Last Thursday, Matt and I flew into Vegas after work and hung out with BJ and Mel. We walked around the shopping area and saw the new, ginormous ferris wheel. It's so big, like I cannot even fathom what just one of the spokes looks like up close. We took a picture at the ferris wheel, but we wouldn't figure out where the camera hole was.. HAHAHAHA. That made for an incredibly lopsided photo. The fried chicken at Brooklyn Bowl was suhhhhhhhh good! And we got some cupcakes from the Sprinkles ATM. Yep, ATM for cupcakes. Yep. YEP.
After we finally woke up on Friday, BJ, Matt, and I drove out to Palm Springs! Before we left, we had some Capriotti's for lunch (sandwich spot #1). The drive was long and kind of exhausting to be honest. There was an accident getting in to Palm Springs, adding an extra 30-45 minutes. That's insult to injury! We got ready, pooped, and then hit the road again to get to Indio!
We heard Ellie Goulding from the parking lot (damn you, accident delay) and got in just before Chromeo hit the main stage. Chromeo was pretty cool, he has a really relaxing music style. We explored the area around the main stage but it was already getting dark, so it was difficult to acquaint ourselves with the layout. At the Sahara tent, we saw Martin Garrix and Zedd! Zedd is always freaking good. Outkast was great, except there were a million people at that stage. BJ and I couldn't really see anything... #shortpeopleproblems. They came out with Bombs Over Bagdad though... best idea ever. Getting out of the parking lot was horrendous, we fell asleep in the car because we were blocked in for so long. I think 1 car left the lot every 20 minutes or so, and then everyone else crept forward half of a car length. UGH. Took us two hours to get out because everyone was trying to get out of the same exit and no one was using the exit on the other side of the lot. And the people who knew about the unused exit (us) couldn't get there because we were blocked in. MY GOODNESS!
On Saturday, we got lunch at Firehouse Subs (sandwich spot #2) and we were all like, why don't they have locations in Seattle? It was really good. I got a corned beef brisket.. uh, YUM! We also bought mangos and oranges from a Mexican guy at the parking lot.. apparently BJ does it all of the tine - this was a first for myself and Matt. The mangos were MUY BUENO, though! I think I'll start buying from those guys too. We also picked up coolers and ice for our waters, and the handle of fireball - the essentials. And thank goodness we each got a handkerchief because boy was it dusty! We snagged some hats from Firehouse Subs, but no one wanted to wear them with me. :(
We got in to the festival around 4, and it was nice and hot. Because we were further into the parking lot with the earlier folks, we had to walk way further than the previous night. It wasn't so bad though. We had the most amazing fish tacos when we got in, and explored the grounds more. We caught some Capital Cities, checked out the Absolut bar for a while, and listened to Lorde from afar. We also got Coachella tees and hoodies! The margarita line was miserable, and we were limited to 2 drinks per person.. but we waited freaking 45 minutes for one round. Oy vey! The day was dusty from the beginning, but after sundown the wind picked up even more and it was getting disgusting. Garbage tumbleweeds EVERYWHERE and so much sand in our faces. We ended up ducking into the tent that Solange was performing in, just to get some relief from the sand storm. To our surprise, BEYONCE CAME OUT!!!!! She did a little dancing and looked amazing, of course. What a nice surprise! As she came out, the spaced-out crowd immediately moved forward, up against the stage. Poor Solange... people weren't even paying attention before Beyoncé showed up. We moved to the next tent, and were really trying to stick around for Pharrell and Nas. But after two hours of being sober in the sun, and four hours of relentless sand wind, we got to a point where none of us was enjoying our night. We left shortly after 10 PM and got food at In N Out, and none of us was sad to leave. There was a small exodus that we joined, and it made me feel less defeated about missing Pharrell and Nas.
On Sunday, we checked out of our Best Western (it was actually pretty nice) and grabbed lunch at The Sandwich Spot (sandwich spot #3). Those sandwiches were good too! I got the Copacabana. Mmmm. We headed back to Vegas, another grueling road trip. We didn't stop this time because we were just so anxious to get it over with. When we got back to Mel's place, we got dinner at Capriotti's again. HAHAHAHA. That's sandwich spot #4. We came full circle. :)
In retrospect... Outkast, the sunshine, and Palm Springs were great. The company we had made it really fun too! If we go back, we need to be better prepared with goggles and such. And I think I might need to get VIP tickets. I'm not sure if I'd do Coachella again.. I think I much prefer UMF for the same price. But it sure was an adventure and an experience that I will appreciate forever. Coachella, Coachella.
