A year ago today I was at Burning Man



Me and my brother Tom



Yes, you read that correctly, I went to Burning Man last year. 

For those of you that haven’t heard of Burning Man it is an annual event held in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.  Participants use the event as a celebration of community, radical self-expression and self-reliance.  The attendance cap per BLM is 50,000 and the city becomes the 5^th largest city in Nevada during the event.  

In the past I never really understood Burning Man.  The Burners (people that attend Burning Man) always seemed like glorified hippies or extreme counter culture types and I could never understand why they would want to go hang out in the extreme environment of the Black Rock Desert and waste all their time and money on this event.  The event has a reputation as being a celebration of drugs and going against societal norms which I just don't get.  The reputation is so far from the truth about Burning Man. 

The Man in a dust storm

Now that I have been to Burning Man I understand that this event is so much more than meets the eye and the stereotype of the event is not at all what the event is about.   Thanks to Black Rock City organization I was able to attend with members of my Rotary Club on the night of the burn and they gave us a behind the scenes tour that taught us about the principles and logistics of the event.  The people who plan Burning Man are the best event planners I have ever seen in my life.  They do a great job.  I am thankful for the tour they gave us, it was fascinating and it educated us about their ideas and values as well as their motto of leave no trace which is a huge accomplishment and one that all Nevadans should appreciate.

On September 4, 2010 we left Reno at about 10am on a bus bound for Black Rock City.  We had Happy Hour all the way to Gerlach, NV (roughly 110 miles).  It took some time for us to get into Burning Man once we arrived.  We had to check in at the gate and wait for our guides.  Then we were welcomed into Burning Man.  We parked our bus and then we jumped on a two story tour bus art car thingy (not sure how to describe it because it was a little out of our realm).  The tour bus took us around the playa and showed us the sights while the guide taught us about Burning Man, the challenges they face, logistics, law enforcement and emergency responders, and basically how to live in the Black Rock Desert for a week.  The guide showed us the art, taught us about the temple, the man, and the customs of Burning Man. 

The 2010 Temple



Me in one of the famous Black Rock City dust storms.



The main principles of Burning Man are radical inclusion, gifting (sharing and giving gifts to others), de-commodification (no cash transactions, nothing is bought nor sold among attendees), self-reliance, self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leave no trace, participation, and immediacy (being a part of the event and experiencing what is around you to develop and explore your own relation to the event).   Participants express themselves through art, clothing, mutant vehicles, bikes, buildings (temple, jungle gym, etc.), and theme camps.   

Below are a few of my pictures and notes about fascinating experiences I had. 

The art was amazing! 
Artists and Engineers come together and build magnificent art.

While at Burning Man we had the pleasure of surviving a big dust storm that lasted hours. 

It was so thick that at one point at night we couldn't see people standing three feet away, even with flashlights and headlamps. 

There was so much to see and experience.

Art Cars were really neat and they were everywhere.

Jerry, Kim and Tasha

Ron & Me

Brother Tom

Tammy and Me

 
Gifting is a concept unique to Burning Man.  The principle is that instead of cash event participants exchange gifts unconditionally.  Everywhere we went people offered us drinks and trinkets.  My whole life I was told not to take anything from strangers so this concept was a little foreign to me.  I felt guilty when people gave me stuff like I owed them something or inside my mind I questioned their motives because that is my natural instinct and the survival skills I learned as a child.  I didn't take anything from strangers except one guy gave me a glow stick.  He actually ran up to me and tied it on me, which pissed me off at first because I have a bubble and I don't let strangers get too close, but once he explained himself I thanked him and took the glow stick.  It was a funny exchange, I wish I had been nicer to the guy but he caught me by surprise when he ran up to me and started tying a glow stick on me.

After the Man burned we got a little lost.  You usually use the Man as your compass and read street signs to find you path home.  After the burn you can’t use the Man because he is just ashes, and participants quickly steal the street signs.  I figure we walked a mile or two out of the way but we finally found our bus using our famous family circling in technique.  

On our way home from Burning Man



I had a great time at Burning Man.  I think anyone that has an open mind should attend the event at least once.  Attending the event really opened my eyes to what Burning Man is and how it helps our community.  In 2011 it is predicted that the burners will spend $10 million in Reno so this event gives a nice boost to my hometown.  I thank Black Rock City, LLC for the tour they gave me and my fellow Rotarians and I know it built good will towards Burning Man and taught us not to believe the stereotypes about the event. 



My favorite part of the experience was watching the Man burn.  Below are three short videos.  The first video shows the scene before the burn when all the art cars circle the Man and park to watch it burn.  They all have their own soundtrack and it is total sensory overload with the sights and sounds but it is a wonderful feeling and exciting to watch. 

The second video is the fireworks that begin the big show and the third video is the burn.  Sorry I held my camera sideways on the third video.  I was so caught up in the excitement I didn't realize I was using the camera on its side. 

If you ever get a chance to go to Burning Man… GO!!!  

It was a Crazy Night at the Mohawk Tavern

The third weekend of July was my friend Emily’s bachelorette party weekend.  We all met up in Graeagle, CA at our friend Taylor’s cabin for a weekend of fun and a few cocktails to celebrate Emily’s upcoming wedding to Roy.

The big celebration was Saturday night.  Emily’s fiancé Roy is a huge hunter so we all surprised Emily by dressing up in camouflage.  After a few Kodak moments at the cabin we headed out for a night on the town of Graeagle.  Graeagle is a small town in Plumas County, California with a population of about 700 to 800 people.  It is a very popular place for weekend and vacation homes for people from Reno and nearby California cities.  The town originally prospered because of the timber industry, and there is a wood mill pond in the center of town that has now become the local swimming hole. Graeagle is also well known for its lovely golf courses and great snowshoeing and hiking.  

The bachelor and the bachelorette share a shot of tequila.

We started our night on the town of Graeagle at The Coyote Bar and Grill.  We walked up looking cute in our camo and we ran right into a group of guys sitting at a table celebrating a bachelor party.  As they got up to leave they came over and said hi so we had their groom and our bride do a shot of tequila to celebrate their upcoming marriage.  The bachelor party was headed to the Mohawk, the best bar in Graeagle, so we told them we would see them there after our dinner. 

We had a great dinner at the Coyote, more drinks, and then a really yummy cake that was baked to look like a part of the male anatomy, to protect the bride and innocent bystanders I won’t post a picture of the cake.  After dinner we went over to the Mohawk Tavern.  This is my favorite drinking hole in Graeagle, it reminds me of the Toby Keith song “I Love this Bar” (see the video below).  The patrons are the most random people, from UNR basketball alumni, bachelor and bachelorette parties, golfers, bikers, doctors, former NFL players, old guys, young guys, real cowboys to rednecks, everyone is there and accounted for. 

(There might be a commercial first, but stay tuned for the real music video)

Every time I walk into the Mohawk I get a little nervous, because I never know what the folks inside are going to be like.  It is always fun, but you just never know.  When we walked in on this special night it was packed.  It felt a little like Cheers though because we ran into the bachelor party we met at the restaurant.  These guys were mostly UNR basketball alumni so they were pretty easy to recognize, not many packs of guys are that tall. 

We pushed our way to the packed bar and ordered our first round of drinks.  I got myself a Makers Mark and coke, my favorite!  I was feeling a little overwhelmed because the bar was so crowded.  I started watching these old guys play pool for a few minutes.  It looked like they had been running the table for some time beating everyone that played them.  I asked Jessica if she would be my partner so we could play.  We put our money on the table to get in line for a shot at the old guys and the title.  Now the funny thing is that we were in line after at least two other teams, but when you are two cute girls in a bar that is three quarters full of men, you aren’t going to have to wait your turn. 

 

As soon as the old guys beat the team they were playing all the other gentlemen told us we could cut in line and play first.  So it was on, Jessica and I were playing the old guys.  The old guys got to break since they were the winners from the previous game.  Then it was Jessica’s turn.  Jessica took her first shot and boy was it a shot!  She hit the cue ball right off the table and it hit a guy on the dance floor.  I was watching the people around the table and I could tell they thought me and Jessica were going to be entertaining to watch.  I thought this was funny because Jessica is one of the best pool players I know.  I don’t remember every shot, but I know Jessica and I each hit several in when it was our respective turns.  We were going toe to toe with the old guys and the whole bar was watching and cheering for us.  They all wanted the young chicks to beat the old guys.  It was time for the eight ball, I was so pumped that we might win but I thought for sure the old guy would sink it in a pocket and there would be no glory for me and Jess.  These guys were really good.  But what would you know, the old guy scratched on the eight ball.  Jessica and I were jumping up and down and all of the people that were watching the game cheered like they themselves had won.  It was all very exciting. 

The old guy dancing with my friends.

The old guys became two of my favorite friends we met that night.  One was from Ireland and I think the other guy was local.  I thought they were good friends because they made such a great team and they were both excellent at pool but it turned out they had only met there a few hours earlier.  They were such great sports when they got beat by us girls, they gave us high fives and hugs for winning and then they stuck around and cheered for us when we played the next team which was two guys from the bachelor party. 

We also made friends with this new team from the bachelor party that we were playing against.  One of the guys was an Australian and I think the other guy was from Reno.  We still had a lot of people watching us when we played the young bucks but it just wasn’t the same fun as playing against the old guys.  It is so much more thrilling to be the underdog and go up against the old guys that were running the table all night before we got there. 

While we played pool a lot of nice people told me and Jess that we were good, and they all wanted us to win.  It was really nice to have fans, at least for a quick game of pool.  Well this game against the young bucks went much like the first game, a few good shots here and there, and both teams were pretty equal.  It all came down to the 8 ball again, and the young bucks hit the eight ball in…and scratched.  Jess and I won again!  The same way we won the first game!  It was pretty dang exciting.

After becoming the undefeated team we decided to take a break and let other people play pool.  I think it was great that we quit while we were ahead, and while a few people still thought we were pool sharks or hustlers.  It was time to dance and have a few more drinks.  Someone from the bachelor party started playing rap on the jukebox, which was a major downer for most of the bar.  So I stepped up to the jukebox and decided to play Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”.  The bar went crazy, everyone was dancing and singing.  I didn’t think everyone would get so fired up but they did, guess everyone just loves some Johnny Cash. 

An older cowboy, probably in his 50s or 60s, came up to me and thanked me for playing some respectable music, so he slipped five bucks in the jukebox and told me to play more good songs.  I have never had anyone appreciate my music selections like that before so I made sure to only play songs I knew this guy would like.  He was a pretty neat cowboy, the real deal.  He had cattle to go with his hat.  He told me about working a ranch near Bridgeport and he actually knew some of the rodeo folks I know, which was really neat.  I liked this guy because he told me he knew I was a respectable young lady because I strolled into the Mohawk Tavern in camo and cowgirl boots, and real cowgirl boots at that.  I cracked up when he told me this because all night people told me they knew I was tough or sensible because I had on real cowgirl boots.  No one ever appreciates my hillbilly fashion so I was grateful for their appreciation of my good taste in boots.

We stayed at the Mohawk pretty late and then it was time to go.  The jukebox was over loaded and we weren’t hearing any songs we wanted to hear so we knew it was time to call it a night. 

We had a great weekend in Graeagle and we gave Emily one heck of a bachelorette party.

Emily and Roy got married-up 8-6-11 - Congrats to the newlyweds!

Happy 29th Birthday to me! ~ It's Official!

We woke up in our comfy nice hotel rooms, got ready, had the free continental breakfast, Nick got to open his belated birthday present from my family, and then it was back to the lake. 

It was really nice to have the boat tied to the dock so when we got there we could just jump in and go, no launching, no messing with the trailer, none of that mess.  It is so much more relaxing when the boat is already in the water, this is one of the many things I love about renting dock space at the Bullards Bar Marina.

Our first task of the day was to feed the fish at the marina.  For a donation you can get a bag of fish food at the marina store.  Bullards Bar is famous for the big carp.  The fish are huge!  Bigger than a small pug dog I saw on the dock, I think the carp would eat him for dinner if they had the chance. 

So we fed the fish and enjoyed some time at the marina.  Then it was off for more boating.  Because we were only staying half day we didn’t set up a beach camp, we just packed a little lighter and everyone stayed on the boat.  It was so fun to share boating with my family and friends.  We are really lucky, not everyone gets to enjoy these types of memories. 

The kids did some tubing, they even took Grandma Jennifer along for the ride. 

Jennifer, Bob, Me, Brandon, Jana, Nick and Matty

We dropped everyone off at the dock early in the afternoon because they needed to be home at a certain time and I stayed at the lake with my parents for a few more hours.  It was great because I got to wakeboard more and I got to go see the waterfall on the river channel.  There wasn’t one thing that I missed on this trip, everything I wanted to do I got to do.  It was a great trip, I couldn’t ask for anything better for my 29^th birthday. 

Look closely and you can see the waterfall

Reflections on turning 29…

As I headed into my 29^th year I made a vow to live life to the fullest this year.  I plan on having a lot of fun and probably doing some stupid things.  This is my plan because it is the last year I can blame my stupidity on being in my twenties and not knowing any better. 

I think 29 is going to be a fabulous year for me, I’ve just got a feeling.  I am not quite a kid anymore but I also don’t feel quite like an adult.  I know I am wiser than I was and every day I learn something new and grow as a person.

So salute to turning 29, may it be my best year yet!

Birthday Weekend at Bullards Bar ~ Mission Accomplished

Bullards Bar Reservoir

I have always wanted to take a trip to Bullards Bar lake for my birthday.  You would think that if you have a boat and some extra cash it wouldn’t be hard to get people together for a weekend at the lake, but believe me, it isn’t easy to get people to commit and to make plans, people are just so busy these days.    

For several years I tried to spend my birthday at Bullards Bar, this year I finally got my wish to come true.  The birthday festivities continued on Saturday when I got up early to go to Bullards Bar Reservoir, my favorite lake.  I met my parents at their house, got the boat all hooked up and ready to go, and then we went to meet our family friends and my Godsons so we could head out to the lake.  The drive took us about two and a half hours on some seriously curvy roads to get there but it was worth the white knuckle driving because Bullards Bar is such a magnificent place. 

We arrived at Bullards Bar around 11am.  The lake was about 99% full and the water temperature was in the low 70s, it was beautiful!  We had an easy time launching the boat at the marina and checking in to rent our dock space for the night.  Then we were off to enjoy some boating and picnic time.

Because the water was so high there was very limited beach.  There were 10 of us in the group so we needed to find a spot so we could take turns having half the group hang out on shore and the other half could hang out in the boat.  As we were cruising around looking for a good spot Jennifer noticed a lonely picnic table near the other boat ramp.  It looked like the perfect spot!  I almost drove right by and didn’t stop so it was a good thing she saw it and we stopped to check it out because it was the perfect beach camp.  We anchored and tethered the boat to a tree on shore so we could stop and have our lunch there.  Did I mention it was the perfect spot!?!  The view of the lake was gorgeous and we could watch other boats go by.  The picnic table was a great spot to sit and eat while we enjoyed the scenery and spending time together. 

After lunch we took the kids out to do some tubing and for the grownups to do some wakeboarding.  I know I am officially getting old because I enjoy towing my Godsons on the tube as much as I enjoy driving for wakeboarders. 

I had an amazing day at the lake and I was so happy to get my birthday wish of spending the weekend at Bullards Bar.  I love my boat but I don’t get to use it as much as I would like so spending a weekend at the lake is a really big treat for me. 

After spending the day at the lake we went back to the marina where we tied the boat to the dock for the night, and then we were off to our hotel in Grass Valley.  It was a real luxury to stay in a hotel because it meant I didn’t have to pack all my camping gear, thanks mom and dad for encouraging us to stay in a hotel and paying for my trip as part of my birthday gift. 

Nick and Matty

Jana and Brandon

After we checked in at the hotel we walked down the street to Margaritas, a nice little Mexican restaurant.  The food was good, and the margaritas were even better.  I had a great day at the lake and dinner with my family and my extended family (that isn’t family by blood, but they are as close as family so I consider them my family), Bob, Jennifer, Jana, Brandon, and my Godsons Matty and Nick.

Once we were done with dinner, they spoiled me with a few gifts and then we all headed back to the hotel to go to bed since we were exhausted.  It was a great day!       

Happy Birthday to ME!

I had the BEST birthday this year.  My official birthday was on Sunday but the celebrating started on Friday because I have some pretty awesome friends. 

Friday night I went to a dinner party with my friends and then Saturday and Sunday I went boating at my favorite lake, which I will write about in my next post.  My birthday didn’t start out as a great birthday but by the time all was said and done I was pretty happy to be celebrating 29 and feeling extremely blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.

At the beginning of my birthday week I was feeling a little down and out of sorts because I dreaded turning 29.  29…great…just another year closer to 30!  I was a little bit of a Debbie Downer because every year that I get older I can’t help but feel I haven’t accomplished the things I wanted to accomplish by the time I am 30, and it seems as I get older the years go by faster.  I always thought I would be married and have kids by the time I was 30 and every year I realize those dreams won’t happen, at least not on the timeline I was hoping they would happen.  I know someday I will get married and have kids, but right now I have the suspicion God is trying to teach me the lesson that you can’t plan everything in life especially  not the most important things like falling in love and creating life, you live and life happens is the lesson.  I know that this is incredibly lame to think this way and I am being petty worrying that I can’t have it all by 30 but it is how I was feeling the week of my 29^th birthday, (don't worry I got over these feelings and now I am enjoying my 29th year).  Luckily I have a good friend named Cassandra that wouldn’t let me wallow in my lame pity party.  So she helped me kick off my birthday weekend with a Friday night birthday bash. 

Me, Cassandra and JW at Pinocchio's Restaurant



It all started earlier in the week when Cassandra contacted me and asked if she could get some of our friends together for dinner on Friday night to celebrate my birthday.  I was relieved that my friends wanted to celebrate and distract me from thinking about how close I am getting to 30.  So Cassandra put together a fantastic birthday dinner at Pinocchio’s, one of my favorite restaurants, with about 11 of our friends.  We started dinner off with mojitos and then we had a great meal.  I had the yummy pesto lasagna which I highly recommend at Pinocchio's.  The waitress sat 11 of us in a booth that comfortably seats 8 so it was a birthday dinner spent with close friends, literally! 

I can’t go on and write anything else about my birthday until I first tell you about my friends Cassandra and JW.  JW and I have been friends since middle school and I was lucky enough that he married Cassandra who is now one of my dearest friends.  They are two of the most wonderful people in the world, no joke!  Listen to how thoughtful they are.  First Cassandra plans this great birthday dinner for me, then she went on a mission to find the wine I liked from a girls night at "Dinner and a Movie" we had a month or two ago.  She couldn’t find the special wine, but I was so flattered that she even remembered I liked it, and she took her time to go on a hunt to find it.  That was so thoughtful I was blown away.  But it gets better, she also baked me cupcakes for my birthday.  JW contacted my brother to find out what my favorite kind of cake was so Cassandra could bake me cupcakes, of course my brother didn’t know, but what amazing friends to try so hard and put so much effort into doing something nice for me.  The cupcakes were amazing and so was my birthday dinner that was their treat!  I don’t know how I became so blessed, but I am thankful every single day to have such great friends.

Me and my friends Jimmy and Justin. 
We've all been friends for at least a decade.

JW, Cassandra, Me and Emily

After dinner we moved the party to a bar called St. James Infirmary.  I got to have my favorite drinks there, the Bellini and the Holly Go Lightly, both have champagne in them and are fruity and girly, everything I needed to celebrate turning 29 with class and style. 

After we had a few drinks Cassandra, JW, and our friend Emily and I went to the next bar.  We moved to have our last drink of the night at the Chocolate Bar.  It was so nice to celebrate with some of my closest friends, it really meant a lot to me.  My self-imposed curfew that night was midnight since I had to leave town early the next morning, so we had our last drink and then Cassandra and JW took me home so I wouldn’t turn into a pumpkin.

It was a great start to a fantastic birthday weekend! 

Pyramid Lake and Dad’s Birthday – Happy Independence Day!

Got my boat out for the first time this year on July 2^nd.  We had snow Memorial Day weekend so the weather hasn’t cooperated enough for me to start my boating season until now. 

I went to Pyramid Lake on Saturday 7/2 with some of my friends that I grew up with.  I had a great time and it was really nice to catch up with everyone.  My boat ran like a dream so I was also pretty happy and had a great day at the lake with friends.   Derek took this picture with his cell phone.

And the last and best part of the weekend was celebrating my dad’s birthday.  Monday, which also happened to be Independence Day, we celebrated my father’s birthday and took him to the Steakhouse at The Nugget.  We had a very nice family dinner.

Adventure in the NV Outback – Day 4

This was my least favorite day of the trip because it was a lot of driving and back to life, responsibility and reality in Reno. 

We hit the road early.  We were on a mission today to see the Shoe Tree that had been recently cut down.  The Shoe Tree was a giant cottonwood tree that was filled with hanging shoes.  The legend is that the Shoe Tree was born when a couple of newlyweds got in an argument, during the argument one of them tossed the other's shoes into the tree.  When they made up they tossed the other person's shoes in the tree as well and people have been tossing shoes ever since.  We finally found the tree right before we reached Middlegate.  It was sad to see the big tree cut down but there were several nice memorials dedicated to the tree.  The other cottonwoods next to the downed tree have become the new shoe trees so the tradition will live on.  It was still sad to see such a big old beautiful tree was cut down by some jackass, hopefully Karma will give the person, or people, that cut down this beautiful tree what they deserve. 

Pouring some water out in honor of the Shoe Tree.

We had a good breakfast in Middlegate and then got back on the road heading to Fallon.  At this point we had stamped Austin, Eureka and Ely in our Hwy 50 Survival Guide so all we needed that day was Fallon and Fernley to complete our mission.  We arrived in Fallon and got our stamp at the first gas station we saw, then we decided to go find Bridget’s family home and explore her family roots.  Bridget’s family used to own a farm in Fallon.  They sold the farm to Model Dairy and the land has since been subdivided for more houses.  The funny thing about most Nevada towns is that you can find an old farm house in the middle of town and it is surrounded by newer homes, Bridget’s family farm was just like that.  We saw the old farm house and we could see that the neighborhood grew up around the old house.   After we drove by the house we were on our way to Fernley.  We got our last stamp at the Wigwam in Fernley.  We survived the loneliest road in America and we were on our way home to Reno.  

I had a great trip with two of my best friends, it was a fantastic Memorial Day weekend.  I am proud I survived the Hwy 50 challenge and I think I may have met some of the friendliest Nevadans on the loneliest road in America.

 

Thanks Dad for letting me borrow the Ford Explorer! 
50 Miles of Dirt Road + 1 Flat Tire + 1 Blizzard + 4 Days of Driving = Built Ford Tough