “Ridgway was dumb, he was so lucky he wasn’t caught.” In my opinion this is unfair to victims of the Green River Killer – in addition to being false. Of course, Bundy is not the only reason people say these things but his opinions have shaped this case. At the end of the day, Bundy should not have a say in how these crimes are perceived. Most importantly, the victims of these men (and other killers) are not entertainment, these are real people who lives were stolen and all of their stories deserve to be told, even if the man who killed them is considered by some to be “uninteresting.” Additionally, no one wants to compare to Bundy and Ridgway but I believe the men have more similarities than Bundy wanted people to believe. Bundy hated being compared to the Riverman and I think it is because Bundy knew that the Riverman was more prolific than Bundy could ever be. Bundy’s ego led him to adopt a dismissive attitude towards this crime spree and he always bristled when compared to the “Riverman” and unfortunately these ideas have become gospel. These assumptions aside, I think Ridgway was a much more prolific killer than anyone will ever be able to prove. There are so many misconceptions about Gary Ridgway that I want to discuss. People say that Ridgway was stupid, he was free to kill as long as he did because no one cared, and finally that he only was able to be “get away with it” because all of his victims were sex workers. Not only are these ideas false, these misconceptions invalidate the stories of Ridgway’s victims. Intelligence The first thing I think is often talked about when discussing Ridgway was his intelligence or lack thereof. While it is true that IQ tests showed that Ridgway hovered on the line between impaired and typical, and he apparently had a learning disability that affected his school performance, I will always argue that Ridgway was no dummy. I have worked with the disabled population for several years. That experience taught me that IQ is a bunk way to measure intelligence. Some of my acquaintances have higher IQ scores than Ridgway’s 80, but struggle to keep down jobs or lack social skills. On the other hand, people I have worked with lower IQs (62-80) than that have attended 2-year college, kept down jobs, married, and had families. IQ in and of itself is poor determinate of intelligence. In my experience, IQ seems to measure processing speed, not intelligence. I am not sure if this 100% scientifically accurate, it is just my experience but I think it is worth noting. All that to say, I don’t think Ridgway was nearly as impaired as many armchair detectives make him out to be. The women he fooled were street smart and don’t deserve less attention simply because they were fooled by a “dumb” predator. Perpetrating this myth does a disservice to Ridgway’s victims. I am not arguing that Ridgway was a criminal mastermind of above average intelligence, that is simply not true. I am simply trying to demonstrate that Ridgway cold and calculating, not blundering and impaired. Forensic Counter Measures Ridgway’s intelligence is also evidenced by his crime spree and the forensic countermeasures he employed. Many online sleuths have used this information to show Ridgway’s lack of intelligence, but I would argue that his forensic counter measures actually worked. The Riverman would put used gum, beer cans, and cigarette butts near his body dumping grounds. He also put airport and hotel pamphlets near the bodies to make law enforcement think that the killer was a traveling business man which is why his crimes would start and stop. While these attempts at misdirection did not fool law enforcement for very long, it did muddy the water with media coverage. It was reported that the killer was a traveler, a smoker, or a guy who liked big red gum even though Ridgway was none of these things. These little attempts at misdirection fooled the general public in Ridgway’s favor and precious time and resources were wasted forensically testing these items. When Ridgway began dumping victims in the Portland area law enforcement incorrectly believed that their killer had moved and they minimized their efforts in Seattle, falling right into Ridgway’s trap. The killer also changed his car regularly and made sure that he created false trails. Ridgway changed his car often, he used his own cars sometimes but he also drove his brother’s truck, his parents station wagon and his girlfriend’s/wives’ cars. As many know Gary was employed as a truck painter. He spent a lot of his time at home painting and working on his cars, removing and replacing canopies and just in general altering his vehicles. This allowed Ridgway to move about more freely as he was not seen in only one type of car. This is in stark contrast to Ted who repeatedly used his tan colored bug until it was linked to the murders. At that point Bundy would use Liz Kendall’s bug or make slight modifications to his own car but these efforts paled in comparison to Ridgway’s efforts to conceal his vehicles. Ridgway also made sure the women he killed were clean when he dumped their bodies. He would have them shower and used the bathroom before his crimes, which had a three-fold purpose. First it put his victims at ease around him. Second, it made his clean up easier (victims wet themselves when being strangled and Gary didn’t like doing extra laundry), and third it removed evidence from his victims’ bodies. This is a just another example of how Ridgway was able go undetected for so long. He thought about his crimes, learned things and then changed his methods to iron out bumps in his murderous plans. When questioned by investigators he always had explanations for his whereabouts and did not deny “dating” women on the SeaTac strip. Ridgway even used women he had been seeing to create alibis and a false sense of security. In his confession he explained that he would often pick up sex workers for dates repeatedly and not kill or hurt them in order to create a facade that he was a nice guy. All of these things suggest that Ridgway wasn’t the bumbling criminal he was made out to be. Victims Another misconception in the Green River case regards victimology. Many people seem to think that all of Ridgway’s victims were sex workers which is simply not true. Contrary to popular belief some of the Green River victims were not prostitutes, although most did lead high risk lifestyles and were part of the “scene” as Bundy called it. Many were homeless, addicts, sex workers, exotic dancers, and hitch hikers, but not all. Carol Ann Christensen had no connections to this scene at all and worked as a waitress at a bar and grill near the airport. Opal Mills, a local high school student, had no arrests for prostitution (or anything else) but was known to hitch hike. Cheryl Wims was not a known sex worker but did struggle with addiction to drugs and alcohol. Ridgway’s victimology was actually much broader than most people assume. Bundy used this misinformation about GRK’s victims to “prove” that he was a better criminal than the Riverman as Bundy abducted low risk victims, even though we know Bundy killed at least several hitchhikers who were unfortunate enough to get in his car. And Bundy, ever the coward, often chose very small willowy women to victimize. Ridgway on the other hand was physically strong even though he appeared slight. Ridgway was able to control and subdue many women, and while many were small and young some of his victims outweighed him, and a few were taller than him. My point being, both men were cowards and monsters who took advantage of all types of women, their victimology is not that different. Both men killed both low risk and high-risk victims, but of course Bundy doesn’t like to focus on his high-risk victims. The abduction and murders of women not in the scene, (waitresses, moms at bus stops, and daycare workers) demonstrates that Ridgway was intelligent and organized enough to pull off meticulous crimes which were never solved... he just preferred easier targets. Investigation Another misconception about Ridgway is that he was only was allowed to kill due to the women he victimized; this is a partial misconception. In 1982, right after the first several bodies were found floating in the Green River, a task force was formed made up of 25 detectives from both the city of Kent and King County. For the next 19 years, as many as 40 detectives at a time (70 people if you include officers and support staff) worked solely on this case. At its smallest, 4 or 6 detectives were at work following up on tips. For years, evidence was collected. Men were followed and interviewed. Suspect lists were compiled. When this crime spree occurred, there was no AFIS (automated finger print identification system), no DNA testing, and little cooperation between agencies. A single finger print could take two months to process. Then it had to be compared manually and sent from state to state to check for matches. At the end of the day, the tab for this investigation cost a whopping $30 million dollars. In the late 1980s detective Matt Haney had a hunch that Ridgway was the most likely killer but it took years for his suspicions to be proved. Using a tip from Marie Malvar’s family, he collected Ridgeway’s DNA in 1987, the same year DNA testing became available. Most other detectives believed other, better suspects were the ones to blame. Despite the best technology at the time and Haney’s suspicions, Ridgway was not caught. As mentioned above, Ridgway was always a Green River suspect. From his first arrest for solicitation in 1982 until the day he was apprehended Ridgway was among the hundreds of men suspected of being the killer. Despite being on this list, Ridgway evaded capture because on paper, he was a poor suspect. Ridgway was a very typical man in both appearance and life style. He held down the same job for years. He was married and even fathered a son. In his life he was generally even keeled and unremarkable. He was investigated by the Green River Task force several times. Gary’s coworkers even named him “Green River Gary” a moniker he hated, but even his coworkers claimed they were just teasing the awkward guy at work, they did not actually believe he was capable of committing such atrocities. Moreover, Ridgway had no record of violent offenses. Several violent crimes from his past would come out once he was arrested, but none of these were on his official police record. In the early 80s he was accused of assaulting a sex worker, but the charges were dropped when the woman did not want to testify. Ridgway also had a juvenile record for stabbing a 6-year-old boy, but being a juvenile at the time those records were sealed. Ridgway was always willing to work with investigators and readily admitted he “dated” women on the SeaTac strip. He allowed himself to be interviewed but nothing solid was ever linked to him. He even gave hair samples and passed two polygraphs. Additionally, Ridgway gained the trust of many working girls he did not kill. He purposely left many women he “dated” unharmed. Some prostitutes who were interviewed by the task force inadvertently protected Ridgway by painting the picture that he was a harmless John who showed them pictures of his son and was polite. Sometimes, he even bought them burgers to eat. This misdirection on Ridgway’s part was just one reason he was never apprehended. Ridgway was so different than any other captured serial killer at the time that the FBI had to change their profiling techniques and knowledge of serial killers completely when Ridgeway was caught. From the 1980s when profiling was in its infancy until the early 2000s, it was generally believed that serial killers had high IQ's and were of above average intelligence. It was believed that serial killers had a hard time staying in relationships or keeping down jobs. Further, many experts in the field claimed that serial killers basked in the glory of their evil deeds, taunted police, and watched news coverage of their crimes. It was also taken as gospel that serial killers could not stop once they started killing and in general killers did not cross racial lines. None of these things applied to Gary Ridgway, adding to law enforcement’s belief that he was not a “good suspect.” (While Ridgway did write one anonymous letter to a newspaper, he did not aggressively flaunt his suspect status, or openly taunt police as some of the other men did.) When DNA linked Ridgway to his murders, task force members weren’t totally shocked but they were surprised that it did not match one of the better suspects such as Melvyn Foster, William J. Stevens II, or any one of the violent pimps, husbands, boyfriends and exes who had been interviewed. They assumed their killer would be one of the men with more violence in his background, possibly a rape conviction, or one of suspects taunting them with letters and phone calls, but it wasn’t. Only detective Matt Haney wasn’t surprised. As the phrase goes, hind sight is 20/20. I think this is a good saying to remember with this case. Once Ridgway was arrested many pieces fell into place and it painted a picture of an unhinged killer roaming King County, but no one piece of evidence was a smoking gun in this case. Ridgway dressed like the killer, plaid shirts and jeans but so did half of the working-class men in King County. Ridgway drove vehicles similar to the one reported by many witnesses, but how many men drove by the airport in tan or blue pickups and aged station wagons? Marie Malvar’s boyfriend was convinced Gary’s truck was the one he saw Marie climb into before her disappearance, but when Ridgway’s home was searched nothing of Marie’s was there. Investigators hit a brick wall, but kept Gary Ridgway in the back of their minds. Every little piece of evidence was part of a puzzle in this case but nothing conclusively tied Ridgway to anything more than being a client of many of the working girls in the area. This tip by Marie’s family and boyfriend was what lead Det. Haney to collect Ridgway’s DNA in ’87. NOTE- before I go on, I just want to say that it would be naïve of me to pretend that the victims’ professions and life styles did not affect the investigation. It absolutely did. It affected public perceptions, law enforcement response, and media attention and these women did not receive the same attention as the Ted victims from seven years prior. For example, in late 1983, citizens called for a public forum and called for an “end of prostitution.” Detective Mullinax suggested that the killer was the problem, not the prostitutes and there were some very awkward moments before the citizens told him they just wanted Seattle to be free of sex workers. This was just one example of the public opinion not being kind to these women. In this piece, I simply want to point out that law enforcement response was not as minimal as some people make it out to be. There have been many cases where law enforcement has completely dropped the ball when investigating the murders and disappearances of sex workers such as the Grim Sleeper investigation, but I do not think the Green River Task force deserves to be placed in the same category. Additionally, if Ridgway was not caught ONLY because the police blatantly disregarded the cases of sex workers, then why wasn’t he caught after killing daycare worker Maureen Freeney? Or blonde waitress Carol Anne Christensen? But all measures these two women came from caring families, were white, and did not live in the scene, and were reported missing right away. If Ridgway was only going free due to poor law enforcement response, then he should have been caught after the deaths of the women above, but he was not. Casualties Because of the nature of Ridgway’s victims, media coverage was initially slim and many victims of Ridgway were never reported missing at all. Gary Ridgway was convicted or 49 murders although he admitted to over 71. In recent articles Ridgway has even confessed to leaving 80 bodies in King County alone. Investigators doubt King County was the only county that Ridgway operated in and it is generally believed that a string of bodies found in Tacoma and Portland, Oregon were the work of the Riverman. Some of those women are discussed below. Because of this information I am inclined to believe that Ridgway has many, many more victims who have never been found, who are unidentified, who were never reported missing or whose deaths were attributed to other things. Many missing women have been placed on the “Green River List” because the pool of potential victims is much larger than only missing sex workers. With the addition of these victims I think it is very possible that Ridgway’s victim count far surpasses any official numbers and may make him one of the worst serial killers in America. Some of the women I believe were victimized by Ridgway are profiled below. In conclusion, all of these things point to Ridgway being a much more prolific, cunning killer than many have made him out to be. If Ridgway’s known victim count is 70 (charged with 49) and he himself claims there is 80 bodies in King County alone, I think it is safe to assume the real number may be closer to 100. Ridgway has only been charged with homicides if he both confessed to and there was one or more pieces of evidence against him. For example, if he led investigators to a body he was charged with that murder and all the murders of the women he left in the same cluster. He has also been charged with other cases if there was circumstantial evidence, fiber evidence, paint chip evidence, or DNA. He has not been charged with the murders of women still missing or women whose cases cannot be linked to him in corroborating way, which is why the confession list is so much longer than the charged list. Also please remember that mass murders are not known for their honesty and we have to take confessions with a grain of salt. The official Green River Victim list is challenging to compile because different agencies have different lists, some add women are still missing while others add only known homicides. Some add all suspected victims, some do not. Some add victims to the list only if Ridgway is the prime suspect, and other lists add victims whose cases have other prime suspects but Ridgway is still a possibility. Below I have completed write ups of women I believe were victims of Ridgway as well as a section to remember his proven victims, both known and unknown. NOTE- I want this section to tell the women’s stories in a respectful way and initially I did not want to focus on either their professions or their physical appearances, but I was also wanted this section to be authentic and I don’t want to sugar coat any of these stories. For many of the victims there is very, very little information available. I think this is why sometimes their appearances are mentioned as it sounds better to say “At age 21, she was a tall woman with thick red hair and a great smile” rather than she died at 21. Additionally, some of these victims’ stories are not very pleasant and a in a few cases information from family and friends is unflattering or downright negative (Wendy Coffield and Marta Reeves specifically). Rather than skip these women or pretend these things did not occur I chose to include them in the summaries below. I added as many positives as I could and tried (key word tried) to shy away from information solely about their appearances or criminal records but sometimes no other information is available. I hope everyone can understand that my intention is to remember these women and their lives in the best possible way while realizing that not everything is positive. I ask you for only respect down in the comments. Thank you. In remembrance Gary Ridgway pled guilty to the homicides of the 49 people profiled in this piece. (Because this is a mystery sub reddit and the write-up will have to be put into broken into several pieces, I will begin with the Jane Does Ridgway confessed to killing. All other victims both potential and confirmed are placed in chronological order to the best of my ability.) Jane Doe B-10 was a murder victim who was found in 1984, near the remains of Cheryl Wims. She was a white female between the ages of 12 and 19. She most likely died in the summer of 1983. She may have had brown hair and was around 5’5’ and 120 lbs. She was likely left-handed. She had a healed injury to the front of the left side of her skull. She is not Rose Cole, Janel Peterson, Susan Cappel, Lisa Dickinson, Wendy Huggy, Kase Lee, Keli McGinnis, Anna Anderson, Kristi Vorak, Amy Matthews, Teresa Hammon, Cheryl Wyant, Denise Dorfman, Carol Edwards, Linda Jackson, Angela Meeker, Andria Bailey, Dean Peters, Joan Hall, Patricia LeBlanc, MaryJo Long, or Kerry Johnson. Jane Doe B-17’s bones were found twice. Some bones were found in 1984 and some more were found in 1986. She was most likely a white female, aged 14-19, around 5’4”- 5’8” and average weight, around 120-140 lbs. She most likely died in 1983. Ridgway said she died in Spring or Summer 1983. Isotope testing shows she is possibly from the Northern United states (Alaska, Montana, Idaho, North Dakota) or Canada. She is not Rose Cole, Janel Peterson, Susan Cappel, Lisa Dickinson, Wendy Huggy, Kase Lee, Keli McGinnis, Anna Anderson, Kristi Vorak, Linda Jackson, Andria Bailey, Joan Hall, Patricia LeBlanc, MaryJo Long, Carol Donn, Barbara Cotton, Pollyanne Carter or Kerry Johnson. Jane Doe B- 20 was a murder victim who was discovered in 2003 after Ridgway led investigators to her body. Her skull was not recovered so no composite can be made and no race can be determined. She died in between 1973-1993 but most likely died in the late 1970s. She was likely 13-24 years old. Ridgway says she was a white woman about 20 years old with brown or blonde shoulder length hair who he killed in Summer ’82 or ’83. Ridgeway claims to have started his crime spree in ’82 but it could have been earlier. He does not remember killing anyone in the 1970s but admits it is possible. Jane Doe B-20 is not Keli McGinnis, Andria Bailey, Cora McGuirk, or Deborah Tomlinson. Wendy Lee Coffield was a young woman whom life had never treated kindly. She was a junior high dropout, a chronic runaway, and a hitchhiker. She never had the chance to land on her feet and start over. She was only 16 when she was murdered in 1982. To add insult to injury, her own family even said they weren’t surprised when her “lifestyle” caught up with her. Gisele A. Lovvorn was a 17-year-old Dead Head and free spirit who wandered the country watching Grateful Dead shows with her on again off again boyfriend. In early high school was a straight A student before dropping out. In the summer of 1982, she called her parents in California to tell them she was going to travel home and re-enroll in high school. She left her apartment one Saturday in July at 1 pm to “turn 3 or 4 tricks” she never made it home and her parents were never able to see their free-spirited daughter again. Debra Lynn Bonner was 22 when her body was found in the Green River. She had dreams of getting a GED and joining the navy but an abusive relationship and addiction lead her to a life on the streets. Despite her profession, Debra called her parents regularly and was trying to pay off her debt (She had several unpaid tickets in Tacoma). She was planning to visit her father after he had an eye operation but she never made it home. Marcia Faye Chapman nicknamed Tiny, was a mother of three who engaged in sex work only to support the three children she loved so much. She left her apartment one August evening and disappeared into the night. She was only 31 years old. Cynthia Jean Hinds had no criminal record but frequented the streets of south Seattle. Everybody called the 17-year-old her nickname, Cookie. Her boyfriend and probable pimp reported that he last saw her get into a black Jeep on August 11th 1982. Her body was later recovered from the Green River. Opal Charmaine Mills was a biracial 16-year-old who, according to her brother, struggled to fit in in a racially divided world. She never got the chance to learn to be comfortable in her own skin because she disappeared after going to work in 1982. An occasional hitch hiker, Opal had no other links to the “scene.” Opal and her friend Cookie (Hinds) had been hired to do some painting near Angel Lake park. Opal called her parents to pick her up from work, but she never made it home. Terry Renee Milligan, a 15-year-old, hadn’t been seen for several weeks when her live-in boyfriend reported her missing and then immediately skipped town. Terry was a bright student who wanted to study computer science in college and dreamed of going to Yale. Terry gave birth to a son as a teenager and her hopes of college changed course, although friends have always explained that Terry adored her son and care of him the best she could. She was also musically inclined and sang in the church band all throughout her childhood. She was seen last arguing with another woman outside her apartment after that she disappeared. Mary Bridgett Meehan was adopted as a young child and grew up in Bellevue, a wealthy suburb east of Seattle. She was a compassionate soul who loved animals and children. She wanted to be a mother. Two miscarriages at ages 15 and 16 left her broken inside, her family and friends explained that she was never the same. She starting using drugs and drifted around the Seattle area and began engaging in sex work. Later, Mary gave up another baby for adoption after her boyfriend kicked her out because he didn’t want kids. But unfortunately, less than a year later, the cycle began again. Mary was back living with a dead-beat boyfriend and pregnant, except this time she was determined to be a good, stable mother, but she never got the chance. She left her motel room and vanished into the night at 8 months pregnant in September 1982. Debra Lorraine Estes went by the name Betty Jones on the street. She was barely 15 and had entered the scene five years earlier at age 10. Her parents were always worried for her, driving the streets looking for their daughter and bailing her out of the King County jail under various names and aliases. Her pimp was a sleazy older man whom occasionally lived with her and her friend Becky Marrero. She was last known to be alive in September 1982, but may have been alive into December. Linda Rule’s parents divorced when she was a teen and the family disintegrated with each person taking their own paths. She last seen leaving her apartment and walking to Kmart on Aurora Avenue north, to buy clothes. When she did not arrive back home, her boyfriend assumed she had been arrested, but he couldn’t find her at any of the local jails. He did not think Linda was working as it was rare to see girls working Aurora Avenue during the day time. He immediately filed a missing person’s report. Unlike many other men in this case, her boyfriend was not believed to be a pimp. 16-year-old Linda and her boyfriend were saving up for their wedding and but it would never come. Denise Darcel Bush, a 23-year-old Portland native had traveled to the SeaTac strip after hearing that money was better in Seattle. She suffered from epilepsy but used medication to keep it under control. She was last seen crossing the street to buy cigarettes. She was never reported missing and her friends all assumed she had simply had decided to go back to Portland. At the time, it was hard to know if she or many of the other girls left willingly or suffered a much worse fate. Shawnda Leea Summers from Bellevue, Washington loved going to the beach. She was last seen at the same intersection on the strip, the day after Denise Bush was last seen. She was not reported missing for months and some girls thought she had moved to Portland to work. Her parents looked for her whenever they could but Shawnda would never reach her 19th birthday. Shirley Marie Sherrill at age 19 was described as tall and beautiful. She was last seen in the China town area of Seattle having lunch with a friend. They both left the restaurant to work and were picked up by different men. Shirley was never seen again. Like Shawnda and Denise, she disappeared in October 1982. Becky Marrero was the 20-year-old friend of Debra Estes. The two lived together at a motel on the SeaTac strip on and off. In the fall of 1982, Becky left her two-year-old son with her parents and told them she was leaving for a while and going to a place that “babies shouldn’t be”, but she would be back eventually. She packed her bags, borrowed some money from her father to rent a room and vanished. Becky was registered as living at a motel on the strip until December 1st ’82, along with her friend Debra Estes. She never made it home for Christmas like she said she would. Colleen Renee Brockman was 15 years old when she was last seen alive. She worked the SeaTac strip, but her friend Bunny and other girls still thought she was naïve. She trusted her customers wholeheartedly and enjoyed the gifts and dinner dates she got from johns. She was identified through the braces that were still on her teeth when her skull was found in Pierce County years after she was last seen. Delores Lavern Williams was a tall, slender, African American girl with a lovely smile. She worked near the Red Lion hotel near the airport and generally “dated” wealthier, traveling johns. In early 1983 locals and friends realized they hadn’t seen her in a few weeks. She was reported missing. She was only 17 years old. Alma Ann Smith hailed from wine country and was born in Walla Walla Washington. In the 8th or 9th grade she began traveling to Seattle alone on the weekends, something that confused her younger friends. She eventually moved to Seattle and was last seen entering a blue truck with a very average looking male. Gail Matthews was drifting through life in her mid-20s. She lived with her boyfriend, Curt in south Seattle. The couple did odd jobs, tried to win money by gambling, and hitchhiked around the area. Gail would occasionally come home with money that Curt assumed she made doing sex work but he wasn’t sure and didn’t want to ask about it. He saw Gail leave the bar they were at together saying she was going to “make some money”. He later saw her in a car with an average looking white guy with a mustache. For some reason the scene chilled him and he knew Gail was in trouble because she looked scared. He waited for Gail to come home but she never appeared. Curt called the police and the Gail’s family. Gail’s ex-husband had custody of their children, but he was worried about the young woman who he remembered as a meandering soul who wanted to be an artist. A missing person report would be filed in April 1983. Andrea M. Childers moved from California to Washington to move in with her father and step mother. She was a wonderful dancer who wanted to be a dance instructor to children. She taught a dance exercise class and was close to her elderly grandmother. At 16 she left her family home and was never seen again. Sandra K. Gabbert was called “Sand-e” by her family and was known as Smurf on the street. She was on the varsity basketball team in high school before dropping out at age 17. Sand-e moved in with her teenage boyfriend and started working on the SeaTac strip. Sand-e told her mother that she made more in turning one trick than she did working a whole week at KFC. Her mother understood her daughter’s desperation and commissioned her to “be careful.” They also talked about taking a trip to sunny California sometime. That was the last time Sand-e and her mother even spoke. Kimi Kai Pitsor street name Melinda was a happy 16-year-old who loved glitter, unicorns, and the color purple which was fitting for the young woman whose native Hawaiian name means “golden sea at dawn.” Kimi Kai always wanted to be an adult and when she turned 16, she left home to move in with her boyfriend/protector in downtown Seattle. Her boyfriend last saw her talking to a date in a blue pickup. She never made it home and her boyfriend called the police with the description of the vehicle. She had left home and entered the scene less than two months before. Tragically, Kimi Kai was the third of Joyce Pitsor’s three children to pass away. Kimi Kai’s two older siblings died as infants. Kimi Kai’s mother, Joyce later adopted three other children. Sandra D. Major was from Rochester, New York. Her family knew she worked as a prostitute and while they weren’t thrilled with her lifestyle, they always kept in touch and “loved her the same.” The last contact the Majors had with Sandra was a post card sent from Seattle. After that they lost touch. Sandra was believed to be last seen on Aurora Avenue north in 1983 at age 20. A TV in program in 2013 highlighted the unidentified victims of the Green River Killer, prompting the family to contact the police. Sandra was identified and laid to rest. The family gave a brief interview in which they asked for privacy. Because of this very little is known about Sandra’s personal life. Marie Malvar’s came from a large Filipino family. At 18 she had left home but called her parents and siblings regularly. Marie’s boyfriend saw her enter a blue truck and drive away. She was gone a while and he decided to track down the truck. He drove where he saw the truck go but couldn’t find Marie or the vehicle. He was hesitant to contact the police due to their backgrounds and was even more scared to tell Marie’s parents about her profession. After 4 day had passed her boyfriend, brother, and parents went to the police station to report Marie missing. They even drove around with police until they found a similar looking truck. Police questioned the man and took down his information. His name was Gary Ridgway. But Marie wasn’t in his house and he had no record of note, so the police left. The man was one name among hundreds that they took back to the task force offices. TO BE CONTINUED.... These sources are a good place to begin Green River Running Red by Ann Rule The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I hunt for the Green River Killer by Bob Keppel and William Birnes The Search for the Green River Killer: The True Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer by Carlton Smith and Tomas Guillen https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19920727&slug=1504298 http://charleyproject.org/case/keli-kay-mcginness https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Green_River_victims https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/sheriff/about-us/enforcement/investigations/green-river.aspx http://www.seattlemag.com/article/remembering-victims-green-river-killer https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19911121&slug=1318612
Big Dick Energy Involving Almost No Dicks- A Review of Gideon the Ninth
there are three reasons I love this book. for starters it has introduced me to the wonderful world of necromancy magic, I've always just seen it as boring edgelordy crap, and even though it is absolutely edglordy crap in this, it's also absolutely brilliant. In terms of my favourite to least favourite 'flavours' of magic, necromancy has leapt up the list, from last place to within visual range of the top (divination and enchantment are still one and two respectively, and nothing short of the apocalypse will have me change my mind on that). the second reason I love this is for how normalised Gideon's queerness is. all too often being queer is treated as something that makes someone a moral paragon of love and unity, not here. Gideon is just perpetually thirsty and I am here for it. the third and final reason is that it honestly isn't a fantasy story. its practically everything except a fantasy story, stuffed into a world that would cause a bar fight inside this community if I called it fantasy ("it has a magic system, its fantasy!" "your wife is a magic system!"). It's a swashbuckling story, a whodunnit, a paranormal romance and a whole lot of other genres all at the same time. now, unfortunately, gushing about this book for 20 minutes doesn't count as a review, so I have to actually know, review it. the plot is pretty basic, as with all murder on the orient express types, there really isn't much of one, its about finding the answers to the question, not traversing the world to kill the bbeg. the characters are where this book shines, especially the other cavaliers. upon hearing of the brilliant swords person personal guard to the mage I honestly expected everyone except Gideon to be a boring 'I protect my charge with my life' type, but they all pleasantly surprised me with how different they all were. they were all actual people doing a job, not just the job. one thing that I kept thinking of while I was reading this was just how much it reminded me of dune. not in any of the important ways, tone or themes or any of that nonsense, but just in the small stuff. it's a futuristic world that fully incorporates 'magic', the protagonists are part of a failing house in threat of being cronched by another house, and they still use swords 'n' stuff in a world where guns presumably exist. of course aside from all that they're night and day, I really don't see Dunkyboi Idaho saying 'that's what she said' in any situation. and that brings me to the tone. I might be biased, but after reading dune, the dragon reborn and the voyage of the dawn treader, it was extremely relieving to have in internal monologue that didn't feel like Shakespeare. it borders on grating from time to time, but never gets unenjoyable, multiple points had me actually let out a laugh (which makes that the third bingo square this works for, after necromancer and number in title [sidebar, what is it with women written fantasy and the number nine? Gideon the ninth here, Sabran the ninth in Priory of the Orange Tree, Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House. is this another thing I'm not picking up? because it took me like a week to figure out the significance of sweater weather and I'm bi and listen to that song]). in short, I love this style, but I can see some people feeling put off by it, it's not for everyone but you should try it. and honestly, that's my overview of the whole book. it does a lot of stuff that might put you off, but it is worth the gamble of £7.99. it does some stuff that kinda throws off the rest of the book (the final section pretty much throws off the whole charactemystery focussed aspect to do an avengers and start swinging) but it really is a great book. in my review of Priory of the Orange Tree, I said it was 'my favourite queer fantasy book until I read Gideon the Ninth in June'. I was wrong, I still prefer Priory for queerness, but this is still a hell of a ride. edit- ooh, I nearly forgot. since I was plastered and dysphoric when I read voyage of the dawntreader I can't remember enough to do a full-on review, so I'm tacking a quick review onto the end of this one good- it has actual world building, fun characters and its skinny enough that you can read it in one night between swigs of Tennessee honey and bouts of dysphoria-crying bad- deus ex machines out the wazoo. man I get that god is cool and stuff and all but for reals Now, thats two bits done: necromancy fantasy and exploration fantasy making it up to 5 out of 25. next up: paranormal romance, something entirely new to me.
reddit i need help decideing who i stay with. sorry in advance for typeos. d= my dad m= my moms s = my sister woohoo=sex. ill start with a description of everyone from my point of view. D ,39, a hard working loggecontracter working for himself, e4 ex vet, no bullshit attitude, definite gambling problem, a bad liar or a REALLY good one. also classified a genius by the milatary and crasy strong. (casully moved a cord of WET OAK in a 450 pound trailer. 3500 pounds in toatal all the way to the other side of our kinda yard area wich is all gravel) M ,40, idk it changes everyday S ,22, cut-throat, past drug issues, (i never really got to know her) me ,14, a boy who noshit has no irl freinds because he pushed them all away. ill start with a gloss over the past for refrence starting16 years ago when my parents met, they met in collage while not in the same degree they met in the collage jobs they both had. after a week my mom and dad were in absolute love. they both droped out of collage and quit their jobs just too spend more time with eachother (no joke) they watched movies and took care of M's daughter. after a month they were planning on getting married. Ds parents told M to not go through with it because D was a lair and a manipulater. but M went through with it and after 2 years they had a baby. D got a drilling job in alabama paying 120,000 a year while M stayed home and took care of the kids and studied respatory theripy in collage for seven years. D got angry at drunk boss who almost got him killed and quit job, went back to oregon M did some collage tests on the way there and got a half assed kinda degree for respatory therepy that can only be used in alabama. S acused D of rapeing her but her past history of lieing about shit gets it put to the side. she atempts suicide a uncountable amount of times. D started a trucking job then moved to a diffrent place in oregon a year later. after about 9 months they got in a fight and D held M up by her neck with one hand, little 8 yr old me saw this all D went to jail for a few nights and got bailed out by his mom. me, M and S went to idaho, and i wasnt allowed to know anything wich ment i only knew the tiny bit i saw. from here i hated my dad a lot more them any 8 yr old hated anything else before. after a 4 months of me refuseing to talk to my dad over the phone my mom forced me to talk to him. i dont remeber the call but i hated him less. during the summer me, M and some of her freinds went camping. one of my freinds came with. after a day i had the brillant plan of hikeing it all the way to west oregon from 40 miles away from the canadian border idaho with said freind. i might make a seprate post about that becase it was maybe the coolest thing ive ever done. the reason i might wana do such a thing? to kill my dad. yup 8 year old me tried to kill my dad. we got caught but we made it 14 miles. a helecopter found us. and some cops ended up driveing us back. when i told my mom why i ran away she packed our shit and went to oregon to make me love my dad again. while not the most rational desision it had good intrests. when my mom droped me off and left before they started fighting. why would they fight? D started dateing his dead brothers wife. but for the most part me and him made up while i lived with him for a month or so. nothing important happens really so ill do a summary: D and M get back together and split 3 times, Ds brthers wife sucks Ds dick, me, M and S get evicted twice, we move around a lot, S(16ish) fucks a 30 yr old with kids, S move to idaho by herself. and from here it starts to get real so leave if you were in a good mood or buckle up for the ride. D and M get back together again and we get an apartment after a while D starts to turn down woohoo, somting that never happend before. we assume its because of the loss for sex drive due to age. well they start doing firewood for money. now the family dynamic is D does most of the wood work M does some of the wood work and most of the chores. and i did school and some chores. it was pretty nice until M started seeing people in the woods, like hideing behind the trees. me and D both thought she was seeing things and was going crazy. we mostly ignored it until she said D started doing hand signs to the trees. now im starting to put 2+2 together and so was M. but we didnt wana say anything when we had no proof. now D starts to take up to 4 hours longer than he should on a delivery of fire wood. money started to disapear. while all this all happening 11 yr old me starts to do yard work for bags of cans, makeing enough to pay for my own games and toys. we start doing family things less about a year into liveing in the aparment M is starting to cry every here and there D starts gambleing a a whole week of pay. D starts dissapearing randomly, i start getting bullied, i start making money without working, we start to do family things even less i start to have to buy my own food somedays. i start missing school events. and the family dynamic is D most wood work, M some wood work half chores, me half chores and school work. D makes M think she is going insane by making her think whole days never happens to get away with gambleing that days work worth of money. 3 days ago: 3 years in the apartment, mom is on the verge of cracking D has everything in his name so if M tries to take me we have to start over completely. im 14 and might get a legal job and can make 50$ a day sitting on his ass, lost all my saveing due to D needing bill money, anytime D or M finds out i have >3$ they need it for some reason, D and M both are telling me completely differnt storys about even the most trival shit like how much moey they used for gas both promising their right. both lie to me about money, work, what they said to me, what they did, and how they did random ass shit like mopping with bleach even though we were out for days. neither of them i trust D isnt even allowed at his own moms house because he stole stuff from there. they acused eachother of cheating atleast once a week one day M was snooping around Ds phone and found a hidden app....a texting app.... she looked at his messages 20+ women. some he sent dickpics to, others he met, others were talking about meeting for another "date". she shown me it. i was angery, like go to jail for assult mad. if my dad wasnt at work i would of done somting stupid. i got my bat and started paseing my room and completely forgot about my crying mom. i chiled out and slept we decided to wait until the next day to tell him we knew. but he knew we knew before we even told him we did, he came into my room and said that the dicpics were "jokes" and were "photochoped" i told him his lie was the same as the "i have a girlfreind but she go's to another school" bs that little children use. D said he wasnt lieing so i said he dosent even know how to pronounce photoshop. he said "whatever" i brought up all the other shit but all he did was make up more retarded bs. after not convinceing me he stomped off. mom started packing my stuff up but i told her to stop because we have no money no plan no car and we dont even know where to go she got pissy with me and said "are you not going?" i said not yet. we need money. still a little angery i havent wheighed my options yet. now my thinks im staying with my mom and my mom thinks im staying with my dad. both are more upset about me likeing the other one more than lose their damn child. now here is where i need advice, do i stay with my scum ass dad and keep my ivy leage level online school and 50$ a day for doing nothing job and know i have a house and maybe even get a job or do i go with my mom wo wont have a house or a job but i already know ill be happier but i wont have a stable life and ill have to couch serf for a few months like before.
Hi, phriends. Summer Tour is on the horizon and many of us are making plans, booking flights, reserving RVs, budgeting for shows, and so on. Many of us will be going to the Gorge for the three day run this year. The Gorge is an amazing venue with an equally amazing history(seriously, if you have't read up on the geologic history of the place, give it a look because you will look at the venue in a whole new light). However, it is also a very unique venue. Fifteen minutes from the nearest town. Fourty-five minutes from the nearest city. Ninety minutes from the nearest place recognizable as a city. Two hours and change from the nearest large city. It's high desert. It gets hot and cold in the same day. In order to help people with questions like "where should I fly into?", "what do I need to bring?", "do I need to rent a car?", and the gamut of other concerns, I've made the Phishhiker’s Guide to the Gorge as a reference for everyone. Hopefully some of my experiences since 2013 can help you! I will be updating this as I remember things I left out or people suggest their own tips. But before we start, let me be extra clear about one thing related to safety: Whatever you do, be super careful while smoking or using flames while at the Gorge or on the drive out. The night before the 2018 run was marked by a massive wildfire on I-90 that rerouted all traffic on surface streets around it. Use ash trays, do not flick your ash carelessly, extinguish roaches and cigarette butts with water, etc. Be responsible about this. Also be careful if you pull off to the side of the road as your vehicle’s catalytic converter is hot enough to start a wildfire if dry grass is touching or too close to the bottom of your vehicle! It is no joke. The vegetation within an hour of the venue will be bone-fucking-dry and will catch fire very easily. You could legitimately cancel the whole run for everyone if you're not careful. And I swear that Carini will find you if that happens. This also means no fireworks. For those that are unfamiliar with wildfires, let me share some somewhat disturbing facts to help you appreciate them:
Wildfires move at the speed of wind, which is much faster than you can run
They also can change direction unexpectedly with the wind
The campground is not fireproof and one of the issues with a nearby wildfire is that floating embers often get airborne and could easily start tent fires in the middle of the campground
Evacuating the campground and venue would take a lot of time, even if everyone was already in their cars
There is enough dry vegetation and the right windy conditions around the Gorge to start a major wildfire that nearby fire assets would struggle or be completely unable to contain in the first several hours
You don’t die from burning alive in a wildfire, you die because your lung tissue needs to be wet to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide across the tissue barrier. Getting caught in a wildfire means your lungs char in the heat and you actually suffocate to death while you are burning alive.
In 2018, when we were pulling into the campground and looking at the west bank of the Columbia with the fire, it looked like something out of a war movie with the whole horizon on fire and glowing orange (that picture is from the road leading from I-90 to the campground looking west over the river the Thursday night before the 2018 shows). BE FUCKING CAREFUL! Sorry for being a bit graphic and intense about that, but this is a legitimate safety concern. After the I-90 fire in 2018 and the random little wildfires in 2013, I figure it is worth reiterating. Maps
This is a map of the Gorge venue and campground outlining the basic areas: day parking, various levels of camping, the venue itself, etc. (NOTE: Generally, the smaller general camping circle is not used for Phish) This is an annotated map of the Gorge campground based on my experience in the last three years. This includes locations of portajohns, Shakedown Street, and the showers. I pointed out portajohns so you can recognize them in the satellite view of the campground. This is just a link to Google Maps centered on the venue in case you wanted to explore.
Area Background
The Gorge is pretty much the middle of nowhere(no offense to Grant County residents, but it kind of is). It is at about 1,300 feet above sea level in the high desert. There are effectively no trees anywhere that man hasn't maintained them. It is sagebrush and dead grass as far as the eye can see. It is super dry and hot during the days. There aren't any clouds to hold in the heat at night so by 3AM, you'll be pretty damn cold. The venue is in the heart of Washington in the aforementioned Grant County. This is a rural area that is used to concert traffic, but the county is more known for being the highest producer of potatoes in the country. The nearest town has a McDonald's and two stoplights. Law enforcement consists of county sheriffs and state police. Fire trucks and ambulances are a good 20 minutes away, at best. The nearest big store like a Wal-Mart is 40 minutes away, northeast of the venue in Ephrata(but the one in Moses Lake another 10 minutes away down I-90 is probably better). You will need to bring pretty much everything you need.
Climate
The Gorge is located in high desert. This means that it is hot and dry during the day and cool and much less dry at night. Daytime is about 80-95 degrees and is usually sunny but sometimes can be cloudy towards the late afternoon. Humidity is 15-35%. Nighttime is about 57-65 degrees and is usually clear. Humidity is 45-60%. There is usually a bit of a breeze, but the wind picks up significantly, and reliably, every day during 11:30PM to 2:30AM, 7:30AM to 10:30AM, and 5:30PM to 8:30PM.
Flying in to the Area
There are several options for airports. To the east, there is Spokane. This is about 2 hr 15 min east of the venue down I-90. You can get here from a lot of airports Denver and west. There is also an option to get here from Chicago on United or from Minneapolis on Delta. To the south, there is the Tri-Cities airport. This is easily the closest airport to the venue, being only 1 hr 45 min away. There are a few flights here, but you will be able to fly here from Denver, Chicago, Minneapolis, and SF. To the west, we have several options. The farthest would be Portland, at 4.5 hours. There are a lot of flights in and out of here and, considering Eugene is the tour opener, might be a good option. The next two options are in Seattle. Most people are familiar with SeaTac Intl Airport, at 2.5 hours away. This has a ton of flights and you can get here from anywhere. This is a solid option. However, Seattle just opened a second airport for commercial service in Everett. There aren't many flights to Everett, but you can get there from Denver and a lot of west coast cities. You could also consider Bellingham or Vancouver(Canada) to fly into, but they don't make as much sense. To the north, there is nothing. There are a few other very small airports that you have to connect through Seattle to get to: Wenatchee, Yakima, and Walla Walla. These are small airports. They mainly function as cargo connections with an federal Essential Air Service subsidy that makes the route viable for Alaska to fly. Unless you have a rental car reservation at the time of booking a flight, you are making a huge gamble that you will be able to find transportation in the middle of nowhere. Although, you could maybe feasibly take a bus(elaborated in a later section) or a very expensive rideshare from Wenatchee as it is an hour long drive. Yakima has a bus connection, but it is 4 hours long, plus figuring out that last couple miles from the bus stop to the venue. Yakima is also an hour drive from the venue. Walla Walla has no public transportation options and is a 2.5 hour drive away.
Getting To the Venue By car
The only real way to get to the venue is by car, so you will need your own car, a rental, or to find a ride. Most people will be driving in from the east or west on I-90. If you come from the east, Moses Lake is your last real town to stop in for anything more than ice or overpriced beer. If you come from the west, Ellensburg is your last stop before the venue, period. Both the Silica Rd and Quincy exits work for getting to the venue, but the Silica Rd one is closest for those coming from the west and the Quincy exit for those from the east. Some people may arrive via US-2/WA-28 from the north. For you, Wenatchee is your last real town to stop in. For those coming from the south/Eugene/PDX, you will either come up US-97 through Yakima and Ellensburg, where Ellensburg is your last real down, or up through Tri-Cities, where Tri-Cities are your last real place to stop for anything. I believe that the policy allowing you to drive in and out of the campground is still in effect, so you can also leave to pick up people or more beer. For those parking at the Gorge and staying elsewhere, there is day parking at the venue, but it is not free. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT IF YOU DRIVE THROUGH A NATIVE AMERICAN RESERVATION, STATE LAWS REGARDING MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION ARE NOT IN EFFECT THERE. YOU CAN BE ARRESTED BY TRIBAL POLICE FOR IT. A MAP OF TRIBAL LANDS CAN BE FOUND HERE.
By public transit
You can actually get surprisingly close to the venue just on public transit, though. A bus or Amtrak can be taken to Wenatchee or Ellensburg and then you can catch the Apple Line bus from there to the George or Quincy stops a few miles from the venue. You may be able to get a Lyft or something here, but you probably would need to find a ride from there or hoof it. I wouldn't advise this method, but if you have friends that can grab you on the way, this might work for you. Or you can get a ride to Ellensburg or Moses Lake on a bus and get a ride from there. Or maybe ride a bike the last little bit? Which brings me to...
By bicycle
I'm definitely not going to recommend this, but it is entirely feasible and legal to ride your bike to the venue. There is a rail trail from Seattle all the way to about Ellensburg. After that, it gets a little more difficult. It used to be you went across the rail bridge in Beverly to cross the river, but that's unsafe so you either have to contact Wanapum Dam to get permission to be walked across or find some way to make it across the shoulderless I-90 bridge. The bridge seems pretty dangerous, though. Yes, you are legally allowed to ride on I-90 for most of it's length, aside from areas listed in the applicable state laws(usually around Seattle). Again, I don't recommend this and might actually recommend against this, but it could be done. Be safe and take appropriate precautions if you do. You do this at your own risk.
By boat
Sorry, like the salmon, you're not getting upriver or downriver of those dams.
Getting Around
Most everyone will be doing a lot of walking. The venue, the campground, the venue's store, the path to the river that I'm-told-exists-but-haven't-quite-verified-yet-and-have-been-told-sucks-to-walk-down-anyways: all within walking distance. The paths are pretty dusty and rocky, so bring appropriate footwear. However, most of the campsites are on fairly soft grass. You could probably bring a bicycle to ride around if you wanted. There is that much space. There isn’t anything on the campground website that says you cannot bring a bike and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them before, but double check by contacting the venue before you go to I'm not sure if a skate/longboard would work, though. Make sure to take stock of any flags or light poles around your campsite and get really familiar with some landmarks because it can be really difficult to find your way back at night. Or, bring your own flag pole and flags.
See
There is so much to see. Literally spin around and point in a direction and there's something cool that way. Take a moment to read this for a primer on the area the venue is in.
Natural
Dry Falls State Park: this is the largest waterfall on earth, with over three miles of ledge for water to run off of. Unfortuantely, it has been dry for thousands of years. Still amazing to see. A bit far, though.
Potholes Coulee: Not to be confused with Potholes State Park. This is a coulee where the ice age floods dug out some small ponds on the east short of the Columbia.
The Columbia River: yea, you can see it from the venue, but going down to it is different. Definitely worth seeing.
the night sky: If you feel like taking a walk, there's fairly little light pollution in the area compared to most places. You can do some pretty solid stargazing.
Ginkgo Petrified Forest: haven't been, but there is a petrified forest in Vantage that is ~15.5 million years old.
Moses Lake the actual lake: it’s a pretty sizeable lake/reservoir with some beaches
Manmade
There isn't much manmade stuff to see out here. There's a few dams(Wanapum and Grand Coulee spring to mind) and the Columbia Basin Project canals, but that's about it. Also, I'm pretty positive it is illegal to swim in the canals, so don't do that unless you've verified it is legal and safe to do so. However, if you are into planes, Boeing does run a flight facility in Moses Lake that sometimes sees test flights and currently is housing bunch of those 737-8 MAXs in storage until they aren’t grounded anymore. You can find more information on those here in this Google Doc that lists all the test flights. The Moses Lake airport code is MWH. Speaking of planes, the US Navy sometimes likes to give everyone a 9AM wakeup call by flying F/A-18 Hornets down the Gorge at low altitude. It’s quite a fucking sight to see them zipping over the campground close enough to see the hardpoints on the underside of the wing as it banks away from the campground.
Do Read the fucking book
Seriously, if you haven't by now, an afternoon at the Gorge is a great time to read it.
On/In the water
There are numerous places to go down to the river north and south of the venue, including the supposed path from the venue to the river(just drive if you can). Up in Crescent Bar, you can rent kayaks, jetskis, whatever you want. There are also some public beaches there. Bring some inflatable tubes and enjoy yourself! Although, the river is way too wide and too slow for actual tubing. Plus, there’s a dam downriver of the I-90 bridge, so be careful! There are a couple other places you can get to the river. Just give Google Maps satellite view a peek. Moses Lake the actual lake is also nearby and that's a pretty great place to go. Someone in one of the 2018 threads said they were chilling on the beach there and had pizza delivered to the beach they were on.
On land
There are tons of hiking and biking trails nearby. You can use WA Trail Association's trail finder map to find some. There are a couple wineries and orchards in the area, as well. I'm not sure what will be in season about then, but you can usually pick up produce at roadside stands. Prices may vary.
At the campground
There's the normal activities to do here: meet new people, people watch, drink, have fun, etc. A lot of people just relax around the campground.
Buy Necessities
For things like ice or beer, you can get them overpriced at the venue's store. Or you can run into Quincy or George. You have to go to Quincy or George if you need gas. For things like sunscreen, a tent, a growler refill, you will need to go to Ephrata, Moses Lake, or Ellensburg. If you need a growler refill, I can personally recommend Iron Horse Brewery in Ellensburg. Their Irish Death Ale will get you feeling nice and good, but it is dark and heavy.
Shakedown
Shakedown at the Gorge is awesome. Basically, it sets up in two legs that meet where the food trucks and larger shops are. You can find anything from a PB&J to a lot shirt to a new dab rig here. Bring cash for these purchases because it’s highly unlikely anyone takes credit cards. Activity on Shakedown usually peaks around 5-630PM before people start to head to the venue.
Marijuana
There are a lot of great pot shops in the state. However, the pickings get slim around the Gorge. Try and stop in a shop in a larger city or town on the way in or after you land. But, according to WeedMaps, there are a number of stores within 45 minutes of the venue. BUT REMEMBER MARIJUANA IS ILLEGAL ON TRIBAL LANDS.
Food Options
I typically bring most of my food as the options at the Gorge can be a bit pricy or nonexistant.
Food Trucks
Usually, it has been gyros, pizza, burgers, burritos, and that kind of stuff. Usually like five to seven food trucks. Also, if the churros are back, they're clutch as fuck for 2AM.
Shakedown
There's always people selling food here during the day. Pickings get slim after the show, though.
Nearby
There's a McD's, Westside Pizza, and some small places in Quincy but pretty much everything else is 45 minutes away.
The Actual Show and Inside the Venue
HERE is a map of the venue itself with important things marked out from my memory. If anyone knows anything I missed or if I got something wrong, let me know and I will update the map.
Security and Getting In
The security line starts filling up about an hour before the show and it can easily be a two-beer wait(read: 30 to 60 minutes) to get past security. All I will say about security is one time they got suspicious that I had a lighter and forgot my ciggs at my tent. Most of the time, they barely care that I have ciggs and a lighter. Please note that an unopened water bottle or an empty Nalgene are allowed in the show! AGAIN, BE CAREFUL ABOUT WHERE YOU SMOKE, FLICK YOUR ASH, AND DISPOSE OF YOUR CIGARETTE BUTTS AND JOINT ROACHES.
Finding a spot to watch the show
This is less about what is there and what you want. The venue is huge. I will say that if you are(all directions mentioned are if you are in the center of the lawn facing the stage) on the left side of the lawn, you will have a more direct view over the stage and down the Gorge towards Crescent Bar. If you are on the right side of the lawn, you’ll have a better view of the sunset over the wind farm on the ridge above the Gorge. If anyone has any definitive info on the pit in front of the stage, let me know. I have no experience with it.
What to Bring
I’ll throw it out there that the grass is genuinely kept well enough that you probably could get by without a blanket if you usually bring one to sit on on the lawn. There’s a 99.999% chance there will not be rain in the week before or during the run so there’s no need to worry about mud and they clean it pretty well of trash. Sunglasses are probably good, but you won’t need them for the second set and encore after the sun goes down. An unopened water bottle or an empty one(disposable or reusable) for water is always clutch. A headlamp for the portajohns in the 2nd set and encore would be really helpful because most of those portajohns are dark as hell after the sun goes down. Your boogie shoes.
Refreshments
I’ve marked them on the map. They’re pretty pricey like any concert venue. I can’t really think of anything particularly worth mentioning about them.
Bathrooms
Marked them on the map as well. In the venue, they’re actually pretty well taken care of and look alright until second set. Maybe bring a headlamp because the lighting inside can be nonexistent in the second set.
Camping/Lodging Options
There are a couple different options here.
Staying at the venue
There are a few different levels of camping:
Oasis: This is the five-star option. With like memory foam mattresses.
Glamping: They have four glamping setups at the venue.
Easy: Right next to the venue and they have a tent and sleeping bag all ready for you.
Terrace: Basically one level above Premiere. Better grass, a picnic table, a little closer, and (I believe) better access in and out with your car.
Gold: Never done this, but this is basically camping right next to the venue with bigger spots.
Premier: Basically regular camping, but with slightly bigger spots, free showers, a shuttle to the venue(which is kind of unnecessary IMO), and security to keep out your new friends and the spunions.
Family/ADA: I haven't seen anything on the website aside from the map, but there's usually a quiet/family camping section somewhere. Maybe it is gone this year. Contact the venue if you're interested.
Near the venue
There are several options near the venue for camping or lodging. For more traditional hotels or Airbnb, you can look around Quincy, Ephrata, Ellensburg, and Moses Lake. For nearby camping options, the two big ones are Wildhorse and Sage Creek. I have no experience at either, but I have heard them both highly recommended. They run shuttles to and from the venue so you can still come back and party with friends at the main campground and then go back to your relative peace and quiet at your campground after. Generally, I hear people talk about these as alternatives to premiere camping for those that like the show but are kind of past being woken up by intoxicated people outside their tents making noise at 4AM.
Camping Gear
A lot of this is the standard fare: tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, etc. Definitely try to bring a shade tent or at least a tarp. If you need camping gear because you are flying in, you can rent via back40outfitters or REI.
Sample Daily Schedule
This is a general idea of life at the Gorge:
4AM: Fall asleep
6AM: Wake up to the sun making things bright and roll over and go back to bed
9AM: Wake up to the heat and open the tent flap and go back to bed
10AM: Wake up because now it’s too hot even with the tent flap open
10-11AM: Recover from the night before
11AM-12PM: Figure out what to do today, maybe get a bite at the food trucks, smoke a bowl, have a little hair of the dog
12-3PM: Go down to the river, go into town, read a book, whatever
3-4PM: begin pregaming, maybe take a walk down Shakedown
4-5PM: start really pregaming, eat some food so not drinking on an empty stomach
5-6PM: pregame some more, maybe go down Shakedown again to see the partying
6-630PM: final checks for being ready and making sure we have everything, maybe more Shakedown
630-640PM: a little more pregaming
640-7PM: head over to the show
7-730PM: wait in security
730PM-8PM: find a beer, a spot, and wait for the show(7:30 show time so figure it’ll start at like 8)
8PM-1215AM: at the show
1225AM: start leaving
1225-1245AM: party on the way back
1245-115AM: regroup at campsite
115-230AM: walk around and meet people and have fun
230-245AM: late night munchies
245-330AM: more walking around
330-4AM: wind down at campsite and then pass out
Staying Comfortable
These are pro-tips for enjoying your time at the Gorge:
bring lots of sunscreen
bring sunglasses and probably a cheap pair or two of them for the shows
a headlamp for the portapotties in the dark is a lifesaver
bring some sort of shade because there is no shade at the campground beyond what you bring
bring lots of water and actually drink lots of water
a battery powered fan may be helpful
bring a shade tent or a tarp to make your own shade
have warm clothes for at night because it gets chilly and dewy
watch out for the dew at night
try and get a shower daily because the dust gets everywhere
bring back up shoes
bring and use wet wipes
bring ear plugs to block out late night noise and maybe a sleeping mask to block out the early morning sunshine
give yourself time to get to the venue because it is a bit of a walk and kind of on the slow side with everyone jammed into the walkway and security can take almost an hour sometimes
the lighting towers typically don’t shut off until like 3:30-5AM, so be aware of that when you’re pulling in for a spot. Staff may not let you move, but they may let you choose a spot farther away from the lighting. Or maybe you want to be there so everyone knows how to get back to your spot in the early morning
also, if you’re planning to be out late, be aware the lighting towers shut off around 3:30-5AM if you’re trying to navigate back to your campsite
the portajohns are typically cleaned once a day at around noon, although I think they might clean them again while the show is going. I haven’t confirmed the second cleaning, though
portajohns also usually have hand sanitizer but there’s been a few times they run out, especially on the last night
List of nice-to-have items
USB battery pack
Battery powered fan
Solar charger(you will get all the sun your charger can handle)
Shade tent/tarp
Warm pajama pants for chilly nights
Extra water(you might be surprised how quick it goes)
First aid kit
Sunburn gel/aloe
A hat because sunglasses can only do so much
Hand sanitizer
Staying Safe
First off: let me reiterate that EVERY SINGLE PERSON NEEDS TO BE MINDFUL OF WHERE YOU FLICK YOUR ASH AND DISPOSE OF JOINTS AND CIGARETTES. Also, this should be a fucking no-brainer, but I’ve seen people doing this before in the area of the venue at that time of year: DON’T SET OFF FUCKING FIREWORKS AT THE VENUE. YOU WILL LIKELY START A WILDFIRE AND ARE ENDANGERING THE REST OF THE PEOPLE AT THE SHOW. Firework embers can cause a house’s roof to catch fire. Catching dry brush on fire is far easier. Next: secure your tents and tarps. Coming back from the first show of the run is always funny because some phans didn't secure their tents thinking "Oh, well it's not windy now..." and didn't realize that the wind picks up after the sun goes down in the second set and now their tent has blown kind of far away. BRING STURDY STAKES AND PLENTY OF THEM. This is why. You can lock stuff in your tent, but likely locking it in your car is safer. And be smart about it. Don't leave a nice laptop sitting on your passenger seat. I haven't heard much about theft at the Gorge, but don't chance it. Drink lotssss of water. It is high desert. Water evaporates more quickly at higher altitudes than at sea level. Even though we aren’t that high up, combine the altitude with the dry air and you can get parched pretty fast. I debated adding this part, but in wake of what happened in 2018: Remember that two people were assaulted in a hate crime at the 2018 shows. If you see someone clearly starting shit and that is only there to cause trouble, avoid them and maybe consider saying something to staff/security. We are all there to have fun. People that are there to cause physical harm to others or harass anyone are not welcome. Security, medical services, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Department are on site to keep everyone safe and having fun. They will be out and about in the campground from time to time and will be at the venue itself. I think the only time I’ve ever had an interaction with them was when a sheriff’s deputy was walking the campgrounds and told my friend he couldn’t hit the bong in full public view and to please go do that in his tent. I have typically seen an ambulance stationed on site for the weekend, but don’t take that for granted. Another ambulance is probably 20-45 minutes away, at best. Any hospital is going to be 45 minutes away. And if you need serious medical treatment immediately, you might be getting med-evaced by a helicopter. It is that rural. Be safe. Cell phone service does work at the Gorge, but if it is an emergency and you dial 911, remember that you will likely be speaking with a state police operator elsewhere in the state. If you tell them you are at the Gorge, they may transfer you to a Grant County operator or continue taking the call.
Getting Out
Most all of you will be leaving the way you came. However, for those that are leaving early enough and feeling like they have enough energy to do some things, I have a few suggestions:
Go tubing on the Yakima or Snoqualmie rivers: they’re a bit chilly at this point in the year still, but worth it. Yakima is closer but a bit more of a difficult river to tube. Only go tubing if you feel comfortable and conditions are safe. You do so at your own risk.
Go for a hike: there are tons of hikes along I-90 in the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie Nat’l Forest. I recommend Snow Lake: there’s a ton of switchbacks, but it is fucking worth it. If you’re headed south, north, or east, there are also tons of hikes too. Down south, you can find some amazing hikes along the Columbia near The Dalles. Remember to observe proper hiking safety.
Do some more camping: there are tons of great campground up and down the Columbia and pretty much everywhere you look. Don’t just look at National Park and Forest campgrounds, though. There are county PUD campgrounds, state DNR campgrounds, state park campgrounds, private campgrounds, and all sorts of stuff.
Check out Wenatchee: it’s a small city more known for apple orchards, but it’s pretty nice
Check out Chelan: if you have some extra time and want to hit a real summer lake destination, Chelan is it. It’s fucking gorgeous up there.
Check out Leavenworth: this town is literally a slice of Bavarian alpine towns in WA. It’s not October so no Oktoberfest, unfortunately, but it is a nice place.
Check out Tolmie Peak: the view is "incredible, and all around, full 360°, not just Mt. Rainier." Screenshot the map beforehand as there is no cell service and be prepared for swarms of mosquitos Photo of the view
Drive through Idaho and don’t stop: seriously, you’re probably better off if you have to go through Idaho to just not stop if you don’t have to. Idaho’s slogan is jokingly “Come on vacation, leave on probation”. Enough said.
If you flicked a cigarette butt or joint roach and caught something on fire, you’re probably getting out via the back seat of a police vehicle
Head to Tahoe. Really, this is what we all want to be doing, isn’t it?
Q&A Below this reserved for editing in any questions people asked that I may have missed. EDIT: Hi, just wanted to say that I encourage donating to a charity, like Waterwheel Foundation or Doctors Without Borders, instead of gifting me Reddit silver or gold! That said, thank you to whoever gifted me silver! Thanks to the following for contributing:
[POEM] - Untitled poem by Ezra Pound (also with audio of him reading it at the age of 76 supposedly) -- does anyone have any context for this?
[Spelling mistake from the transcription, and I don't know the correct formatting. The website that actually hosts it seems to be dead. Does anyone have any context at all for this? Via Google, I was only able to find the link below and someone mentioning it in a comments section of a blog. Anyone out there with more info? Thanks in advance.] LINK HERE From Italy, Idaho was too raw to face. I knew with Whitman that it might not work. We might end a populous Australia; loving sport, distraction, and our own hollowness. Not gambling on that I stayed put. And wanted the great issues too simple. A taste that came from odd books loved pigheadedly and well. Hatred betrayed me to ape it`s voice. An agony that ended with the world`s. Now, my joy is to splash around Venice in hip boots. Saying little. Old peasant women call me "maestro" and respect my moods. After reading to a clique, I cut off their applause, "Trouble is it`s not strictly true." And lock myself in silence. I who thought we could make everything new and honest, poets and critics, even politicians. What cruel vanity causes a man to cast his whole life in a cool Greek rage against the immortal, unchangeable darkness of stupidity?
Idaho has not been terribly friendly toward gambling. In this way, it sticks out a bit from former-frontier states - and certainly from its neighbor, Nevada. Outside of Native American-run casinos, the state lottery, and charitable bingo, gambling is illegal in Idaho. And there has been a series of legislation However, the Gem State does have a variety of gambling options for Idahoans that have been solid for a few decades. Gambling online for real money is also possible, with a number of the best Idaho gambling sites providing a wide range of options. Rank VA Gambling Site Exclusive Bonus Products Get Started #1: Las Atlantis: 280% Up To $14,000: Casino; Visit Site : Las Atlantis #2: Super Slots Idaho slot machine casino gambling consists of six tribal casinos offering video slot machines, electronic pull-tabs, and competition-style bingo machines. Some casinos also offer electronic forms of poker, keno, roulette, and blackjack. Book Your Consultation…. Idaho Land-Based Gambling Although the state of Idaho does not sanction casinos or offer licenses to individuals who wish to facilitate gambling the state, players can take advantage of several federally exempt tribal casinos. Unfortunately, none of these casinos is a fully functional gambling facility. The Idaho Lottery Online. Idaho does, in fact, have a state lottery, so it is one of the few legal gambling options in the state. However, when it comes to online play, the state’s laws are just as restrictive as they are with other forms of gambling. According to the official Idaho Lottery website, “there are State and Federal laws that prohibit the sale of Lottery tickets through the Internet.” There are no legal online lottery operators. We recommend that you head straight to our Currently Idaho does not offer any type of state based sportsbook betting opportunities but the state has a decent amount of legal gambling entertainment available. Some popular betting options include tribal casinos, state lotteries, charitable gaming and pari-mutuel wagering. The Federal Wire Act that governs betting law in Idaho, makes it illegal to operate an online sportsbook anywhere in the United States. However, the law does not prohibit residents from participating in online Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt, for secured property located in Idaho. Form 1098, Mortgage Interest Statement, for property located in Idaho. Form W-2G, Certain Gambling Winnings, for gambling that took place in Idaho. Idaho forms Form 910. You must forward the Idaho taxes you've withheld on behalf of your employees on a regular basis. You Idaho is situated in the open western part of the United States. Idaho is the home of some of the greatest Indian casinos available to gamblers anywhere. Idahos Indian casinos offer guests the fun and excitement they desire. Here, it is a laid back atmosphere where the fun is not interrupted by big city fuss. For visitor convenience, Idaho casinos are located throughout the state. Idaho defines gambling, in part, as risking money or other things of value for gain that is contingent in whole or part upon chance or the outcome of an event, including a sporting event. My concern is that the daily fantasy sports offerings my office reviewed require participants to risk money for a cash prize contingent upon individual athletes’ collective performances in various future sporting events. As I see it, this falls within Idaho’s definition of gambling.” If that does happen, lawmakers will have to overcome the challenge of amending the state constitution and receiving the approval of a majority of voters. Online Gambling in Idaho. Online poker sites and casinos are prohibited in Idaho for the time being. As mentioned above, the state constitution makes it very clear that only a few specific
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