Burning Man 2009: Day 1 - The Journey Out.
My companions and I headed out of LA on Sunday evening. We were only about two hours into our journey before things got interesting. We had just come down off the grapevine and were headed north to Bakersfield when the tread on the right front tire of our motor home sheared off. We appeared stuck in the middle of nowhere, but the universe was on our side as we discovered a 24 hour tire service a scant 12 miles from where we were in Coalinga, CA. After a quick pit stop, we were once again back on our way to Nevada.
As a quick aside, we were listening to Love Line on the radio, and I gotta say that Dr. Drew just gets through a ton more callers than Adam Carolla ever did. I find that I like the show much more now than I used to.
The miles rolled off pretty quickly as we made our way north… passed Sacramento without any traffic problems and headed east up into the mountains. I took the night shift while my friends were sleeping in back. I drove up and through the Yuba gap around 4:30 in the morning…which was fun. Slowly, the road became occupied with other motor homes and cars which shared our destination. I was headed down into Reno as the sun was coming up.
We stopped at the biggest WallMart I have ever seen in Reno, absolutely massive. By then I was beyond groggy and crashed out on the final leg to Gerlach.
the road to the man - by Amar
My worries regarding long waits in the sun were insubstantial, as the road off the highway and onto the black rock desert was light with traffic. Cruising along the 6 lane entrance, I got my first smell of the playa, its dust billowing around the cars racing up to the gate.
We made our way to the campsite and meet our campmates. We helped get a common area assembled and put filters on the outside of all the windows on the motor home to help keep the dust at bay. After getting set up, our whole camp had decided to go and volunteer at the Lamplighters, which is a group that lights the city as the sun is going down.
I had a great time doing it, but was caught in a dust storm that blew my bandana off my face and gave me a strong and forceful indoctrination to the playa and its elements. Despite the harshness of the task, I found the event to be inspiring and it instantly made me feel like part of a bigger community.
Lamplighters - by Jeff Sullivan
The heat and altitude did take its toll, though, and I found myself exhausted on the first night.
Nevertheless, I had made it…I was at Burning Man, and the craziness had just gotten started.
As a quick aside, we were listening to Love Line on the radio, and I gotta say that Dr. Drew just gets through a ton more callers than Adam Carolla ever did. I find that I like the show much more now than I used to.
The miles rolled off pretty quickly as we made our way north… passed Sacramento without any traffic problems and headed east up into the mountains. I took the night shift while my friends were sleeping in back. I drove up and through the Yuba gap around 4:30 in the morning…which was fun. Slowly, the road became occupied with other motor homes and cars which shared our destination. I was headed down into Reno as the sun was coming up.
We stopped at the biggest WallMart I have ever seen in Reno, absolutely massive. By then I was beyond groggy and crashed out on the final leg to Gerlach.
the road to the man - by Amar
My worries regarding long waits in the sun were insubstantial, as the road off the highway and onto the black rock desert was light with traffic. Cruising along the 6 lane entrance, I got my first smell of the playa, its dust billowing around the cars racing up to the gate.
We made our way to the campsite and meet our campmates. We helped get a common area assembled and put filters on the outside of all the windows on the motor home to help keep the dust at bay. After getting set up, our whole camp had decided to go and volunteer at the Lamplighters, which is a group that lights the city as the sun is going down.
I had a great time doing it, but was caught in a dust storm that blew my bandana off my face and gave me a strong and forceful indoctrination to the playa and its elements. Despite the harshness of the task, I found the event to be inspiring and it instantly made me feel like part of a bigger community.
Lamplighters - by Jeff Sullivan
The heat and altitude did take its toll, though, and I found myself exhausted on the first night.
Nevertheless, I had made it…I was at Burning Man, and the craziness had just gotten started.