A few years back I went with two good friends to the very first Stagecoach Festival - for those that aren't into country music (which is probably most of my followers!), it's a two day country music festival in Indio, California. I had gotten wind of this concert by listening to the radio on my way to work during my short stint at UC Davis. I was ecstatic because George Strait would be there, and I love me some George Strait. Also, one of my good friends loves him, too, and we'd sworn to each other that we would one day see him live.
When we broke down the ticket prices along with the camping prices, it averaged to be something like $25 or less to see each act. Not a bad deal.
The trip didn't start that great. We stopped at a grocery store on our way out of town to get snack items for the cooler. Being the dingbat that I am, I left the car running . . . with the doors locked. So we had to wait in the rain for the AAA to come out and unlock my doors. It was all downhill from there.
When we arrived at the polo grounds in Indio, we hauled everything in and claimed a campsite. Once all set up, we walked into the grounds and bought a couple drinks. The next day the festival started.
There was music going from like 11am to when the headliners finally finished. There were a total of four stages, music playing all day long on each stage. The year we went, were able to see Marty Stuart, Willy Nelson, Sugarland, Gary Allen, Sara Evans, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, and Kenny Chesney.
Most people were actually pretty pleasant to deal with while standing around waiting for shows to start or during the shows. We didn't pay for the actual seats, that was like an additional $200. I don't think so, Tim. The three of us has a good time, and enjoyed wandering around aimlessly from stage to stage and stopping randomly to see who wanted to attempt the mechanical bull. We each bought a our little group a round of margaritas, which was a small fortune indeed.
They had showers available, which was awesome. And naturally, there was a line at the woman's shower and never one at the guys' shower. That shit is seriously not fair. On the second morning, our line wasn't moving at all for the longest time, and a couple guys came out of their shower, saw our line, and offered the men's side as no one was in there. All the women were like, "yeah buddy, sure". They insisted, having noted that all of us had been there when they had gone in and were leaving. Finally a handful of women (not including myself or my friend) took the guys up on their offer. These two guys stood sentinel outside, so the girls could have some time in the shower. Slowly a line built up outside the men's shower, and no one really complained until the guy responsible for the showers themselves walked around the corner and noted a line at the men's side, which is far from normal. He promptly pushed passed the sentinels, walked into the men's shower and hollered at the women to the get the hell out of there before he shuts down all the showers. The women barely had time to get a towel wrapped around themselves and grab their items, as the guy was practically shoving them out the door. Even the men in line thought the guy was a prick. Sadly, no other men offered to let the women shower on their side. And we were forced to continue waiting our turn.
Once the festival was done, we headed back. My girlfriend wanted to stop by the beach on the trip back home, so we started out that way. We decided before we left the area to visit Joshua Tree National Park. I've never felt so windblown in my life. Once done wandering around there, we decided to officially head out.
FYI, never let your navigator sit in the back seat. Also, never let said navigator unknowingly take a long nap in the back seat. Never trust said navigator when they say, "Just stay on this forever, and it'll take us right to the beach". Seriously, just don't.
We followed this road, and after a few hours, thought, "hmmm, we should have reached the ocean by now". We had no idea where we were. Except that we were lost in the Mojave. In case you were curious, not the best place to get lost. Navigator told us we should have gotten on the freeway. Now, he had never mentioned a freeway. And when we looked at the map, we couldn't find what road we were on. About that time, we finally figured it out. Someone's random driveway had this at the top so we could see it: Route 66.
Needless to say, we never saw the damn beach. We did however, get the great fortune of driving through Hinkley. If you've ever seen Erin Brockovich, then you know the town of which I speak. Don't drink the water. And don't stop to go pee - they charge you. Seriously. Well, they force you to buy something, so basically, they're charging you to pee. How rude.
I wanted to go the next year as Rascal Flatts was going to be there, but no one had the money to go. We haven't been back since. However, we attended the very first Stagecoach Festival, and that was fairly special. I heard the crowds were nearly doubled the second year, which wouldn't have been as nice to contend with. But we had a good weekend. Even if we did get lost.
The trip didn't start that great. We stopped at a grocery store on our way out of town to get snack items for the cooler. Being the dingbat that I am, I left the car running . . . with the doors locked. So we had to wait in the rain for the AAA to come out and unlock my doors. It was all downhill from there.
When we arrived at the polo grounds in Indio, we hauled everything in and claimed a campsite. Once all set up, we walked into the grounds and bought a couple drinks. The next day the festival started.
There was music going from like 11am to when the headliners finally finished. There were a total of four stages, music playing all day long on each stage. The year we went, were able to see Marty Stuart, Willy Nelson, Sugarland, Gary Allen, Sara Evans, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, and Kenny Chesney.
Most people were actually pretty pleasant to deal with while standing around waiting for shows to start or during the shows. We didn't pay for the actual seats, that was like an additional $200. I don't think so, Tim. The three of us has a good time, and enjoyed wandering around aimlessly from stage to stage and stopping randomly to see who wanted to attempt the mechanical bull. We each bought a our little group a round of margaritas, which was a small fortune indeed.
They had showers available, which was awesome. And naturally, there was a line at the woman's shower and never one at the guys' shower. That shit is seriously not fair. On the second morning, our line wasn't moving at all for the longest time, and a couple guys came out of their shower, saw our line, and offered the men's side as no one was in there. All the women were like, "yeah buddy, sure". They insisted, having noted that all of us had been there when they had gone in and were leaving. Finally a handful of women (not including myself or my friend) took the guys up on their offer. These two guys stood sentinel outside, so the girls could have some time in the shower. Slowly a line built up outside the men's shower, and no one really complained until the guy responsible for the showers themselves walked around the corner and noted a line at the men's side, which is far from normal. He promptly pushed passed the sentinels, walked into the men's shower and hollered at the women to the get the hell out of there before he shuts down all the showers. The women barely had time to get a towel wrapped around themselves and grab their items, as the guy was practically shoving them out the door. Even the men in line thought the guy was a prick. Sadly, no other men offered to let the women shower on their side. And we were forced to continue waiting our turn.
Once the festival was done, we headed back. My girlfriend wanted to stop by the beach on the trip back home, so we started out that way. We decided before we left the area to visit Joshua Tree National Park. I've never felt so windblown in my life. Once done wandering around there, we decided to officially head out.
FYI, never let your navigator sit in the back seat. Also, never let said navigator unknowingly take a long nap in the back seat. Never trust said navigator when they say, "Just stay on this forever, and it'll take us right to the beach". Seriously, just don't.
We followed this road, and after a few hours, thought, "hmmm, we should have reached the ocean by now". We had no idea where we were. Except that we were lost in the Mojave. In case you were curious, not the best place to get lost. Navigator told us we should have gotten on the freeway. Now, he had never mentioned a freeway. And when we looked at the map, we couldn't find what road we were on. About that time, we finally figured it out. Someone's random driveway had this at the top so we could see it: Route 66.
Needless to say, we never saw the damn beach. We did however, get the great fortune of driving through Hinkley. If you've ever seen Erin Brockovich, then you know the town of which I speak. Don't drink the water. And don't stop to go pee - they charge you. Seriously. Well, they force you to buy something, so basically, they're charging you to pee. How rude.
I wanted to go the next year as Rascal Flatts was going to be there, but no one had the money to go. We haven't been back since. However, we attended the very first Stagecoach Festival, and that was fairly special. I heard the crowds were nearly doubled the second year, which wouldn't have been as nice to contend with. But we had a good weekend. Even if we did get lost.
I leave you with this picture - Who knew that changing a blinker could be so damn difficult?!
Oh no, you didn't run out of blinker fluid, did you? ;-)
ReplyDeleteGreat story! When I was growing up in California, my parents took us to Indio for the Date Fair. All I remember was the horrible heat and lots of palm trees.
ReplyDeleteSoapbox - I nearly choked on my cookie when I read your comment! LMAO Cute. Real cute. ;o)
ReplyDeleteBelle - Luckily, the concert is in spring, so it's not too hot out. Although I still wound up with a nice little sunburn!
I have a toy cow just like that one.
ReplyDeleteLove music festivals, wish I could go to more
That sounds like a great trip! The best ones are always the ones that don't go as planned. I am definitely a country music fan, and we are the fastest growing group so don't sell your followers short. :)
ReplyDeleteMynx - The poor cow didn't last long as he wound up in my friend's mouth at one point. I gave him the cow after that, as I didn't really want his spit on my cow. lol
ReplyDeleteKrissy - haha I only said that because even out of my real life friends, most people I know are not into country music at all. lol