Burning Man 2008

Preparations for this year's burn were so time consuming, so hard, and so tiring that I was looking forward to just to just getting there so I could relax, but it didn't work out that way...

This year our group became an official Theme Camp. But becoming a theme camp means you have to have consistent open activities to bring the Burning Man community into your camp. In our case, that was increasing the appointments of our 'lounge', adding a stage, sound system, lights, and a 'Bell Garden'. And then having 'activities', such as the 'pageant', having stage acts, and acting as a stop on the Naked Bike Ride. Take a look around this website and you'll see some of the work that went into this. And make sure to see the 'Celestial Bug' pages for the adventures with the 'mutant vehicle'.

Since we had become a theme camp, we were able to get a handful of early-arrival passes. Dave and Joe, Bill, Joe B and I planned to leave at 5AM on Saturday. I worked all evening to get gathered and slept in the RV Friday night. Dave was working on getting ready till 3AM, so we didn't get together till around 6. That gave me time to move the bug up front and had everything ready to go. We left just after 6:30.

The drive up was fine. Traffic was light and the RV did great and we made good time. Our first stop was a truck stop in Sparks. I filled the tank with 30 gallons. I needed that much because someone stole about 15 gallons of gas from the RV while it was parked in front of my house! Our next stop was Gerlach at a little after 1PM, where we needed to escort in a trailer for some virgin friends of Steve Drew.

We arrived on the playa at about 2PM. There was hardly any line getting in. Inspections and dealing with our early arrival paperwork and the pass for the bug went well. The gal who helped me was amazing. She had the whole 'tank-girl' look, with big boots, tattoos and dreadlocks. I gave her a cold bottle of water from the fridge for her efforts. Then we were off on a long drive on the playa and arrived at our site at 2:50PM. They moved the event farther north on the playa this year, and since there had been little rain over the winter, the dust was the worse yet. The Bug was totally filled with dust.

A good part of the afternoon was taken with how we were going to lay out the camp. Someone would come up with an idea, and then someone would say that didn't match what was planned, even though the site didn't fit the plan. Eventually it got settled and we positioned our rigs and started putting up the shade structure. This was at about 6:30. The remainder of the evening was taken with setup tasks. I got to bed before midnight but was awakened by the wind whipping one of the straps we put over the RV to hold the shade structure down. I eventually just unhooked it and hoped the wind wouldn't get worse. Last year, no matter how bad the days got, it was calm at night. Not so this time.

Sunday - Before the official opening of the event:

Sunday I slept in till 7. Nobody else in our camp was up. The city is very different before the event. No pounding music, not even the usual background sounds that blend together to make the pulse of the city. Somewhere closer to 6:00 was a tower with speakers that called the Muslims to prayer. That was annoying, and it didn't sound after Tuesday. I wonder if someone sabotaged their speakers..

We continued to work on the bar. The stage was set up and the amps placed. I started setting up the quadracycle, and Dave and I worked on the buggy.

I found I had a new problem with the quad. The new wheels won't stay tight to the rear hubs so the wheel gets stripped out at the hub and it can't be peddled. I tightened the wheels as much as I could, but it appears the hubs are not strong enough on their own without some serious reinforcement. Plus the lights wouldn't work. Later testing showed one of the bulbs had gone open circuit, and since they're 6 volt bulbs wired in series, no lights. So I did no night driving with the quad.

The day otherwise was all work. There was so much to set up. We did not get the buggy finished, but I did get filters installed in every opening of the RV to help keep the dust out.

On Saturday, I just couldn't drink enough water. I had to down a whole 2 liter bottle and go lie down. Sunday was much better, but I got nosebleeds, just like last year. It takes a couple days to get used to the extremely dry air. I had a lot more trouble with the playa dust on my hands and feet this year. I was working a lot more and everything was coated from dust. I need to use light gloves when working on stuff to protect my hands.

For Sunday evening, we got out of camp for the first time when we went over to the Pancake Playhouse for dinner. There were a couple hundred people there but it still seemed very small compared to the big event to come. I expect this was how BM used to be before it got gigantic. Nice and low key..

Wireless was not that good this year. There were whole days I couldn't get out at all. Last year I was rather spoiled. I could get out at any time, even when it got slow. I suppose I'll have to expect that even more in the future and try to get up in the middle of the night to check mail. I could get a lock on the signal, but I think they ran out of IP addresses a lot.

Monday - First open day of Burning Man 2008:

Today's word: DUST Sponsored by: THE WIND

Monday was all about the wind and dust. It was horrible. It held up getting stuff in camp done and you couldn't go out. It was like all the dust storms of last year rolled into one. My anemometer showed a peak wind speed of 67 mph.

Andy and Rich arrived before the storm at 7AM all wired and ready to go. It took them about an hour to get through the gate. Anyone arriving any later had long delays because of the dust storms. I heard that the entrance was closed for several hours in the afternoon.

Most of Monday was spent putting up stuff around camp, like the Bell Garden and the sunshade for the buggy. I had yet to get the lights for the bar built. It was too windy to paint and too hot in the RV to work on them. When I was inside, I'd make necklaces for my campmates and stare out at the dust storms.

Things I forgot this time were contact lens cleaner and my playa sunglasses. So I had gritty eyes and trashed my Ray Bans. I had Judy send up both with Mother and Judy P. on Wednesday.

This was also the day our camp volunteered to be Lamplighters. We ate early in order to get to the LampLighters camp by 7:00. Dinner was only cold sandwiches because somehow the fresh food was arranged to be sent up with Tom... and he didn't make it through the gate till later in the evening because of the whiteouts.

The LampLighters are near Center Camp - close to a mile from The Man, and a long walk from our camp during a nasty storm. Upon arrival, we were given assignments and dressed in the LampLighter robes. Our section was from The Man to the 3:30 plaza. Since it is now so far out we were trucked out to The Man. Joe and I carried lamps, Dave and Bill hung them on the poles. In total, we had 11 Carriers, each with 6 lamps on each side. That's a lot of lamps! Being a LampLighter would have been really cool if it wasn't for the wind. You couldn't see anything and carrying those long bars filled with lamps and getting hit with strong winds was not fun. Plus we missed out on the 'ceremony' that's part of the ritual of hanging the lamps. And the wind blew most of our lamps out..

At the end, we walked from the 3:30 plaza back to the LampLighters camp to turn in our robes and poles. We then stopped in Center Camp for the first time. It was decorated very differently from last year. There was an opera singer on stage and she was amazing. Just as good as any I've ever heard. She had the place stunned.

Tuesday:
Finally, the weather improved! The day was not hot or windy and it stayed that way through Friday.

We used Tuesday morning to finish up the camp and make repairs from Monday's storm. Then Dave, Joe, Rich and I took the bug to the DMV to see if it would get its daytime license to be on the playa. The bug passed! Dave was happy and I was relieved. From there we took a celebratory run out to The Man and took some photos.

Back at camp, I started on the stage lights and the group decided to put up the dome, in case the weather turned bad again. In the evening we took the bug back to the DMV for its nighttime license. It was so well lit up and so visible with all the black lights it easily passed.

Wednesday:
The weather was still good. A little hotter and a little windier in the afternoon.

I took the quad out to The Man and got some new photos for my collection. Today was really the first day I had time to get out on my own. Yesterday was all about getting the bar and the Buggy finished. These would have been done on Monday, but the wind storms were just too intense to do anything.

Mother and Judy showed up early in the afternoon. They had no line getting in to deal with, but they missed the turnoff on Hwy 80 and got lost for a while. Getting in, they started piling all their stuff (most all of it mother's) into the motor home. It was OK to have the company, as long no one uses the bathroom except for emergencies. The vent for the black water tank is right by where we all gather.

For the afternoon I went around in the city on my bicycle. My first stop was 'The Deep End', a daytime dance venue that's been really popular for years. I visited several theme camps but didn't stick around at any of them.

About Tom: He'd take off on his own and not talk much about what he'd seen. Tom needs to avoid the sun, so he'd wear his big hat and had long sleeves on, so he's was being a good boy all the way around.

I can't seem to remember what I did that night.. Hmmm.

Thursday:

Thursday morning Mother and I took the quad out to see some of the 'art' in the open playa. I have to say, people overall were not as creative as last year. The 'temple' is nothing like the structure or emotional space created last year by David Best. The one this year was made from trash. It reminded me of the driftwood structures they used to put up along the Bay near the Bay Bridge. There was a 10 story steel 'building' farther out on the 2:00 side of town that one could climb for a big view of the city. The 'Bummer' was pretty neat. From a distance, it actually looked like a Hummer parked out on playa, until you realize the tiny shapes on it were people. One of the most impressive structures was 'Altered States'. A small capitol building shaped structure in steel, painted white. All the forms used were important symbols in Native American culture.

Thursday was also the day when our bar was a stop on the 'naked bike ride'. I had agreed to be one of the servers when people showed up. Our goal was to make sure all ~250 people had their cups filled in under 5 minutes. When they arrived, we were able to do it in less than 3 minutes. Most of these folk (98% guys) had already made 5 booze stops by the time they got to us so they were feeling rather 'frisky'. I'll spare you the details. At that point I decided I'd volunteered enough and went to do other things.

Anyway, in the afternoon I headed back out to go spend some time in Center Camp. It's a great place to go people watch. Everyone eventually goes there. I got some iced tea and watched the dancers and other interesting sights. It's a pretty mellow place. I then did a bit of touring around the city and stopped in at various camps. I even got a drink at a camp called 'The Big Puffy Yellow'. This gal dragged me in. It was very nice of her to do so. I expect I'd have just stood out and watched others having a good time if I had just been left alone. This is one of the keys to enjoying yourself. You have to put yourself out there and make a point to go up to folk and get involved. The catch to that is many of the camps don't have a properly delineated layout so you know what is public and private space - something our camp did well.

In the evening, everyone was out doing the nightlife, even Mother. I was just too tired. Something about everything leading up to the event and these storms had just left me drained.

Friday:

Friday was a day for exploring the city. I went out in the morning on my own to check out the areas between 2:00 and 6:00. Along the esplanade I climbed on Thunderdome, tried talking to God (still no answer) and climbed up on the big tower at that edge of the city, right across from the Opulent Temple - the biggest night time dance venue on that side of the city. While up there I met a professional photographer from Japan and his assistant. The assistant was very afraid of the height - which is understandable. The platform is small and very high up and the only way up and down is by climbing up one of the legs, which is at most a foot wide.

I headed back to camp mid-day for some lunch and then Tom and I went out together on the quad. We went around to more areas on the 2:00 side of town and visited some camps centered around alternative energy. I like the idea of doing a camp that would be more informative or useful in the future. A bar is a nice way to draw people in - if what you want is bar-type people. This will require further consideration..

For the evening, I took Judy and Mom out in the Bug to see several art installations out on the playa. Some highlights were fire dancers, the burning of the pyramid, and this year's version of the zoetrope.

Saturday:

The morning started off pretty well. It was pancake morning in camp. I went out in the morning and did some sightseeing out behind and beyond our camp. Getting beyond the last street, the city opened out to the open playa. The drifts were higher there. Some people were trying to fly kites and do kite boarding. Coming back to camp I found John the professional massage guy had some time, so I got my very first pro massage! As he was working me over the wind started to pick up and soon it was howling. The dust was very thick and it turned colder. Judy left just before the storms became bad. She was worried about her cat - and with good reason - It passed away a couple days later.

In the afternoon, people just hung out in the bar. It was too nasty to go anywhere and the coverings of the bar provided some level of protection from the dust. BMIR was saying that they may have to delay or postpone the burning of The Man. We used the dome tent to have dinner, so that kept us out of most of the storm for our evening meal. The wind finally started to die down and we walked out to The Man from camp as a group. I was ticked at myself because I forgot my mini HD camcorder, and was uncomfortable because my knee hurt crouching on the playa. Eventually The Man burned starting at about quarter to 11. Because of the short window in the storms they cut out the fire dancers and the whole ceremony. Afterwards I was too tired to stay out, so I went back to camp, cleaned up and went to bed.

Sunday and Monday:

Late Sunday morning we started breaking down the buggy. I was planning to leave some time late in the day and it had to go back with me. We took apart the stage and the sound and lighting and I loaded them in the RV. While up on the roof of the RV to disconnect the solar panels I could see huge cyclones on the playa. One of them cut through the city uprooting shade structures and all sorts of stuff, which flew high into the air and disappeared into the dust clouds. The day remained cold and everyone was in long pants and jackets. This was the coldest day I had experienced on the playa.

Tom and I headed back to Center Camp for a final cup of ice tea and to take in the vibe one last time. After cruising through a bit more of the quickly clearing city we headed back to finish our packing. It looked like a lot more people were leaving on Sunday than last year. I think the weather was a big factor plus the Temple was not as inspiring. I know I didn't care to watch it burn and I thought I could beat the crowd by leaving that evening.

Before evening, I followed Mother and Tom to the big fire truck down the street from our camp and took photos of them climbing the big ladder.

We used the dome tent to have dinner again. By the time I had dinner and we got everything loaded and undocked it was getting later than I wanted to leave. So with Tom in tow, my mom and I Left BRC at 8:45PM. But we didn't get off the playa for another 3 hours. Everyone else it seemed had the same idea about leaving during the Temple burn. Another huge dust storm came up and they closed the route behind us. All we could do is sit and get buffeted by the blowing playa dust. Finally getting onto the highway I figured we'd be home by 2:30 in the morning. However some huge accident(s) must have happened up the highway and we ended up stuck so long I went back to bed for a nap, right in the middle of the highway. All told, with 2 long stops, we arrived in Sparks at 3:30AM and stopped at the truck stop for a nap. We put Tom on the couch and got about 4 hours sleep. We left Sparks at 7:30AM and had an uneventful trip down the hill, arriving back at Mother's about 10AM.

Upon arrival, the first thing to be done was get the buggy put away. I parked on the street and disconnected the buggy. It wouldn't run because the main wire to the alternator was broken off so we had to push it all the way back to the shop. Next up was unloading the quad and removing the rack. In the process of running around and being so tired I smashed my foot into a block of concrete, fell and caught my arm on the quad rack on the way down which gave me a large cut on my arm. What a mess. After recovering somewhat and getting more stuff put away, I took the RV over to the truck wash in West Sacramento to dump the tanks and get a good outside cleaning. The inside had to wait till the next weekend.

When I look back on all of it, it was too much work for a single week event. I was too tired and it made me short with the people I care about the most. I spent a huge amount of the year working on stuff for Burning Man when I should have been doing other things that have been neglected. So what's next? At the least I'm not doing any big projects for 09. I don't even know if I'll be able to get the time off from work next year and I have another large event at the end of September that will require lots of my time. My wife and I have enjoyed our RV outings and I hope we get to do some other traveling next year. Still, I'd like to go again in 09. Perhaps be part of a more low-key camp. Something working on taking some of the principals of Burning Man out into the real world. I'll just have to wait and see.

Indy..