Just a Drive...

Today we drove from Michigan City, Indiana, through Illinois, and into Iowa, where we stopped at a hotel in Des Moines. Fortunately, a friend gave us a great hook-up when it came to hotel rooms, and we managed to get the 'friends and family' discount for the few nights throughout the trip that we planned to stay at a hotel. It was rather necessary in Des Moines, because (not surprisingly) there weren't really any couch surfers in the area. We plan on staying at a campsite in Nebraska for a night or two starting tomorrow, but for now I'm glad we're at a hotel.
The day started out without a hitch as we got in the car and got out on the road, but I was feeling unusually cranky. I suppose it's that time of the month, which is definitely not something anyone feels like dealing with when trapped in a hot car on a long trip! We did pretty well until nearly the end of the drive, but with only a few hours more to go we had to stop repeatedly; once for gas and lunch, but then again to get Russell some coffee and again for the baby, who just wouldn't calm down for the last hour or so. We kept having to find ways to distract him, but even that stopped working after a while. He just wanted out of the car... So we pushed through and got to our hotel with a big sigh of relief.
The drive today was pretty boring. The country around here is wide open farm land, mostly corn, and it's relatively flat, with only the occasional roll to the earth. It was beautiful, but somewhat unchanging.
The big event today was that we crossed the Mississippi River on the Illinois/Iowa border. For a minute we weren't sure which river it was, Ohio or Mississippi, but it was so BIG and MUDDY, it seemed pretty obvious. The bridge we went over didn't afford much of a view, but at least I got a shot of the riverboat and the barge off the north side of the bridge. Pretty cool! It makes me think of Twain and Huck Finn, of course - and not only because we saw a billboard advertising the Mark Twain Cave (www.marktwaincave.com) in Hannibal, Missouri - where he grew up. I'd love to go there, but it's not really on our route - besides, it's probably disappointingly touristy and lame. I like the idea, though!

Michigan City, Indiana

Today we mostly lazed around in the hotel and did laundry, got our stuff repacked, etc., but we did take a little time in the evening to drive into the downtown area and see the lake. We went to Washington Park, which is really quite a nice place, though is somewhat ruined by the looming cooling tower of the power plant right next to it. Lame! Why do we do that? Stupid humans...
Anyway, the park boasts a maritime museum, a green with a band gazebo and an amphitheatre, park, picnic area, marina, and of course the beach. It's weird to be on a beach with a lighthouse, water with no opposite shore, sandy beaches, seagulls, and even a lifeguard tower - but know it's not the ocean, it's a lake. A Great Lake, to be sure!
The water was a beautiful blue (though I'm a little suspicious that could be related to the power plant's off put). We walked the beach, let Orion splash in the shallows, and walked out to the lighthouse. It's really beautiful out there. I could almost see myself living here and being happy, but I think in the end I'd miss the salt.
We saw a momma duck with six babies, which really pleased Orion! So cute... It also made us curious about the wild life around here - six ducklings is a lot for one momma duck, but they all seemed to be doing good. What sort of predators would they need to worry about here? I don't know... Food for thought.
We ended the night with a little date at a nice, small family-owned restaurant called the Sahara. Russell had lambchops and I had a Fattouch salad. We also started the meal with feta-stuffed dates in a pomegranate induction. It was fabulous! Orion chowed down on my salad, too. He's funny - he'll eat almost anything I do, but he didn't like those dates a bit! I really loved the art on the wall by our table; it was a big peacock painting with three smaller complimentary pieces. If we had had the money to buy them and a home to put them in, I would have done it in a second! At least I got a photo of the big painting...
Now we're chilling, finishing up a few things before we get up and head out for Des Moines tomorrow. We're staying at another hotel; not surprisingly, there weren't any couch surfers there and the camping didn't look that great, either. However, the next stop after that should allow for some good camping, and if we like what we see we may stay a few nights in Nebraska!

Independence Day

July 4th dawned bright and early for me, mostly because the baby was up early, and I was hot in the tent. Russell had stayed out late, and he was still sleeping, but I could hear various of our friends packing up their stuff. The baby went back to sleep after nursing a bit, but it was all over for me so I got up to chat with our campmates before they headed out. Everyone but us was packed and out of there early, with the last folks leaving around 10am.
We played it smart, though, since we had already booked a hotel in Michigan City, Indiana, for that night, which is only a 2.5 hour drive. We had a lot to pack, but not far to go, so we took our time getting our stuff together. We ate a good breakfast, got everything organized, and took it nice and easy. We left the festival around 1:30 and headed to Michigan City.
It took us longer than it needed to because of traffic/road construction, but we got to Michigan City around 5 and settled in. Our whole plan was to laze around, swim in the hotel pool, do laundry, and store up some energy for the upcoming drive. Missions accomplished, all of them! We even restocked our road food at a grocery store and had a nice dinner at a Mediterranean place called Sahara. It was a good stop and we're feeling up to 100%! Plus I know Orion appreciates a break from being in the car so much...
All in all, I'd say it was a very positive and fun festival experience. Most importantly, Russell and I always do so well during all these events. It takes a lot of prep, organization, and will to do it big and do it right, like we do - and we never get frustrated with each other! I'm always so proud of us the whole time, because we never ruin our fun factor by getting snarky and fighting. It's always just easy going with us, and I think we really maximize our experience since we don't waste our energy on stupid stuff. We enjoy each other, we love the music, we are committed to teamwork, and we always look out for each other. It's really a wonderful experience to have such a great partner that I can depend on no matter what. Festivals bring that out, and I recognize what a great pair we make. I'm lucky to have found him! Cheers to a great honeymoon. More adventure awaits ahead!

Almost Famous

A common theme for us at Electric Forest was the recurring experience of having folks recognize us from previous festivals and shows. It happened a couple of times of day; one kid, dressed very fabulously, materialized out of the crowd and said he saw us a the Red Rocks SCI shows last year. Another girl stopped us on our way back to camp and said she'd seen us at Shakori Hills. People are always commenting on the baby, and since we're usually in wild costumes, Russell and I tend to get a lot of attention, too. Russell most of all - he gets tons of attention from all sorts of folks in the crowd. Even today we had a funny interaction with some kids at the beach, because they were interested in Russell's dreads. I don't mind it; I think it's fun to be a part of the spectacle rather than just an observer! You know us Burners - we like to participate!
Anyway, on Monday as we were packing up a guy camped about a block down from us came over to tell us that his girlfriend recognized us from the Rothbury '09 SCI show. She was right behind us in the crowd, and remembered us from back then. She was all excited that we had had a baby but was too shy to say anything until her guy came over and broke the ice. It's nice to be appreciated - and we do get a lot of good energy from people who are excited for us, smiling at Orion and sharing the love!

The Electric Forest

It's called Sherwood Forest, and it's in the middle of the venue at JJ Ranch. The production team does a lot of work with lights, smoke, disco balls, hanging art, art installations, a stage, inflatable weird stuff, and tons and tons of hammocks. It's shady and cool, and the trees are perfectly lined up on a grid, making for some cool visual opportunities.
My favorite was probably the big bike art piece made from reclaimed metals. It was a great place to climb around and get some photos done - too bad the light was so BLUE!

Reincarnation

A beautiful art installation in Sherwood Forest, the spot that gives "Electric Forest" its name!

Seersucker, Improved!

Russell has this seersucker suit that is dirty, stained, and holey, but still too fly not to get some love when it comes to festival costuming. We carved stamps of Deady Bears and a Terrapin Turtle and did a circle of the dancing bears on the back a year or two ago, and Russell gets tons of compliments on it.
Sunday night, I went to bed with the baby and Russell went back out to see Pretty Lights and Eoto. While he was out and about, he ran across a girl doing spraypaint stencil work on clothing. He gave her his jacket and a few bucks, but then our friend Elliot came by and gave her some more money to do the whole jacket. The photos here show the results. The work is awesome! She just happened to have the exact colors we did the bears with, and her stencils are awesome!
The design on the lower back is actually from a crop circle known at the "swallows" (http://www.greatdreams.com/crop/swallows.htm) but to us String Cheese fans it looks like a jellyfish! Either way, that jacket is now completely awesome. I couldn't have been more excited when he showed it to me Monday morning! What a score.
Makes me think we should start doing some stencil art.... Hmmm....