Sunday we started the drive towards Reno.... zoomin by Burners here, passing Burners there.... you realize before you even pull into Burning Man, that you are part of a GIANT migration of people who are all headed to the same place as you are. They all are packed into their cars, barely enough room to move, fuzzy bikes, cars full of pillows, water bottles towering over their seats.... you wave, they wave back, you honk your horn.... they are your people - they might be your neighbors, they might be your new relatives, who knows? You might even marry one of them - they do have some mighty-fine weddings on the playa every year...
Pulled into the Black Rock line around 3am, everything moved very swiftly this year - it was quiet,
nothing like the chaos that was last year - horns beeping, people running around drinking. After Brandon and Tracy did their 'virgin inititiations', Brandon let some of the greeters jump in the back of the truck ... we drove them to their camp.... pulled in as the sun was coming up. Sunrise is one of the most spectacular events at Burning Man... soft, colorful, new, with enough light to see the city still building. Jumped on my bike and climbed to the top of the Man.... there were a handful of people at the top. No one talked, it was very memorable....
Monday was the dust storm.... I got stranded at the 12-story tower art-installation about a mile outside of town, the wind just pushed me there... ended up climbing the thing, watching the city appear and dissapear, like sandy waves on the playa.... Took a very long while to get back, had to stop every few blocks and take shelter, met lots of people, sat on a lot of couches, met some fire twirlers. The dust-storm was long, drawn-out, white-outs so intense that made it impossible to set up camp. 
Must have lasted about ten hours.... Found myself apologizing to both Tracy and Brandon over and over again - 'Not every day is a dust-storm... I promise' Not sure if they believed me or not, I think it helped when our neighbors told them the same thing.... Spent the rest of my time that day, inside the camper, eating snack food and hoping the dust would settle. Finially it did, Tracy, Brandon and I.... we went to a vampire bar with strippers, hopped on an art car to the middle of nowhere - danced to some wild music - the car dropped us off on the edge of the city, at this amazing dance club with people bobbing and bending and molding to the trance-tunes - fire fire fire....
Ooooh, if you have been a blog reader for quite some time..... you must remember last year when Matt got lost in his underwear? Well, Monday night I ran into people who remembered him .... those Black Rock City Lemonade folks. They helped keep Matt alive on something other than beer and liqour last year while he wandered around town. "Geeze, that kid! He put everything in his underwear, his chapstick, his sunscreen... we were all talking about him this morning. How the hell is he doing anyways? You are the girl he was trying to find, huh?..... dude, look it is that girl the guy with the underwear was trying to find!!!" (Wish I had a photo of Matt last year in his undies, but we never took any photos at Burning Man 07... so instead, here is a photo of Tracy, Brandon and I in a dust storm...)
Tuesday I do not really remember much... we set up camp, wandered around town, stopped by Porn and Eggs, visited the Deep End (one of the largest day-time dance parties on the playa)... spent most of the day just continuously drinking.... Bloody Mary's, Vodka-What-Nots, Spiked Lemonade.... not drinking to get drunk but....it just sort of happened. Hung out at Pink Mammoth for a bit.... It was at the Pink 
Mammoth that my night started to get hazy...... Went to use the Port-a-potties, but somehow.... ended up on an art-car making out with this really tall sexy Italian guy - the art-car was in a parade so I just went with it.... ended up at a dance party on top of bus... in the middle of the desert.... partied for awhile... but could not figure out how to get back to camp. Kept thinking that someone had stole my bike..... I walked about two miles, all the way back to camp - but it is cool, because I do not remember the walk at all - so it was really good for me....
Woke up on Wednesday morning with a killer headache and a bloody knee, wondering, "Where the hell is my bike...?" Ever have one of those mornings? Ugh. Guess I must have asked Tracy and Brandon that a million times, because they were like, "You never took your bike... we already told you that..." Decided then and there, I was not going to get drunk-drunk again while at the festival..... Wednesday Matthew showed up, with stories about crossing the country in only 3 days.... in a car full of four people that he had never met. Vegans and tires popping, something about erotic massage and cheese?
2 comments:
Now I think I understand why you were so pumped about going to this thing. Sounds like its kinda hard not to have a good time. Funny how people remember things. Did Matt ever meet up with his saviors? Bloody Mary's? Ugh! Your tough. Are the sunsets just as good as the sunrises? Cant wait to hear about the rest of the week. :)
Wow this is so incredible to read !
London, thank You so much for putting so much effort into sharing this year's BM with very accurate descriptions and beautiful pictures, it's again, like having participated self!
Really like Your outfit and matching bike!
Managed to spot some tye-dying results, very nice.
Have You given away all if them, or are there some for sale the comming week?
That fur hat Cora was wearing looked familiar from this side of the globe, wonder how long she could have it on?
(Have never tried, if they are as good against heat, as they are against cold :-) ), suppose BM was quite warm....
What temperatures were there at day and at night?
There are many more questions but it's enough for now.
Thanks ever so much for Your effort!So lovely!
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