finding camp mates when you get there

drucake · Post by **drucake** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 7:57 am

im arriving on day 2 in a travel trailer and my other camp mates are arriving on day 1. what would you suggest as far as meeting up with everyone so we can all camp together? sorry if this question has already been asked or covered in the site.

Post by **AntiM** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:01 am

They go to playa info and sign in and leave a message for you.

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 9:48 am

Will there be a bulletin board at Center Camp?

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 11:22 am

Entire post didn't load.
Weird.

Is eplaya cranky for you guys?

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 11:28 am

Usually.

Be explicit in details.
Areas change.

Best approach is to put a legible sign at the roadside so it can be seen at night.
Best to make it two sided.

A smaller sign by the road can work better than a huge one at a distance.

justfred · Post by **justfred** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 12:03 pm

By Day 2, much of the city has filled up and it can be nearly impossible to find people who may have decided to camp blocks away from where you agreed.

Playa Info, near center camp, lets you put camp name and location into a database. In case this doesn't work/isn't working/whatever, you can also post a note there on the bulletin board, but it can be hard to find, so agree beforehand like: "Green note card at the upper right corner of the bulletin board furthest from Center Camp" or something.

Beforehand, agree on approximately where to camp, and exactly where and how to find note at Playa Info.

Group 1 should find a place to camp, then go to Center camp.

Group 2 should find a place to PARK (6:00 and way the hell out there usually works), WALK to center camp, find location, walk back to car, drive to camp.

Playa Tom · Post by **Playa Tom** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 12:24 pm

There are a few solutions:

The bulletin boarda at center camp are usually full and difficult to read.
FRS radios are cheap and have a decent range, choose a frequency and an alternate in the event the first is getting heavy use.
Drive around aimlessly looking for your friends, register your car and trailer with DMV as an art car, "The Lost Burner."

Playa Tom · Post by **Playa Tom** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 12:24 pm

There are a few solutions:

The bulletin boarda at center camp are usually full and difficult to read.
FRS radios are cheap and have a decent range, choose a frequency and an alternate in the event the first is getting heavy use.
Drive around aimlessly looking for your friends, register your car and trailer with DMV as an art car, "The Lost Burner."

mikesieben · Post by **mikesieben** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 12:57 pm

I recommend biking to center camp and not walking. It's a lot faster.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 1:02 pm

Don't forget where you park or camp.

You can post at playa info under your name and send messages addressed to your lost folks.
Do both.

Do not leave directions like " We'll be by the bright thing next to where the store used to be."

justfred · Post by **justfred** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 1:27 pm

mikesieben wrote:I recommend biking to center camp and not walking. It's a lot faster.

True, but if you've just arrived, your bike is probably still buried in/attached to your vehicle.

What's your hurry? You've been in the car for hours. It's nice to walk. You probably need to use the potties anyhow.

Absolut Jeenyus · Post by **Absolut Jeenyus** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 1:52 pm

gyre wrote:Entire post didn't load.
Weird.

Is eplaya cranky for you guys?

Yea the past week or so its been acting up.

mikesieben · Post by **mikesieben** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 2:21 pm

justfred wrote:
mikesieben wrote:I recommend biking to center camp and not walking. It's a lot faster.
True, but if you've just arrived, your bike is probably still buried in/attached to your vehicle.

What's your hurry? You've been in the car for hours. It's nice to walk. You probably need to use the potties anyhow.

Step 1 - Detach bike

Â¡Niers! · Post by **Â¡Niers!** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:48 pm

Here's what I have decided to do.
I bought a set of $40 walkie-talkies, I'm going to keep one on me at all times and give the other one to my friends for when they get there. I will be making sure we are both on the same private channel and know how to use them.
Anyone ever try this? Sounds like a great solution to me.

Feedback?

Â¡Niers! · Post by **Â¡Niers!** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:52 pm

Here's what I have decided to do.
I bought a set of $40 walkie-talkies, I'm going to keep one on me at all times and give the other one to my friends for when they get there. I will be making sure we are both on the same private channel and know how to use them.
Anyone ever try this? Sounds like a great solution to me.

Feedback?

slvrnmph · Post by **slvrnmph** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 2:39 pm

I had friends use walkie talkies before and it worked fine. Also, make use of the computers at Playa Info. I had a friend before where the agreed method was to post a note on the boards but the note wasn't there. I did find him right away when I did a quick search on one of the computers.

Hoolie · Post by **Hoolie** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 3:18 pm

Â¡Niers! wrote:Here's what I have decided to do.
I bought a set of $40 walkie-talkies, I'm going to keep one on me at all times and give the other one to my friends for when they get there. I will be making sure we are both on the same private channel and know how to use them.
Anyone ever try this? Sounds like a great solution to me.

Feedback?

Yeah, this can work. However, there are a lot of walkie-talkies on the playa. Even with all the channel and sub-channel options, you will have many other people using the same channel as you. It can get a bit confusing and tedious with all the crosstalk.