The desert isn’t that hot..

• Author: Mike
• Filed under: Randomness, Travel
• Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2007

It’s been way too long since I’ve sat down and written something, but in all honesty the jetlag is kicking my ass. Going to bed at 9:30 and getting up at 6 isn’t something I do because I want to. Fortunally I’ve recovered enough to sit down and write this. So, time to get on with it.

I got up at around 7:30 Thursday morning thanks to a wake-up call and started flicking channels on the TV. For some unknown reason the telly had the full ESPN package, the two main ESPN channels, EPSNEWS (rolling sports news) and ESPN Classic, a decent concept that fails in execution. Now a couple of years ago ESPN decided that in order to save costs, ESPN’s international networks would only show three types of programming:

1. Programming aired by it’s parent network that it owned the international rights to - Major League Baseball, ESPN/ABC aired NFL games, college football/basketball, etc
2. Programming owned and ran by ESPN - X-Games, Arena Football, Ice Skating, etc
3. In-House Programming - Sportscenter, Various Sports Talk Shows, etc

So I flicked on ESPN Classic at various times of the day and found that rather then seeing a historic ball game or a classic Superbowl matchup, I was greeted with the following: Classic World Series of Poker (from all the way back in.. 2003), American Gladiators, Karate, a quiz show and more poker. Not quite the classics I expected.

I watched a little WSOP then had a shower, got dressed and packed up. I enjoyed my day in Anaheim and wanted to stay longer, but it was time for a trip to the desert. Hell, this was Coachella, the reason I came damnit! I had a shuttle organised for the trip, it would take me from LAX (actually the airport near LAX) to my hotel in Palm Desert and back the Monday following the festival. After checking out I got the bus back to LAX only to realize that I paid for a return ticket that I threw out when I was doing some cleaning, d’oh. I whipped the wallet out and paid, getting off at the Southwest terminal then walking down to the Radison LAX, the pick-up point. I had about an hour and a bit to kill, so I headed down to the gift shop getting myself a water and a copy of the Los Angeles Times to read. A fairly handy guide to Coachella was in there, filling me in on artists and how the festival was layed out.

At about five to twelve I headed to wait for the shuttle. The shuttle was supposed to drop by at noon but I figured it might be a few moments early. As it turns out, their was another Aussie going straight to the desert, surfboard and bags ready to go. I will say that it helped having someone in the same boat as me, at least I wasn’t missing the shuttle alone. We chatted briefly while we wondered what was going on - it turns out that he was going to a wedding and wasn’t planning on seeing Coachella. The shuttle turned up at about 12:30, it turned out that the driver had to make a pickup in Venice Beach which pushed things back. We were on our way - almost because we had to make another pickup in Long Beach. This time it was for a Canadian couple who were on their way to the festival. We had a brief chat and I slipped in the earphones to my ipod and watched the desert go by.

A few hours and a few drop-offs later, I got to my destination - Holiday Inn Express Palm Desert. Despite a few fellow travelers complaining about the heat, I thought it was quite nice (despite being about 36-37 degrees at the time). The heat is only hot, not humid which helped but I wouldn’t of wanted to sit out there all day. I checked in and made some small talk with person checking me in, who asked if I came from England “for the party”. I explain where I’m from and how I have flown 13 hours to be here, and his jaw drops. I get my room key (another one of those credit card keys) and head upstairs.

The room is actually a bit nicer then I thought - decent sized bathroom (although another shitty toilet), a really big double bed, a nice little arm chair and desk with chair. I set my bags down, grab the hotel guide and tv remote and start rapidly flicking through the channels while setting up my laptop to ring home and check my e-mail. It then sets in - I’m less then 24 hours away from Coachella 2007 and the feeling is incredible. I head outside to check the soda machine - Pepsi one and it has Mountain Dew Code Red~!? I grab a bottle and some ice and ring home, before deciding what to do next.

One thing that I found is that I wasn’t getting hungry until very late, despite the fact that I only had eaten a bag of Sun Chips for the entire day. I had some gifts to purchase, so I decided to head up to the Westfield that was only four short blocks away. I looked up the map, got myself another bottle of Code Red to drink while I walked in the heat and headed out.? I headed out for a little while, but realized I didn’t grab the list of items to buy - d’oh! I headed back, grabbed the list and started walking. I walked.. and I walked. Walked past the Ralphs, walked past the pharmacists, walked past land and walked past houses. I must of walked at least four blocks, and the blocks in Palm Desert are huge, much bigger then standard blocks. Then it struck me, I was walking in the wrong direction. Tired and dejected, I headed back towards the hotel, passing an exercising couple.

On my way back I decided to stop in at that Ralphs, a local supermarket similar to Franklins or Bi-Lo. It’s odd in a way, ever since I worked at Coles I have some fascination in walking up and down the aisles, and while I did this I’d rather say it was because of the air conditioning. I grabbed a basket and grabbed some items for my room, first the healthy (pumpkin seeds, dry nuts, water), then the sickly (Butterfingers, Peanut Butter Cups and a 12 pack of Code Red). I continued walking though the place, looking at the liquor section (they are not as big on premix alcohol as we are), the in-store Coffee Bean (a supermarket really needs to make this happen in Oz), and the huge deli (where you can have a sandwich made in front of your eyes). I paid for my items - $15 total! Sick price, but I was happy.

Heading back to the room, I sat in the cool air con for about an hour before getting the hunger bug. I flicked through the hotel guide, the sub place a few blocks away seemed nice but I was done walking, and most delivery places had a $10 minimum - far too much food given the prices these places charge (footlong sub, drink and chips for $5.99). I decided to head downstairs to the Del Taco and grab some take-away Mexican, a bit of a novelty.

One thing about Del Taco is that they have a huge menus of everything Mexican and non-so Mexican (ranging from cheeseburgers and salads to tacos and a half-pound bean burrito). I decided to grab the #7, a Macho Beef Burrito with small fries and a small drink, along with a copy of the local paper for an extra fifty cents in a nifty promotion they have for Coachella visitors. I get my drink cup (equivalent of a McDonald’s Australia large) and go for the best replacement for lemon squash that I can find - half Sprite half lemonade. It tastes average. I grab a few sauces before getting my meal and hitting the road.

The burrito is huge and is cold as I stuffed the last few bites into my mouth. They don’t lie, and they don’t do things on the small size either. The fries are more-or-less crinkle cut chips, something that fast food places don’t really do in Australia (and should). The hot sauce is not even close to being spicy (any sauce at Nandos would kick it’s ass), but has a bit of an afterkick which I wasn’t a fan of. I read the paper and watch Scrubs, and about an hour after finishing my meal and Del Taco effect kicks in. I’ll spare you of the details.

I ring my lift for tomorrow, and he tells me to ring back in the morning to confirm things which doesn’t really instill me with confidence. I have a shower, get changed and decide it’s time for slumber, quickly setting up a wake-up call for breakfast in the morning. It’s hard to believe, but after all this traveling Coachella is about to kick off. From there, our journey really gets interesting.