Memories From The Journey

[Charlie Parker]

Without question, from the time you get in line to enter Black Rock City until the time you hit the road to make your way home, you will have an unbelievable number of memorable experiences. But what about on the journey to Burning Man? The journey home? I wanna hear about some of those experiences.

I'll start. A little background info on my group from 2011: Three guys (Ufda, BC, and myself) and two girls (Go Go and Feonix). Ufda, Go Go, and I are from Minnesota. BC and Feonix are from Washington DC. They found my ad on the rideshare site and drove to Minneapolis to meet up with us to ride the rest of the way in our extended conversion van.


One morning while passing through either Laramie or Cheyenne,WY we passed by a McDonald's with a sign that said "50 McNuggets for $9.99." Along the way, we had discovered that despite BC's thin frame, he had a legendary appetite.

Me: Look! 50 MgNuggets for $9.99!
Ufda: Whadaya think BC? Could you eat 50 McNuggets?
BC: I could eat a hundred!
Ufda: If you can eat a hundred McNuggets, I'll pay for them.

We stopped at a Walmart in town to grab some supplies we needed. There was a McDonald's inside.

BC: Can I get a hundred McNuggets?
Woman at Counter: I'm sorry, but it's only 9:30. We don't serve McNuggets until 10:30.
BC: Aw, man! My friend bet me that I couldn't eat a hundred McNuggets.
WaC: (smiling) Alright, we'll put some in the fryer for you.

We get back on the road. BC is going to town on them at first. After about 30 of them he starts asking if anybody wants some. We start chowing down on them. At 40 he announces that he's giving up, lies down on the mattress in the back, and to my memory, doesn't move for hours. I remember him saying days later that they did a number on his system. We never did quite finish all of them.
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Driving through Badlands National Park in South Dakota on the way back.
Ufda: Have you guys ever heard of Wall Drug! We should stop there!
Me: Ugh! God no!
Others: What is it?
Ufda: It's like this old pharmacy. They got popular from people putting up signs all over the country stating "X more miles to Wall Drug" They have this big gift shop with all sorts of old trinkets you can buy and... (I cut in)
Me: It's a STUPID building! Filled with CRAP!
Ufda: Oh come on. They have to see it.
Me: Argh! (long pause followed by sigh) Ufda is right. It's one of those things you just have to see. (facepalm)

We get there and wander around for a while. Feonix, Go Go, and BC were all giggling at the stuff that they saw. I find this super creepy animatronic band in the back. I mean the faces that were carved into these things would have given a small child nightmares. I drag everyone over to see it, and the giggling erupts into uncontrollable laughter.

As much as I hate that place, I will always bring people there on the way back if they've never gone before. Next time I'll throw in the Corn Palace for good measure. Two for one tacky spectacular.

[theCryptofishist]

I have a trashy love for just about anything that was in the original Roadside America book. (Now a website. I remember a time, a simpler time, when books were book and websites didn't exist... Sort of like Luis Bunuel's memories of growing up in the stone age.) That's where I first heard of the Corn Palace. Besides, a building with temporary decoration made of colored corn? Yeah, one of the burn's ancestors.

[Savannah]

Charlie Parker--what a fun idea for stories. I'd better think back to my favorites and report back . . .

[Turtleburp]

Oooh I've got one!

On the way to BRC last year we tried to meet up with some first timers in Oakland to help them get the basics and be better prepared - little did we think that we were going to be getting the lesson!

We looked up the closest RV park (1545 105th avenue Oakland) to the address our friends were staying at and set off. Being in an RV it took a little longer than expected to get there and it was dark when we arrived.

I had misgivings when an SUV had screeched to a halt to check us out but assumed that they must have been avoiding an animal on the road but we arrived tired but in pretty high spirits. Bumble had a look at the caravan park and told me that she wasn't so' sure that this was the right place, at that point a Patty the day time hooker look alike wandered along the road smoking a glass pipe.

We did a 3(00) point turn in the narrow street as quietly as possible - RVs beep in reverse so not really subtle. Off we shot glad to be on the move but unsure of where we were going. As we drove blindly through Oakland the streets got worse and worse, corners had groups of kids that made me think of the Wire and the dancing semi naked midget (welcome at BRC) got me to thinking we'd really taken a wrong turn.

Finally we stopped at lights long enough for the GPS to catchup and off we shot to the next closest one RV park... similar story; permanent resident in town caravan park but this time the street was narrower and by the time I had turned around I had an audience on local porches.

We grabbed another address - this time from the approved campground list we had ignored in the first place (rookie error) - and off we went.

We ended up crossing a steep single lane concrete bridge and ending up driving on little roads on levee banks on reclaimed flood plain - from the Ghetto to the hills have fucking eyes I kid you not!

The levees were so narrow that there was no turning around so it was all in!

We ended up at KOA park on W Brannan Island (922 w brannan island isleton) where much red wine aided my unwinding...

As much as I did not enjoy that trip I will miss our international pilgrimage to BRC this year - selfish bloody baby!

[Mojojita]

With our antique RV, just getting there is a big part of the art. Despite exhaustive pre-journey maintenance, this year we broke down 4 times on the way. We developed a terrifying vapor lock problem, weird battery drain, air bag suspension pumped one side all the way up and would not deflate, etc.... We finally limped in, leaning precariously to one side - boy that first glass of wine was good.

My favorite part of the journey are the honks and waves from other burners along the way.

[Hope-a-Lope]

An old man to our rented Camry as we departed on burn night:

"Your art car sucks!"




So simple, and yet, it was the funniest thing I heard all week.

[ranger magnum]

In 2011our little class c blew a head gasket on the way home, just outside of bridgeport. We were lucky enough to get a ride home with a fellow ranger. The next day, I got a ride back up to bridgeport with my tools, and repaired it in the parking lot of the local Napa auto parts store, and drove it home!

[tamarakay]

The stallion and I stopped at an Rv park in New Mexico. Sitting outside eating supper, a herd of motorcycles ride in and set up tents. It was a group of handsome young Frenchmen on a motorcycle tour of the u.s. Of course they all had to take their shirts off to set up camp, it's august in New Mexico for goodness sakes. As a bonus we were camped between them and the showers and pool. Thank you God for the many gifts you give me. The lady in the camp next to me and I had a great time watching them walk back and forth.

[TT120]

On the way home from the burn in 2012, my check engine light came on just as I was hitting the pavement. It stayed on the whole way home.















Sorry, that's all I got. I don't live that far from the Playa.

[Charlie Parker]

Another thing we did on our journey was plan a few stops along the way based on restaurants featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. One was really good, the other not so great.

[tatonka]

The starter solinoid acted up on our way out, it was a 6 hr exodus and I had to leave the truck running the whole time. On our way home I would tell the gas station guys my trouble and they would let me keep the motor running while I got gas.

[Ano]

Heading to playa my first year: in the weeks leading up to the event, every single one (and I mean every single one) of my friends with tickets dropped out. I went from a big camp to... nothing. I had to fend for myself. I scrambled to get what I thought I needed and left Sacramento with a car full of bad decisions (20 gallons of... bottled water... cheap camping rope for "tie-downs"... I'm very lucky 2011 was incredibly mild) and a head full of dreams.

Around ten seconds after getting on I-80, I was surrounded by Burner Cars. I felt great. I remember someone telling me to drink water, so I start chugging water in preparation for the Playa. Suddenly, as if by magic, the liter of water I drank turned to pee and my body desperately wanted to get rid of it. I pulled off to the next gas station... about fifteen minutes after my body had hit critical pissing mass. I pull in to this gas station, full of freaks. And I seriously mean FREAKS. A girl in a neon green bikini is handing out lollipops to people pumping gas. An old man wearing two cowboy hats, one perched perfectly on the other. A bus painted like a lysergic dream. And me, the lone virgin, feeling like a crawdad in an airplane.

Im standing in the bathroom line inside the gas station. There's an old women deciding between types of beer, her companion says "whichever one is made of less water and more alcohol," which makes sense to me. My bladder is pulsing with pain, and I'm doing the pee-pee dance right there. I'm third in line, but it's quite obvious I should be the one peeing right now. Note to self: Don't drink a liter of water. A guy walks out of the bathroom, and he has a kilt on. He holds the door open. Girl walks into the boys bathroom. Okay, sure, I guess we're doing that. Another guy walks out of the womens bathroom... followed by two more. The three people ahead of me walk on in. The guy behind me knocks and asks if he can come in, and I hear a "why not?", leaving me to be the only one in line. I was wearing Jeans and a T-shirt, and I looked like the only beacon of sanity in this gas station, other than the gas clerk. It was 9pm on Sunday and there were thousands of freaks. Everywhere. I lock eyes with the gas station attendant, who gives me this exasperated and amused look.

I shrug and knock on the door. "Room for one more?" and that's how I sword-fought with two strangers in a Truckee Bathroom on the way to my first Burn.

...I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore. And I still don't really know WTF. It was okay, though, kind of how things are just okay at Burning Man. Like the people wearing ornate outfits who just simply solve the difficult-to-use-restroom problem by... getting naked and walking on in. Makes sense. The toilet room has room for multiple, and hey, boys or girls single toilet, looks the same to me, why not share?...... Also, in case my adolescent slang didn't make its way across the USA, "sword fighting" is kind of like crossing streams in Ghostbusters.

[Savannah]

[forty_eight]

there was this big bbq event outside of the hotel we stayed at after the burn, and in the morning, this guy was walking around hawking donuts.

after he passed, my wife and i looked at each other with the same confused expression.

we were both struck by how odd it seemed that someone wanted us to buy something!

[JayBobBoy]

It was Tuesday after the event last year. I had rolled into a dimly lit casino parking lot in the middle of the night and crawled in my trailer and crashed. When I woke up, I wandered into the restaurant for breakfast and sat at the counter. After coming to my senses and drinking some coffee, a guy came up and sat down next to me. He laughed a bit and asked me if I'd looked in a mirror today. Clearly I hadn't! I excused myself and took care of the dusty wreck I saw in the bathroom mirror. "Something that the cat dragged in" is what my Mom would have called me.

When I returned, my breakfast and my new friend were waiting for me. He had gotten to Reno the day before and was freshly cleaned and his girlfriend was upstairs sleeping it off. We had a great breakfast together, sharing stories and adventures from the last ten days.

It was the first time I'd traveled completely solo to and from the event. The people I met along the way made it feel like I was never alone!

[Drawingablank]

On our way to our first burn my son and I were standing outside our hotel in Winnemucca having a beer and a cigarette. All of a sudden I heard a loud PING. I see my son looking down - apparently a giant beetle had suicided off the hotel roof and hit his beer can so hard it dented the top edge.

Earlier that evening we were buying some supplies at the supermarket and had one cart overloaded with PBR and another filled with water and booze. The young woman at the register said going to the burn I see. My son with the straightest face said no, we've been driving for 4 days and wanted to take the night off and have a few beers, but what's the burn you are talking about? The look on her face was priceless.

I posted something about the actual drive up to the burn from Fernley during that same trip on another thread viewtopic.php?f=69&t=55474

[BoyScoutGirl]

Met some young first-timers in a megamart on the way in. Shared in their excitement. Conversation turned to line at the Gate. I planted the idea that Greeters wouldn't let them into the event unless they could list all 10 Principles. They shared a moment of panic and then I reassured "Well, your vehicle can answer as group, duh."

I'm usually terrible at a poker face, but this played out smooth as silk and they bit hook-line-sinker.

Guarantee you those kids read at least one part of their Survival Guides.