I love the Getaway. It's the happiest part of my year. But I had trouble with some things last year - the first year at West River. I did appreciate not having to worry about sleeping in just-above-freezing temperatures, but the heat was on way too high most of the time. I hated the Saturday night concert in the Dining Hall - the heat was on 80 degrees and I practically couldn't breathe. I just couldn't wait for it to be over. I got an awful headache that lasted most of the night and I was so groggy I couldn't stay on key in the singing afterwards!

In the central rooms of the cabins, where there were workshops and jamming it was the same. No matter what we did with the radiators they continually poured out heat. We did the best we could by propping open the windows (when it was in the 40's and 50's outside), but it was still stifling much of the time.

Also it was difficult to find where non-scheduled singing and playing were happening, since it was behind closed doors. I found one jam as it was breaking up, and didn't know about two of the others -in the Paz cabin, and in the hallway outside the bathroom in the central building - until I read about them on the Mudcat the week following the Getaway.

I imagine that these (unlike the hills or lack of heat at Ramblewood) are FIXABLE problems, so I'm glad of the opportunity to air them now, well ahead of time!

--Linda