The low down on the Cascade Locks show July 10, 2016

As any of you that tried to check in for our show in Cascade Locks Friday (or have read our last blog update) know, we had a few issues. Some of these were technical, some were meteorological, and some were just plain issues.

Like we normally do, we arrived at the show a couple hours before the planned start time to check things out and get setup. The drive along the Columbia River Gorge was as beautiful as always but we were a little concerned by the Oregon Sunshine (rain for those not in the Pacific Northwest). Pulling into the parking lot overlooking the show, it was apparent the vendors were pretty concerned as well.

We broke out the gear and tried to get online with NO luck. We failed on multiple networks with multiple devices. If you’re not familiar with Cascade Locks, it’s a pretty little town tucked in along the south bank of the Columbia River. The park the event was being held at was right along the water so we were pretty far below the canyon walls and the cell signal wasn’t very good. It didn’t take long to realize the show would have to be cancelled.

A short drive back into town found us at a little diner with WiFi. Even on their system, it took a crazy long time to get the word out and perform that myriad of behind the scenes tasks that needed to be done. We finally wrapped all that up and made it back to the site an hour after they ‘opened’.

Like I said, we had been dealing with a fair bit of rain all morning. When we pulled back onsite about a third of the vendors hadn’t uncovered their booths and we saw nobody else shopping. We grabbed the rain coats and headed out to see what there was to be seen.

As usually is the case, the vendors were pleasant and happy to see us. We made two passes through the dozen or so booths and almost everyone had opened by the time we left. Our shopping turned up a couple new treasures that will be added to the Emptor Selections in the store in the next little while.

Thanks again for your patience while we get through these growing pains. We’re still finding out which events will support live shows and what tools we need to bring them to you. Every day we’re working on ways to better bring people and their minerals together and we hope you’ll stick with us through this journey.