After dinner & day 2

After dinner, day 1:

We went out biking around the playa last night, checking out some popular camps and staged as well as 'the man'- the effigy that will be burnt at the end of the week. Music thumped, there were blinking lights everywhere and a handful of flamethrowers shot periodic bursts of fire into the sky. Art cars roamed the open desert; they were busses transformed into pirate ships, flying saucers, even a giant flame shooting octopus.

We roamed for a couple hours then headed back to camp to turn in early after a log day.

Day 2 :

We woke up and got dressed, filled our daypacks: water, goggles, dust masks, sun screen, and a compass jut in case. It's common to have whiteouts, dust storms so thick that you can't see your hand in front of your face.

We spent a little time checking our schedules- 180 page books with all the weeks various workshops and preplanned activities laid out at an easy glance.

We figured we'd roam a bit and got on our bikes for another tour. With 60,000 people, there's more to see than the week would allow...

After a half hour or so, we thought we'd meet our Aussies friends for coffee at a camp near our homebase. But not more than 2 minutes into our attempt to find them, did a wandering topless lady with a tray of filled coffee cups offer us some Joe. Not an offer to be missed, we parked our bikes and sat down at a nearby table to grab our morning caffeine. There was a dice game laid out, which we leanerd and played two games of while having a couple cups each of java.

Back to homebase, a henna workshop was starting out and Ruth began drawing on people. I took the time to help out with the camps greywater cleanup after drinking a delicious young Thai coconut.

The afternoon was a scorcher, so we made some lunch, took a brief walk, checking on the nearby camp "slut garden" then laid down to write this entry and nap.

My first day

Ruth and I woke up early. We got some breakfast and ran around picking up last minute jugs of water and snacks. We left Reno before 10, blowing our estimate of noon out of the water. A quick half hour drive and we were at the turnoff to make our way into the desert. By now we were amidst a huge caravan of RVs and cars with bikes strapped to then every which way possible. Past the Paiute reservation, another hour to the tiny town of Gerlach - the last town. Parked vehicles lined the town, everyone picking up last minute supplies.

Finally, we hit standstill traffic. The mob of cars made a slow turn off into the dessert, we had made it! Along with 60,000 other people. The traffic was atrocious. 8 lanes of traffic, inching along. After a few minutes, there was a man outside the cars, walking along.... Soon another then another. The traffic was so bad that people were getting out and walking around. Before long there were people riding bikes, topless ladies and naked men. People were climbing on top of their RVs which moved about one car length every 5-10 minutes. This lasted for 7 hours until we finally hit the main entrance gate.

Our tickets were checked, bent, and the embossment felt, to ensure no one was counterfitting and getting in for free. They searched our car pretty extensively, checking every compartment for stowaways, making us unpack a bit so they could see around the car better.

We passed the inspection and went on our way- into more traffic. Another hour or so, and finally we had a straight away, with a 10mph speed limit, to make our way to camp.

Mutant bikes and mad max cars everywhere.

We pulled into camp, setup our sleeping area in abou 20 minutes and jumped right into our duty making dinner in the kitchen.

Burritos for 65. Meat, Spanish rice, guacamole, mango salsa, beans, marinated onions and peppers, cheese, sour cream, olives and hot sauce. Yum.

I go my belly full, wrote out this entry, and am about to go explore.

Getting ready for Burning Man

I'm setting up this blog in my hotel room on the 27th floor of the Reno Circus Circus. Air conditioner is cranked, soaking up the last bits of luxury that I can before heading off for my first trip to Burning Man.

The purpose of Fritzing will be to document my lifestyle and adventures. I live my life for the experiences, I want every day to be a magical expedition into everything this world has to offer. I'm a writer, photographer, foodie, musician, artist, and explorer. This is my attempt to document my passion for life.


This is my first trip to Burning Man, but the 25th year of the festival. I've heard about it for over 15 years, and have thought about going a few times, but always have been put off by the costs and the politics. This year I figure it's time to suck it up and go check it out. There are cell phone towers stationed out in the middle of the event, I intend to update my blog regularly while in attendance, giving some perspective from a first time Burner as it all unfolds.

Stay tuned for more, first Burning Man, then the world.