#3 100 things: The Rainbow Family

[8hyenas]

One of the many days of hiding in the stacks at my university's library (I was working!) I read a book about the Rainbow Family, it caught my eye due to being bright pink. It's a sort of utopia hippie commune but it only has "Gatherings" there's no permanent settling. It's amorphous.
That summer I working at a museum and was bored and disappointed with myself for being safe. So I decided not to be. And drove overnight to the National Gathering. I picked up hitchhikers, then I hitchhiked, then I hiked. And I got to a huge settlement in the middle of the woods with 20,000 societal rejects. I thought it was hippies. But it was much bigger than that. There were biker gangs, missionaries, lots of homeless people, runaway kids, and generally just the kind of people I'd spent my entire life avoiding.
The food was fantastic. The cops were terrible. The people were interesting. I made a lot of friends, mainly people with dogs :). I hauled water and firewood for kitchens, was in a terrible drum circle, smoked with rastas, and basically broke with reality. It was great.
After the fact, I'm thankful I wasn't kidnapped, I recommend against going alone, and against doing any drugs with complete strangers. Also, take a personal water filter or tablets. I arrived with literally nothing and pulled a Blanche.
2012 Kentucky anyone?