The trip to Black Rock City was a bit more eventful than last year. We were off to a slow start when I found Rescue 71 isn't as comfortable at my condo versus parked in the toasty warm fire station. As such, it took quite some doing to get it running from the cold morning air. Halfway there, we ran into a transmission issue, so we headed over to the auto parts store, where a delightful clerk helped us (and chatted up Rachel, RN about the nifty-ness of the number, time 11:11, and date 11-11).

Outside, we were waylaid by a fire memorabilia enthusiast, who delayed us for 45 minutes chatting about everything under the sun. As rudeness isn't in a duck's nature, I listened. And got him to (a) take a picture with me, and (b) put one of my bumper stickers on his car, though he's opposed to bumper stickers.

Getting to the gate was a longer delay than last year. Whilst waiting, a first-year Burner ("virgin") happened along looking for a ride, so Caroline rode in with us. A nice enough lass, I suppose. We also had a 20 minute delay once we left the highway to cover Rescue 71 with a parachute to comply with Burning Man rules of not having official-looking vehicles (and a bright red Fire Rescue violated three or four of the rules right off the bat).

At long last, we arrived at Black Rock City a little after 9:30pm on Wednesday, 30 August. The weather was quite pleasant, really; very little, if any wind, just dark. Finding a camp site was tricky, both given the late arrival and the darkness... so we ended up at 2:00 and Guess -- a far cry from our planned 5:28 and Brave.

Exodus right after the burn was a quick run back to the home nest: very little traffic, delay, and only two vehicle crashes/off the road events on the 85 or so miles from BRC back to Interstate 80 (not bad, trust me).

Howard, with Frank, just before he put my bumper sticker on his shiny new Saturn.	The backup waiting to get into Black Rock City was, all told, about a 45 minute experience.	Once up to the main gate, things moved along quickly (which we always appreciate!).