The timing of Coachella Music Festival couldn't be better. As soon as the ski resort closes for the season, Coachella Music Fest is happening a few days later. It's just a quick 14 hour drive to Indio California. My skin has been longing for warm weather and sunshine. I'm still not used to the LONG winters in the Rockies. Especially, when everyone I know from the south are gardening, enjoying patio dining, hiking, biking, being out on the lakes, etc, beginning in March. Anyway, Coachella was easily the most organized & clean music festival I have ever been to. We car camped on the Polo fields. The grass was short and perfect like a golf course so shoes were only an option. There were clean showers, sinks, porta potties which were hosed down and cleaned out 4x a day, food vendors galore, free pinball games, a roller skating rink, an internet & wi-fi area, re-entry was allowed in case we needed to go to the grocery store, there was a shuttle to take people from the venue into town, bikes were allowed, there were water fountains, air conditioned tents, and before I forget to mention it-- FIVE STAGES OF GREAT MUSIC playing from noon until 1am for THREE DAYS!
After Coachella, we headed for Zion National Park to go on a 5 day backpacking trip and to enjoy more of the the sunny warm weather before heading back to the Tetons for mud season. We camped one night in Zion and were literally flooded out by a massive storm circulating over the entire state of Utah. The rain began around midnight and continued for the next two days. Our tent was probably 30 feet from the river when we set it up that evening, but by morning, we were nearly 8 feet from the swift rising water. Needless to say, we quickly packed our wet tent in the car and drove all the way home. I was really looking forward to more sunshine and a great first backpacking trip of 2010. Oh well. Hopefully we'll try again this fall.
