Day one.
I hit the highway to the venue with nine miles to go at 12:15, and at about ten miles per hour or less called it good at 3 PM. Not bad.
First order of business was to help Jim, a first-timer, set up his tent. In the wind. With near-zero visibility because of the dust. Jim was very creative in packing his Lexus, but the stuff he brought won’t survive the week.
Day two.
The rain woke me at 3 AM. 5 vehicles were parked at my front door, but no sign of life. At 6 AM they stopped people from entering the gate because the playa was turning to mud. At 10 the backup on the highway was back to the freeway (80 miles or so) and they began turning everyone back to Reno. Burning Man was officially closed, no vehicles could move in the mud, tens of thousands of people were turned away from the area.
My new campmates ventured out to the potties, and I passed out plastic grocery bags for their shoes so the mud doesn’t stick, which makes walking almost impossible. They like me for that one.
The sun came out and the playa is drying, but for several hours this morning there were no vehicles moving, so no noise or dust. A very special moment to go down in history. And then a day with no dust. Another very remarkable event.