Background:
I was a senior at Cleveland Heights High School. The world was changing from the Ozzie and Harriet, My 3 Son traditional family life. I lived in Cleveland Height, Ohio in an upper middle class family with two brothers and a sister. Mom didn't work. Dad owned his own business. They had 2 cadillacs. I had bought a used yellow mustang convertable the summer before with money I made painting houses.
My contemporaries and I were feeling the change. We still didn't lock our doors at home. But the Viet Nam war and fear of being drafted, psychedlic music from Beatles and Rolling Stones, and free love philosophy had all changed me. I had also discovered marijuana. I liked it better than alcohol. I grew my hair long, changed my clothing to tye dyed shirts, bell bottom pants, etc. No longer Izod and penny loafers.

The trip:
So it was only natural to run away from home to go to Woodstock. I left in my convertable drinking beer and smoking pot all the way. It took 10 hours to get to upstate New York. The time passed quickly with the blaring music that I sang along to as I drove. I was getting really excited about Woodstock. I had been to a few local concerts but this was going to be a whole weekend of music and a city of kids like me from all over the country. What a gas! When I got to tjhe road leading to the Yasgar farm the traffic wasn't moving any more. I drove until I saw ythe end of the line of parked cars on the side of the road and parked mine. I didn't think about where I was going to sleep, what I would eat, didn't bring soap or a toothbrush. I did bring some money and pot. I hadn't even bought a ticket yet. All I could think about was the weekend and music.

Woodstock:
When I arrived it was a mob scene. No one knew if any tickets were left or where to get them. All of a sudden the throng had knocked down the chain link fence and we swarmed into the celebration. I was hot and sweaty and tied my shirt around my waist. suddenly someone passed me a cup of warm orange Koolaide. I drank it and moments later I was hallucinating. So this was what LSD was. From that moment on everything was a blur of pure exstacy. I remember port-a-cans lined in a row and people just peeing on the ground outside cause the lines were too long. People shared their food , drugs, and their bodies. I had sex so many times I was sore. When I was tired I think I slept on the ground.

The music:
Wow!!! The music would have been great anyways. But the drugs supercharged the experience. All the top names where there performing live. Janis Joplin, Iron Butterfly, Joe Coker, Richie Havens, Country Joe and the Fish, Ravi Shanker, Greatful Dead, Sly and the Family Stone (they took us higher), The Who, Jeffeson Airplane, 10 Years After, Jimmie Hendrix, ShaNaNa, and the Moody Blues. Probably some others but thats all I remember. There were several stages and the music was nonstop. Never before and never gain will there be a music extravaganza like this one.

The End:
Many of us stayed until the crowds died down for another 6 hours or so. Then we walked to our cars, tired, dirty, but smiling from ear to ear from the best weekend of our lives. I slept in my car until I could get back ont he road and drove home. I was grounded for a month. But - IT WAS WORTH IT!!!!