Burning Man – Tuesday

After a really cold night the day turns into a real winner. Mid 70’s and no wind make for a great day in Black Rock City. Assembled the bike and rode out on the playa taking lots of pictures and just enjoying the scene. People are busy rebuilding their camps and I take advantage of the weather to put up my tarp and put the solar rig on the truck. Went to find the ‘Want It” camp to see if I could find a guy named ‘Blink’ who I have corresponded with regarding T@B’s. Earlier, I had put a box on the back fender of my bike and forgot it was there. As I went to swing my leg over the fender I got caught and crashed magnificently into the Want It camp. “Wow! Great crash, man! You OK?” “Yeah, Is Blink around?” “You a friend of Blink?! It figures!” I find Blink and we visit for a couple hours and I get an invited to a sushi dinner on Wednesday night- if I promise to walk my bike into their camp. On the way back to my camp I find some friends I met out here last year in Camp Nomadia. Chris & Cherie are permanent “Technomads” who run their internet oriented businesses while living on the road. Before leaving home I made a token with their camp name on it of the wood from last years’ temple. Chris, a former T@B owner, was the one who first got me thinking that I might want to go to Burning Man. I delivered it to them and was adopted into their camp by the other Nomads when they figured out why I was there. Met a lot of people today who all have incredible stories to tell. One gal is planning to retire early and seek out her roots- all the more important since her family raised her in self-imposed exiled anonymity after her mafia/arsonist dad felt the arm of the law and other pressure from his colleagues getting too close. Dad recently passed away and she feels like her life is starting at 40. Other notable things today: My 70-year-old neighbors have matching “Hello Kitty” tattoos, another neighbor arrived in a Smart Car and is charming the rest of us with her spinning and chanting while wearing nothing but a sarong below the waist, 2 guys from Taiwan (we think) speak NO English and are having a blast drinking warm vodka from huge bottles and watching people pass by.


My rear end is suffering greatly from “bumpy playa bike butt” and I remember to remove the cargo box from the bike before going to bed.