Adventures at Olympia Hempfest

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I'm not sure how many joints we smoked on the way to Olympia Hempfest, but we got lost on the way there. There were plenty of parking spaces at the Heritage Park Apartments - but no people. Stupid GPS didn't know we were going to the 10th Anniversary of Olympia Hempfest at Heritage Park, about a half mile up (or down?) the road.

No worries. It was a beautiful day. We smoke another joint, turned off the annoying voice of technical direction and pressed onward, finally rolling up to our rock-star parking space right in front, ready to take on Washington State's first LEGAL Hempfest. 

The first booth we stopped at was for I-584, a new voter referendum that would decriminalize home growing and sharing of our sweet cannabis. The guy running this booth, Jared Allaway, also does the "Marijuana is Safer than Alcohol" t-shirts. It makes my heart warm to see activism in progress - think global, act local, you modern-day hippies!

I made new friends with dispensary owners, delivery service providers, pipe vendors, and tie-dye and t-shirt guys. We even ran into a crazy guy filming for his public access tv show, and possibly a documentary on the Washington marijuana reform movement. We stopped to share our views, and left half-hoping that we made the evening news.

Unfortunately for my stoner friends and me, there was no pot for sale at Olympia Hempfest.  Boo! I still imagine a world where you can walk up to any vendor booth, sample their goods, and purchase at will - just like regular farmers markets who sell produce. Squeeze before you buy. Yes please! A girl can dream anyway...

We continued down the row of tables until I see it: the most glorious bong! This one, you can lay completely down on your couch, take a hit, and the bong water doesn't spill out! Amazzzzing! 

I felt kind of dirty about the slothful nature of it, but not enough to hand it back to the pretty lady vendor. (So if this is my last blog post, you'll know why and where to find me!) She bundles the iridescent unit up in bubble wrap, and I cradle my new baby gently into my hemp satchel bag. 

The three of us take a break under the shade of a nearby tree and recap our day’s adventure. Sitting next to the calm lake, in the shadow of our state's capitol building, smoking marijuana - I really wonder, can life get any better than this?
Location: Olympia, WA, USA

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