Is the American Dream a hoax? After trying all kinds of shameless spam techniques, I still couldn’t pin down a ride from the Reno airport to Burning Man. Would I even make it there at all? Finally on lucky Friday I just went for it, hopping a plane to Reno. Looking out across the desert I could see the contour of the festival from the air, a solid arc which looked like some crop circle glyph for UFOs. A single glint of light reflected out from within the event, casting up a tiny ray which flashed in my eyes. Upon landing, I prepared for a wait, as I still needed a miracle and was far from the site with much desert between. I was able to identify one person who I thought was going to the event. When he walked past I followed, stopping to sample from his conversations, soon learning of the Burners’ info booth at RNO. The attendant told me to find the girl with the angel wings in order to get a ride out to the event. I hurriedly found her at the carousel, and after hovering at the car rental booth as her arranged things, I joined an Egyptian and a Ukrainian for the journey to Black Rock City. We stocked up on booze and caffeine at the Food Mart, then leaving civilization behind for the Burn. The Ukrainian (from Kiev, pronounced ‘Keeve’) burned a CD with his laptop and we bumped the drum and bass mix while rolling through desert lands. I asked the Egyptian if it looked familar; he said his country was a bit flatter but this reminded him of Old West films. Eventually we reached the amazing sight of Pyramid Lake. This large body of fresh water is an extremely tempting swimming location, but this requires a permit from the Tribe. The Egyptian became super-excited, blaring the beats and yelling howls of joy in anticipation. The Ukrainian didn’t have a ticket yet, but a quick stop at the side of the road solved all that. Finally, we continued on to the gate and slowed as we moved over soft sand, driving into the dust bowl at around dusk.
