El Cosmico - a Desert Hoot

Well, this morning we finished up our volunteer stint at the El Cosmico 8th Annual Trans-Pecos Festival of Music + Love and I have to say it was quite a good time. While we were prepared for anything - and frankly were expecting it to be a little kooky, if not a lot kooky, it turned out to be very cool and one of the best times at a music festival that we have had.

 

 

And while Marfa, TX has built a name for itself as one of those artsy, extra-terrestrial loving, slightly off-kilter desert experiences (google the Marfa lights to see what I mean), this "cosmic" music festival had an endearing quality to it and, true to far West Texas standards, was a hands-off, authority-free affair with few rules and even fewer rule-followers.

Dogs ran free, as did toddlers, junior-size hipsters and L.A. music elite, alongside a sea of chic-ly dressed Austin-ites sporting fashionable cowboy boots, fringe, leather and clever T-shirts, with the occasional tie-dyed bandanna or red silk Texas Flag shirt thrown in for good measure. Of course, there were Marfa locals as well and a sprinkling of music fans from the neighboring town of Alpine to round out the crowd.




Andre checks out the information board on day one of the festival

Camping options at the festival ranged from renting one of El Cosmico's on-site classic trailers, yurts, teepees or tents (many furnished with beds, linens, hassocks and furry throw-rugs), to people sleeping in their cars and everything in-between. If you paid for camping, you could basically pitch your tent anywhere on the festival site. All within easy ear-shot of the main music stage, and within convenient walking distance to a variety of food trucks, coffee and beer tents, and a variety of other vendors for those who can't go an entire weekend without shopping.

The music began at 7pm each evening and during the day, folks filled their time lounging around, admiring an odd assortment art installations, and partaking in the eclectic assortment of on-site workshops offered throughout each day, including workshops on things such as Paper Marbling, Botanicals Folkloria (huh?), Introduction to Ukulele, Cosmic Cactus Utopiary, Chain stitching and of course, the ever-popular Sausage 101. You won't be surprised to hear that Andre & I spent our afternoon driving to nearby Alpine to visit the Big Bend Brewery instead! ( I mean really, how much cosmic cactus topiary can you take?)

But the music -- That's what really made the weekend fantastic. There was an incredible line up of musicians and bands including some of our favorites, including Elizabeth Cook, John Doe and the Old 97's. And the culminating band on the last night was none other than Rhode Island's own Deer Tick who closed out the festival on Saturday night in grand style.  Here are some photos from the weekend.

A few of the Teepees and tents rentable on-site...

On-site open-air hot tubs were just one of the many
oddities available to the festival-goers

It was a relaxed affair for the musicians as well.
This is Old 97's lead-man Rhett Miller quietly reading a book in the coffee tent
 during the afternoon!

 

We enjoyed listening to some of the bands doing their sound-checks in the afternoons

 

Our first time seeing Elizabeth Cook did not disappoint

John Doe's set was absolutely fantastic and really classy as well.

Old 97's closed out Friday night in style....

Rhett Miller awesome as always

John Doe joining Rhett Miller on stage was an unexpected treat

Enjoying Deer Tick's afternoon sound-check

Deer Tick Wraps up the Festival on Saturday Night

Not bad for a couple of Rhode Island boys!

Bixby Canyon Bridge (Andre)

We have lots of planned and unplanned adventures, moments, and special things that we experience as we travel down the road – certainly one of the many amazing parts of the life we are living. This one fits in as unplanned, small, but really cool, at least to me!

We were driving down the Pacific Coast Highway on a recent early morning, about 9:00 or so. It was cool, cloudy, foggy and we were a couple of hours south of San Francisco. We were talking about the day ahead, the unusual weather conditions, and the nature of the amazing 2 lane, twisty road we had been on for the past few days.

Then we turned the corner and I gasped. Laura will tell you I don’t gasp much. There right before our eyes coming out of the fog and mist was an amazing bridge in the distance and a sign on the side of the road for the Bixby Canyon Bridge.

I forgive you if you are not familiar with the band, Death Cab for Cutie, and don’t get the reference. One of the many things we have gotten from our kids is great music and this is a band that Nick shared with us. Well, one of my favorite albums by them is ‘Narrow Stairs’ and the song Bixby Canyon Bridge is the first song on the album.

I really like the song – it’s haunting and thoughtful and sincere with great questions to ponder. I didn’t know the bridge was real, though I assumed it was. I just wasn’t expecting to cross it that day.

Enjoy the picture of the bridge and click on the link for the song if you like.

 

Link to song ‘Bixby Canyon Bridge’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4St1fiq2F8I

Heading East and Back into the Desert

Greetings! Just a quick post as we finally turn direction and head east toward AZ/TX. Spent our last night in the San Diego area last night (La Mesa/ El Cajon) and are heading east on Route 8 in Southern California to finish up the state. I am typing this from El Centro, CA and we expect to hit the Arizona border this afternoon.  It is strange to be back along the Mexican border - although a part of it we have never traveled before. Our surroundings have turned arid, rocky, and brown - with a notable absence of the color green except for on the sides of the Border Patrol vehicles!

We were shocked at how quickly we felt like we were in the desert again and how little time it took for the thermometer to register 90, then 95, then approaching 100.  I did note with pleasure that our destination for the weekend in Marfa, TX is only supposed to be in the mid 70's or around 80 degrees, with cooler nights. That's good, as we will be camping out in the desert during the Trans Pecos Music Festival from Thursday through Sunday morning.  Then we have a camping spot reserved for two nights in the Panther Junction residential housing area near our old friend Ranger Rob's home in Big Bend National Park. We will be celebrating Andre's 51st birthday with them on Monday night at our old haunt, The Starlight Theatre in Terlingua, TX. It was a no-brainer. After all, everybody who read our blog last summer knows that Monday night is burger night at the Starlight....

For now I'll say goodbye...

Goodbye Beautiful Pacific Coast

 

 

Goodbye California Highways

Goodbye Pacific Coast Seals & Sea Lions (WA, OR & California)

Goodbye West Coast Breweries...

And Cheers until the next destination......

Avenue of the Giants

It seems we have been seeing giant trees ever since we hit the west coast.  We saw Giant Sequoias in Yosemite National Park in California. These were in select groves of old growth forest with just a few very large trees, some named.  We saw more giant trees in Olympic National Park (Redwoods, I think), and they were just as stunning. Then, in the last few days as we crossed into California along route 101 (and route 1 in places), we hit Redwood National and State Parks and hit the jackpot of giant trees.

 Although we did stop in at one of the National Park Visitor Centers, we would not have had to enter either of the parks to see the beautiful and bountiful redwood forests that dot the northern California coastline. We drove through grove after grove of the amazing straight, tall, proud trees just along the roadside.  I hope you enjoy these photos from the famed "Avenue of the Giants".

 

Looking up into the majesty

 

A rather large stump!

 

 

View from the front seat

 

A week in the life

Acknowledging that Andre and my postings have bounced around a bit in the past week, I thought I would take the time to fill in some blanks about where exactly we are and the geography of our travels over the past 7 days.  Tonight, we are in a hotel room in Eugene, Oregon. By tomorrow we expect to cross into California once more and begin heading south in earnest.  Now that football season is in full swing, we have developed a pattern of timing our hotel stays for Sunday nights so we can enjoy the games all day Sunday and Sunday evening.

On that note, it has been quite an adjustment getting used to being on the west coast (Pacific time) for football games. The first games are on at 10AM, which is usually the New England Patriots time slot, so it has been an adventure finding sports bars that are open at that time to watch the game. Last week, when we were in a small town on the Olympic Peninsula no such place existed, so we listened to the game on-line via satellite radio.  This week, although we were slated to be in a small town on the Oregon coast today, we detoured an hour and a half inland to put ourselves in a city big enough to have sports bars that would have  NFL Sunday ticket and be open early for the early football games. We enjoyed watching the Pats game in Wetlands Brew Pub and Sports Bar - although it was weird sitting down in a bar at 9:30 Am.  It was likely the first time we were ever in a brewpub and Andre didn't have a beer! It was just too early. We enjoyed the game and then checked into our hotel in the early afternoon.

When we are traveling, our hotel nights usually serve multiple purposes. It gives us a chance to clean out the van, to do laundry, to fully charge all of our electronics, catch up on e-mail, pay bills on line and any other necessary business/finance stuff. We usually take the opportunity to re-freeze all of our ice packs and clean out the Yeti cooler, dry out anything that might be wet, and also make any necessary small interior or exterior van or equipment repairs that have crept up during the week. Of course we also take long enjoyable showers and to indulge in some cable television while we are at it!  Last Sunday we performed this ritual in Port Angeles, Washington. Here are some photos of the what happened over the course of the week in between...

OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK

 (BOTH THE COASTAL PARTS AND THE RAIN FOREST)

 

An Elk in the HOH Rain forest

ÏI

Coast Guard Lighthouse near Lewis & Clark State Park

 

 THE SEASIDE TOWN OF ASTORIA, OREGON

AT THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER

 

Hundreds of Sea Lions pause for a rest in Astoria on their way to the
 Sea Lion Caves further south along the Oregon coast

 

Not an inch of space to spare on these docks!

 

THEN IT WAS A VISIT TO PORTLAND OREGON BREWERIES -

OUR FIRST STOP WAS AT THE HAIR OF THE DOG BREWERY

 

GOING

 

GOING

GONE!

 THEN DRIVING ON THOUGH BEAUTIFUL COASTAL OREGON

 

 

 

NOT A BAD SEVEN DAYS......