Voodoo Festival

Yes, we were pretty busy at Voodoo this weekend.  Up at 6, to bed around midnight.

Thursday we spent half the day scouting where the house was going to go on the grounds and a route through the City to get there.  Lots of low hanging trees and low hanging wires.  Dave was stressing out about getting there with all that and the skinny city streets to go with it.  We finally found a route by following a delivery truck from the freeway that we hoped was going to the festival...it was...so that showed us the route we needed to go.  Still looked like we missed wires and trees by only inches!

The Voodoo Experience is held in a portion of the New Orleans City Park.  This park is HUGE!  There is a stadium, golf course, several playgrounds, a museum, Storyland playground, sculpture garden, botanical garden, a kiddie train, a man made river (with gondolas), lots of moss covered trees and lots of natural areas.  HUGE! and beautiful.  Here's the view from our window where we finally got located.

 There was one other RV right behind ours, so we had our own little RV park.  Bob and Sherry were wonderful neighbors and since they had been in this spot for more than a few Voodoo's they were very helpful.  Bob showed us where the sewer line was, so we didn't have to worry about our tanks all weekend!

Once we got together with the other 4 guys we were working with, getting all the equipment together and ready to go, we didn't hit the sack until 1 am.  We were up on Friday at 6am and ready to go at 730. It was a cold and windy day that day, in the low 40's when we got up and didn't get but in the 50's.  With the wind blowing at 15 to 20 mph it remained rough all day.

That's Jen and Ally, two of the festival employees at the ticketing tent

We got right in the swing of things though and the first day of the festival went just fine.  For those of you who work festivals, you know that the first day is always crazy and this one is no exception.  But, as always, everything sorts itself out and the rest of the weekend was fantastic.

We didn't have our camera at the ticket booth, because of all the activity going on in and around it, but got a few pictures with our phones.

This just cracked me up, so I had to take a picture.  There were also bikes to the left of where I took the picture.  by the end of the day the bikes were 4 or 5 deep.  This fence was leading into the entrance to the festival and across from the back of the museum.  It surrounded the sculpture garden which belonged to the Museum.  They didn't want bikes locked to the fence, so they put the sign up.....the next day there was a sign every 5 feet!  Still a few brave souls locked there bikes to the fence, but only a few.

Got this one Friday Night.  Lots of People posing on it for pictures. It looked much cooler at night than day, so had to get it.

Where's Waldo?

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!

me and two of the guys we work with...Cameron and Brady

 It was a very nice day on Thursday when we were setting up...80's and sunny.

I started this entry on Monday, then we have had troubles with out internet.  Again! We have a UML290 attached to a cradlepoint router, a Wilson antenna and a booster and we have been having trouble with the UML290 since we got it.  This last few weeks though it has really been more off than on.  I did some trouble shooting with it with Victor at the 3g store and we confirmed it is definitely the aircard.  WE knew this all along, but now that it has been confirmed we started the hassle of getting it replaced.  We bought it at Best Buy in Casa Verde, AZ back in April, so we went to the Best Buy here (we are now in San Antonio).  They trouble shooted AGAIN with us, but because we didn't buy their "plan" they can't do anything.  Sooo, we went out to the truck in the parking lot and called Verizon.  I talked to a very nice young man, Zack, but made it quite clear that I was done troubleshooting, as we had already done that with Verizon in April and then again in July.  We had already troubleshooted with the 2g Store twice and Cradlepoint once.  We KNOW it is the aircard.  He asked a little about what was going on....losing connection, often, slow connections even in 4g areas and our systems saying we are connected, often at great speeds, but we can't get on the Internet.  He agreed to send us a new one overnight.  So that is where we are at with it....waiting for it to be delivered today and also waiting for our mail to come today.

So, back to Voodoo.  Sunday was a pretty slow day, but still had to spend most of it at the ticket booth.  I spent about 3 hours at the house though, doing dishes, cleaning and making us all some lunch.  At the end of the concert we took everything back to the trailer and packed it all up, said our goodbyes to the guys until next April.  Cameron, Brady, Kevin and Robin and Jason for a short time Saturday and Sunday.  Sure will miss them for these 5 months!

As I mentioned in a long ago post, we work as contractors for a company that does ticketing for outdoor festivals.  We are contracted with them from April 1st until October 31st.  We have sure enjoyed these 7 months with them and should be working on next year's contract in the next few months!

Monday morning we packed up and hit the road headed towards San Antonio.  We stopped just outside Houston for the night at an RV park that apparently used to be a KOA...I can understand why it is not anymore.  It was ok, but more permanent RVs, everything was crammed together, the roads were a little narrow and everything seemed to be just a wee bit run down.  They had us parked in a spot that was right on the edge of the road...we opened our door to the park traffic. Good thing we were only staying there overnight.

Then up in the morning for a kinda short drive to San Antonio.  It WAS short, but tense....windy, then the city traffic in Houston...67 miles worth...more wind and more city traffic in San Antonio..WHEW!

We are in San Antonio because we are waiting to here where and when we will be going to our gate guarding job.  It should be in the next week to 10 days.  We are using this time to get everything we think we will need.  Steel wool, bug spray, moth balls, snake bite kit, water filters, washer/dryer, food shopping at the commissary, etc., etc., etc.

We are staying at the Ft. Sam Houston FamCamp.  Spaces are paved, wide, have grass and trees...very nice.  But, first night we were here we wondered if we were at a KOA by mistake....very close to train tracks and freeway!  Fortunately only two or three trains a day and the freeway noise is over a hill.

Ok, here is my one weird picture for this blog......

Yes, I mentioned a washer/dryer.  We made a considered decision when we bought our 5er NOT to get them.  More closet space, most rv parks have a Laundromat or there is one nearby, but because we are going to be out in the middle of nowhere for our winter job and after looking at the map and searching for the closest laundromat (50 miles away) we decided we wanted one.  Did a little research and decided on a Splendide washer/dryer combo unit.   Seemed the best fit for us and still leaves some room in the closet.

Well, this is done for now.  I'm back to my post a day project, although I think I've had to start over, so this will be "day 1".  Talk to ya tomorrow!

SHOUTOUT: to Bob and Sherry!  Thanks for being great neighbors at Voodoo!!