Stagecoach 2010

Day: 350, 349, and 348

Goal: Just relax and let it go… country!

So one of my camp besties, Amy, bought me and some other camp peeps tickets to Stagecoach, the two day country music festival in Indio. Now those of you that know me may be thinking, “Tiffany likes country music?” And that is a valid question. But those of you that really KNOW me, know that I’m not apposed to a good time… I love music you can dance to, I love people with the gift of song, I love BBQ’d meat (although having to type that just grossed me out a little bit), I love beer, and who DOESN’T love a good old-fashioned polite country-lovin’ cowboy?? (Especially when you throw in the California desert and force them to take their shirts off… yum)

Anyway, we got out to Palm Desert on Friday night and just chilled in the hotel room (that was the bane of my existence for an entire week… don’t ask, it’s over, that’s all that matters). We got some good sleep and the next morning got out to Stagecoach around noon. As we were locking up the car in the parking lot, I suggested that we crash one the tailgates going on. The group was hesitant, but as we strolled towards the venue past one of the friendlier looking parties, I said, “Hell yay! You guys know how to do it right!”…. and a friendship was born. We met Cory, Amber, Amy, Cole, Michelle, and a bunch of other people whose names I can’t remember right now, and they were awesome! They were so sweet and really did have a great set-up… does it compare to a Maisonet family New York tailgate at Giants stadium?… No, but I have to give them credit… it was really good.

The festival was really cool. Way beyond my expectations. I’m not really sure what I was expecting, but it was way nicer. I guess I thought people would be more rowdy and crazy, and while there were some crazies out there, it was mostly a mixed bag of families, young adults, and hardcore cowboys. The venue itself was enormous. It felt like a day at Disneyland each day… a ton of walking around, eating too much and too often, and not drinking nearly enough water… especially relative to the temperature and what else we were drinking *wink*

One thing I love about hanging out with the people I was with is that I really don’t feel at all insecure the way I do sometimes around other people. Not that my other friends make me insecure necessarily, and not that these friends necessarily make me feel super confident, but it’s just a feeling of comfort that’s different I guess. Maybe because the majority of time I spend with these guys is camping on an island with hundreds of kids acting crazy and focusing on the mission of our charity and not on ourselves at all. It does make a difference I think. When I stop trying to impress anyone, and just hang out for the sake of being with beautiful people loving life, I find that the insecurities melt away. It’s not a perfect science though… even when I’m in the best of places mentally like I was this weekend, I find time to get in my own head and dwell on that fact that I’m behind on life… and I hate being alone.

So in addition to a lot of really great entertainment, I discovered that I love Sugarland. They were awesome!! I also discovered that running into people you weren’t expecting to never gets less awkward, hot guys look hotter when they’re dressed like cowboys, nice people do exist (and they tailgate!!), no matter how many times you roll your eyes some people just… are who they are, no more than two fish tacos should be consumed in a 24 hour period, people who love country music also love America… a lot, port-o-potties are cleaned out by a man with a really long hose that’s hooked up to a huge truck that sucks it out of the hole and carries it off to who-knows-where, Keith Urban is just as hot in person as he is in pictures, the California State lottery is suppose to go towards education, but has been redirected to “other places” for years, power half-hour is proven to be the best buzz two times over, I enjoy wearing a cowboy hat, boys play words with friends when they have to go #2, and nothing feels better after a long weekend then coming home to your own bed… ok that’s not something I discovered this trip, I’ve known that forever, but it’s worth rediscovering every time.