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In less than 4 hours I will be boarding a flight to the west coast. Reno here I come! Seeing as I am a Burning Man virgin I have decided to chronicle my adventure as I am sure it is going to be crazy. I won’t have internet during the trip, but I will be keeping a journal of daily events which I will post online once I get home on the 5th of September. Cannot. Wait.

The setting: I am making the trip with my Uncle S and my good friend J. A stranger combination cannot be imagined. S is very quiet, an observer at times, although animated once you get to know him. Only over the last few months have we become close- and close enough to drive hundreds of miles into the Black Rock Desert together is saying something! In the beginning S had intended to participate in his second BM with his son and a good friend. Unfortunately both bailed for work reasons, leaving S with tickets to spare and no one to go with. After I returned from Bonnaroo in June he happened to mention BM to me and, of course, I was instantly all in. My friend J, who also went to Bonnaroo, was added to the group because hey, he’s as nuts as I am and is frankly the only person I know who will drop everything and fly across the country for a naked hippy festival in the middle of nowhere (I joke. Ok, well partially joking). J is loud, impulsive, hilarious and well, experienced. Let’s just say he’s got the connections and leave it at that.

The preparations: Yes I’ve dyed my hair pink. I know, I’m being judged as I sit here in the airport. Fuck off, it’s cool. I have neon green nails and a bunch of hippy bracelets on. I’ve come with clothing that I am prepared to never see again. 2 bottles of black rum are happily tucked in my suitcase. I have spent the last week buying and making things to give away- souvenirs, miniature bottles of liquor, bracelets, trinkets. I know it’s not supposed to be a barter society, but I’d rather have something to give if I need to get myself a drink of water or a cool hat. Knowwhadameen? Also packed are a sketch book, reading materials, funny costumes (I love the thrift store), flags, necklaces and a baggie of trail mix for the trip. Another thing S and I did was order rave supplies (LED gas masks, glow sticks, rave gloves, EL lights etc) from Rave Booth. Andrew took VERY good care of us and agreed to have our orders shipped to the RV place for pick up in San Francisco. Definitely, definitely will be a worthwhile purchase. No way do I want some drunk motherfucker running over my ass on a peddle bike in the dark.

The logistics: Uncle S flew west on Friday, August 24th 2012, arriving in San Francisco to pick up an RV and drive northeast to Reno. J and I are flying into Reno tonight, August 26th, to be picked up, in style, at the airport by S. We are meeting Scott’s friends from last Burning Man at an RV park somewhere in Reno tonight and then taking tomorrow to explore the shops and pick up last minute supplies. We will be driving to Black Rock Desert on Tuesday to give the line time to die down and hopefully miss a lot of the traffic (doors open on Monday). S says that last year there was a 9 hour wait to get in! Fuck that!

The “extras”: S is a professional photographer so he’s got 2 decent still cameras and 2 Go Pros. I plan on strapping one of those babies on my face and dancing around for a good while just capturing the scene from my perspective. We’ve also rented three peddle bikes which I will adorn with as many lights as is physically possible. J is contributing party favors, hair dye and random camping supplies. Honestly, he’s the type of person that you don’t really even ask- you just go with it. He’s sort of a “shit-magnet” (my father would say)- as in, if he makes it out to Reno, we’ll be pleasantly surprised!

Updates: Despite the hurricane and plane troubles, J made it out west! S and I waited for him to arrive in the Best Western and then dashed across the street through sprinklers to get him from the airport.