tom

Life at VW BusCamp

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BusCamp is made up lotsa folk including many veteran Burners who can make the trip every year. I soon met up with Bill and Merileu – a couple from Oregon that I met on my 2007 BurningMan Trip. They went out of their way both this year and 2007 to welcome me and it was very nice to see them again. I also caught up with Gary – who is the Bus Camp commissioner and always leads the yearly organization of the camp. BusCamp was already pretty well laid out by the first day and included a central area with a small bar lounge and a place to host BusZilla – a VW art car that was constructed by Bus Camper Heather and a dedicated crew of folks.



flickered momentarily…….

Along the beginning of the week – I got to meet more of the Buscamp folk as they arrived as well as more veterans that I managed to miss in 2007. A buscamp couple Paige and Kurt were married on Tuesday evening at BurningMan and the wedding party all rode in Walter – the world’s largest VW bus. Walter was HOT !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a beautiful night for a wedding and there was a fantastic sunset i tried to catch.

During the week I brought out the Dutch oven a couple of mornings to share with campmates. It was always interesting to get up in the morning to make cobbler and see BusCamp quietly asleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several ( many?) folk at VW BusCamp have involved with “Hooping” – which as it implies – involves Hula Hoops. I really did not know much about Hooping – but I have a new respect for it now and what a great work out and dexterity activity it can be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course – an evening of watching folks use Hula Hoops that were on fire – certainly added to visual fascination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I managed to catch a lot of great pics with the new Ricoh on long exposure.

 

More Fire Spinning images on Flicker here

 

Later that week – Joel, Ramona, Matt and I had some more fun with the camera and some glow sticks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More glowstick images on Flicker here

Other activities at BusCamp during the week included a Tye-Dye workshop hosted by Annie and Silkscreening with Joel and Heather. All fun and really brought out the folks at camp and beyond. Later in the week – the camp hosted a Red party potluck as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A great camp and group of folks to hang with at Burning Man and the constant VW tech talk is all FREE!

More information on Walter the Worlds largest VW bus here

More information on VW Bus Camp here


More information on Buszilla here

A very BurningMan evening…..

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a clip from my blog you can find here –>   Mot’s blog

A very Burning Man evening

A early week snafu ended up cancelling some evening plans for me and left me in a funk for the evening. ( And let me tell ya – I know how to Stew..) But in a odd twist – my funk was crashed by strangers who managed to pull me out for a very fun – very Burning Man / very not Tom evening.

It began basically out on Center Playa while I took sunset pics from a great temple. I was trying to put the brakes on my SNIT FLYWHEEL** ( which was hitting about 14,000 rpm) by distracting myself.

**- You may find that phrase strange unless you are genetically related to me – **

After a couple of conversations with very nice folks and a stop back at camp – I headed back towards the playa for some evening pictures and an attempt to walk off my funk.

But it was not meant to be!

2 strangers promptly stopped their 4 person bike and asked me to get on and then evening promptly took another direction. A wonderful Burning Man kind of experience to suddenly team up with people you have just met to share the evening touring the night sights of the playa.

We stopped by a neat camp called Big Pink Heart and had our pic taken. The photographer Aaron Dressin had a neat set up that reflected in the eyes of the subject if you look carefully. I ended up at a camp all the way across the playa drinking rum(?) and hanging with some very funny people. It was a fun end to the night.

I still contemplate the evening for some reason.

I note how I can shut myself off when in such a bad mood – yet a random act can so quickly pull me out

I think i also focus on how startled I get to have 2 straight guys just want to be buds. The whole straight guy ” you’re gay??” awkwardness thing is too ingrained on my experience. I expect it always and on the rare occasion it does not happen… I just get spooked. I think you can almost see it in the picture. ( Which I love BTW) I have spent a lot of time since then thinking how/if this jades my daily life or whether BurningMan was the exception.

How to keep the windows open despite the rain?