Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Day 4

Well, I guess all good things really must come to an end, even the 40th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Day 4 was an excellent conclusion to a festival filled with dazzling talent, chill festivarians, and mind-blowing scenery. It was seriously difficult to leave. Thank you TBF and Telluride for the memories! 
I hope to see you again soon!

Béla Fleck played a really pretty early afternoon set.

The Infamous Stringdusters were fun live. It was cool to watch them smile and interact with each other on the stage.

For lunch, we took the gondola up to beautiful Mountain Village to check out the view.

And what a view it was!

Back in town, I did more wandering before heading back to TBF.

Hey dog!

It's legal, y'all.

One last walk to TBF...

Jackson Browne at sunset? Ummm OKAY! Here he is with Sarah Watkins and Sean Watkins.

My personal Jackson Browne highlight was when he played "These Days" with none other than Jerry Douglas on the slide. In fact, it was my favorite TBF moment.

The Drepung Monks completed their sand mandala on Sunday. It was truly remarkable to witness the process. The monks tour often, so if they happen to be coming to a town near you, please go see the mandala creation for yourself!

Enjoying the perfect ending to a perfect fest: listening to the Telluride House Band from the lawn.

After TBF, I was lucky enough to get one more day in Telluride so I went on an offroad adventure with my fiancé and her family. It was unreal. (Later that day, as I mentioned in a previous post, I watched the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup at Smuggler's. It seriously doesn't get any better.)

Imogene Pass. 13,144 feet above sea level. Wow.

Snow in June!

Tomboy Ghost Town

Man, I miss you Colorado!

Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Day 3

Day 3 of the 40th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival was filled with lots of special moments (as you will see below). What a day.

We kicked off the day with my fiancé's family on a beautiful hike that had a very special surprise ending... 

A proposal! My soon-to-be cousins, Damon and Leanne, got engaged and it was amazing! Talk about an awesome start to the day.  

View of Telluride from the hike down. 

More downtown Telluride... 

And back to TBF we go!

Sam Bush made another appearance, this time with Yonder Mountain String Band. It was a fantastic set ending with Yonder's Jeff Austin uttering two words that melted my heart before walking offstage: "Go Hawks!" He was of course referring to my beloved Chicago Blackhawks, who hours later played and defeated the Boston Bruins in Game 5 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals. 

Does it get any cuter? It does: if you look closely you'll notice that he's wearing a Blackhawks t-shirt. 

More Blackhawks love in Colorado! And since we're talking about the Blackhawks, I want to take a second to send a special thanks to Smuggler's Brewpub, where I watched Stanley Cup Finals Games 4, 5 and 6 (all of which the Hawks won). Smuggler's was infiltrated by quite a few Blackhawks fans each game (me being the loudest) and it's where I eventually watched them win the 2013 Stanley Cup Championship. So Smuggler's, thanks for letting me cry tears of joy all over and hug everyone in your bar. You made a girl who's been to countless Blackhawks games this season (included at least one game for each round of the NHL Playoffs) very, very happy.

After Yonder Mountain, TBF took a moment to recognize Marikay Shellman, my fiancé's aunt, for her behind-the-scenes work for the festival since its inception. Forty years later, TBF is still going strong and we can thank Marikay and Fred Shellman and others for their vision.

Bluegrass legend Sam Bush said a few words about Marikay to the crowd.

 Feist was perhaps the most random member of the TBF lineup, but I was thrilled because I absolutely love her and her music. She was even more impressive live than I'd imagined.

  

Leftover Salmon was a high-energy end to an incredible day. The crowd was up on their feet dancing until the last note was played.