April 29, 2016 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

We walked into Jazz Fest and headed straight to the Love At First Bite food stand for the Cochon de Lait Po-Boy. This festival has amazing food and this sandwich is the most popular option. Apparently it rained yesterday because the grounds were very muddy and sand was used in an  attempt to dry the areas in front of the stages. This turned out to be a futile mission. But I am getting ahead of myself, today was a beautiful day with clouds mixed with occasional sun and a nice breeze.

Our next stop is my favorite stage at Jazz Fest., the Fais Do-Do stage. There is always a huge party in front of this mostly Cajun music stage. Feufollet had people dancing in the mud to start the musical portion of our day. 

I saw the Mississippi Rail Company several years ago on the small Lagniappe Stage. I thought they were fantastic then. Today they rocked the main Gentilly Stage. 

I love bands with a horn section and this one was top notch.

After a very entertaining set, we headed back to the Fais Do-Do stage...

...where Jeffery Broussard and the Creole Cowboys had everyone dancing.

Since my first visit to New Orleans, I have fallen in love with Cajun music. Wherever it is being played, there is always a party and really good food.

Dancing at the Fais Do-Do stage.

New Orleans is full of characters that just want to have fun.

Jazz Fest has the best banners and flags of all the music festivals that I have been to.

After watching Bonerama for a few songs, we stopped by the Lagniappe Stage to catch a few songs by Sean Bruce.

Then we bought some grapes from Mr. Okra. He is the last of New Orleans singing street vendors.

Here's Bonerama's tribute to Mr. Okra.

New Orleans is a city that thrives on it's traditions but like most cities change is inevitable. I believe that progress and change can be good for a city but not if it requires destroying the heart and soul of it's past. 

We caught a few songs by Nicholas Payton & the Afro-Caribbean Mixtape in the Jazz Tent. Then we saw the Dirty Dozen Brass Band show everyone how it should be done on the Acura Stage.

We decided to stick with the brass bands and stopped at Economy Hall to see the PresHall Brass Band. They represent the old school version of brass bands but that doesn't mean they can't bring the house down.

As they played the old standards, an impromptu second line erupted with most of the crowd dancing and parading through the aisles with their umbrellas, parasols and white handkerchiefs. This was the coolest set we saw all day.

Here's a few pictures as we walked the grounds of Jazz Fest.

We saw the last half of Irma Thomas's amazing performance. Some people could sing anything and I would want to listen. Irma Thomas is definitely on that list. Incredible voice at 75 years old...you have to bow down to the Soul Queen of New Orleans.

South Park's Chef made an appearance at JazzFest.

After Irma Thomas, we stayed at the Acura Stage and waited for Paul Simon to close out the day for us. Thanks to my parents, I've been a huge fan of his music for years and have never seen him play live. So I made the difficult decision to skip My Morning Jacket and C.J. Chenier & The Red Hot Louisana Band. I am glad I saw Paul Simon and there were a few very cool moments especially during The Boxer that sent chills up my spine. But overall it was unimpressive. Paul seemed bored while playing the songs and I believe that affects the crowd. One thing I love about New Orleans and it's music scene is that the bands all know how to put on a show and the music fans know how to enjoy a show. That mutual respect makes for a very enjoyable experience for me. Paul picked the wrong city for a lackluster show and lots of people left to see other bands during his set. There were young people around us that were singing the words to everyone of his songs. I was shocked that they left about halfway through the show. Even Paul Simon left the stage with ten minutes left on his scheduled time. I don't care if you are a music legend, this city always deserves your best performance. There were plenty of performers here today that would have loved to play the main stage as the headliner. And they would have "blew that room away."

April 8, 2016 Borrego Palm Canyon Nature Trail

We got up early today and headed to the Borrego Palm Canyon Trailhead for two reasons. One...we wanted to beat the crowds since this is the most popular hike in the area. Two...this trip was planned so we could spend time with my family. So after spending three days in the desert we have to get back to the coast because tonight we have dinner plans with my parents, my brothers and sister-in-law.

Every trailhead out here has multiple safety warnings. Of course we were a bit worried about entering a canyon with storm clouds over the mountains...but this is our last chance to hike this trail and we are hoping to see the young Bighorn Sheep that have been spotted here the past few days.

The rumors must be true.

Yes, I know! Rattlesnakes live in the area.

I figured with baby sheep in the area there is probably a good chance to see a mountain lion too. Dark clouds rolling down the mountains ahead of us...

...and dark clouds in the desert behind us. 

I gave Chrissy the choice of turning around for safety reasons and driving back now so we could spend more time with my family. She said she would take her chances with the flash floods, rattlesnakes and mountain lions. 

Right away she found these footprints in the sand...

and followed them into a wash where they disappeared. The footprints were probably from a coyote but we hoped it was a mountain lion.

These two were the only other hikers we saw on the trail early in the morning. They look like they ignored the "must carry at least a gallon of water " warning.

The first part of the hike into the canyon was mostly rocks and palm tree trunks washed down from flash floods. And the occasional ocotillo plant.

Once we hiked a bit up the canyon we started seeing more colorful plants...

...and the local residents.

The hike continued up the canyon and further in the mountains.

There were some big rocks that tumbled to the bottom of the canyon.

This dry wash is home to lots of critters.

Does the early bird get the worm? Not so sure out here. It was pretty dry up to this point.

But once we spotted the palm oasis, we also started seeing water flowing down the canyon.

It suddenly became a little tougher to find the trail...

...which made this hike much more fun as we crossed the stream a few times and climbed over and around the rocks.

The scenery also improved immensely. I found time to relax on the rocks and enjoy the solitude and beauty of my surroundings. 

I also took pictures. Lots of pictures.

California fan palms.

Chrissy kept finding a way to get closer to the large group of palms.

We hiked around this area for a bit before we headed back down the canyon. As you can see we got lucky as blue sky and sunshine broke through the clouds.

There were lots of palm tree trunks from a flash flood about a decade ago that destroyed sixty percent of the palm trees in the canyon.

Hiking back we met a few hikers. We all had the same question, "Have you seen any bighorn sheep?" The answer was always "No."

I love the sky in this shot. We've been in the desert for three days and this was the brightest sky we saw the whole time.

We headed back to the coast and enjoyed dinner with my family at La Cave. Then on Saturday we saw my parents favorite local band, Mid-Life Crisis who were very good. On Sunday we celebrated my Aunt Pat & Uncle Ed's 60th anniversary with my cousins which was my favorite day of this trip. 

On Monday we spent time with Mrs. Delgado who has been like another mother to me for years. Then we visited with Chrissy's Aunt Marilyn and cousins Carson and Liz at their beautiful new home.

Another perfect trip for us.