Day 11: Twas the Night before Burning Man.

Twas the night before Burning Man, when all through the hotel

All the burners were a-stirring, or driving quickly here to some deadmou5

There drugs were packed up in backpacks with care

In hopes that Gate Checkers wouldn't look closely or care

Young couples were off spooning but worried  in bed

While jealous visions of their partner doing orgies bounced around in their heads

And Big Mamma in only her stilettos and I in my assless chaps

Had just finished a painful round of "Yes Mistress, I should of packed those wet naps"

When down the hotel  hall there arose such a clatter

It seemed some half-naked girls had been locked out, dressed as Mad Hatters!

Away to my suitcase I pulled out my lash

And I knew my Burning Man had begun as they bent over in-a-flash 

Day 10: To Infinity and Beyond!

So after turning right at the Garden of the Gods we traveled along the "scenic byway" towards Reno. For those following in our path simply go up and up and up till your GPS does some sort of confusing mating dance with the satellites it's now so close to. Then keep heading west till trickle down economics happens and Veil's opulence is collected by the string of thrift stores. Drive through the most beautiful canyon and start of the Colorado River. Make sure you pull off the road for a quick stop at No Name stop (which has really nice bathrooms for you know not having a name and all). Then make sure to stop at the Magic Fair, in the middle of nowhere, where they have enough corn dogs for all now. Carful not to blink or you will miss it. 

Then you would enter into first part of Utah were you are neither welcome nor unwelcome and make sure to take in the local color. If you find yourself up for an adventure I would recommend The Trail Through Time, we didn't stop there as far as we remember but time travel and paradoxes and all are tricky business and we were on a schedule. Still we made some time to be welcomed by Utah, finally. We would of stayed and chatted but no one seemed to be home for the next 150 miles. It's ok though because when there were signs of life they had Arby's and a cool messenger bag that I bought. Onward, following our path you might think that you found some cool giant junkyard worth exploring but maybe you too will be scared off by vagrant types who you only realized later were probably the owners. If you are lucky by this point it is sunset and you can find a nice scenic point to climb up and spin some props and take in the view of the Mesa. Be careful not to let the wind catch them where they might fall off the cliff face because that would be embarrassing. 

Off into the night...perhaps at this point your fellow travel might mistake you for a drum stick and try to feed you soy sauce or garlic. DON'T PANIC! Just calmly and politely refuse and suggest a nice bag of pop corn and maybe stop and stretch your legs in a nice game of hide in seek or tag. After all in a couple hours you are going to be at Delta UT and after that it's 500 miles of good body dumping grounds (thank you CSI) and its best to review some basic concepts of Food verses Friend. If your companion is only grunting and making other non-verbal communication efforts at this point and still seems peckish I suggest maybe using a set of hastily made flashcards. 

Tyler = Friend not Food. 

Food = Drum Stick. 

Tyler /= A Drum Stick

Finally, Delta the last way station before Reno and Circus Circus where we will be staying our finally night before the Playa. Careful coming this way that you don't mix up the Desert sign for Delta as one leads to the desert where you are not going and one leads to Delta where you are. Easy mistake I'm glad they were so clearly marked. As for hotels Igor the snagged tooth nice man at Budget Motel runs a nice establishment and though at first glance you might think there are skulls of Igor's past guests mixed into the rock garden you would be as sorely mistaken as I. Easy enough mistake in the right light I think. I'm sure any ogre with such social graces as Igor would of put the bodies in the trash or cleaned his plate right up. 

So I'll post tomorrow one last time before I disappear into the Dust if I am not disappeared sooner in another fashion. 

Day 9: Back in the Rockies

We stayed last night at an old friends new house. Beautiful landscape and fresh air. Stopped in a gas station in Colorado comply abandoned ages ago and looking like aghast town. The barren stark reality of survival and when Nature becomes a tangible force you treat with respect as the wild creature She is. I don't know why but I find that welcoming but I've always been attracted to fierce woman with lots of personality and a bit of unpredictable way about them that adds a bit of danger. 

We have decided to stay off the beaten path and go through Route 50 through central Utah and all those canyons and weird landscapes. I'm excited as this is a part of the Rockies I've never explored before. I'll try and find a way to post the pictures I've been taking soon for anyone reading this. Wish us luck that one of isn't bitten by a rattler or fall in ravine somewhere.  

Day 8: Lord of the Flies and the Adventures of Harvey Dent

We finally found a not so reasonably priced hotel finally last minute when we could drive no longer in the middle of Nebraska somewhere.

7am, "bizzz....bizzzz." I feel a thing touch my ear. Then my hand. Then my finger. Then my cheek. Then my arm. 

Argh! I could take it no longer I swung, flailed, swatted and finally begged for sympathy. Alas The Lord of Flies hears no petitions of mercy. I had no choice but to wake up. Since then I swear the same fly has been chasing me. I HAVE PROOF! I'm not crazy (about this).  I don't know what I have done karmicly  to this fly in this or a past life but dude I'm sorry, time to let go and soon, or it will be "oh no not again" and neither of us are going to be happy - because you will probably be bird next and shit on my car every day. 

Day 7 or possibly 14: Images in th Clouds

Days seemed to have lengthened and life filled them twice full. It feels like a week or two since Wildfire and like I have been in the car with MK for a few days now. We have found our groove and have laughter and shared stories and listen to tunes with smiles on our faces. For an hour at sunset we founds shapes in the clouds over Iowa and pointed them out; angelic dolphins chasing flocks of birds, withes on brooms, batman symbols, crocodiles, pelicans, and more. 

The moon slides more towards its half way point in the sky as crunchy dubstep plays and I write my daily entry. When I can post it who knows. We have 500 miles till we need to decide to take a detour to Denver or push to Utah. We are thinking of driving though the night. We booked a room to rest in Reno for our last night. Circus Circus hotel seemed too fitting ;) 

Personally I just feel myself opening up and wings unfolding and heart and soul  finding there spots again in my life. I feel such perspective now to who I am and who I was being. I was letting myself be small and forgetting the best parts of me that are reawakening. I had a conversation and the end of Wildfire with a beautiful spinner who i admit I've become very aware of and intend on learning more about since she touched me so deeply and it certainly helps that she brings me a smile every time I see her and has one of the most fantastic energies  about her, well she told me she had experienced me dancing and described it to me in such beautiful and vivid language and how I lead with my chest out with my heart out with my self completely exposed and how beautiful that was.  I could see that she saw me the real me and she was so receptive. Touched me deeply because it touched her deeply. 

Made me realize I only have been showing the real me in dance and started me thinking about all the things that have happened to cage that passion from my waking life.  What was I doing and why. The hours and energy as I approach the Man seem to be stirring like a potion in me  brewing towards an awaking of sorts. It's all still fuzzy and I'm not sure what I'm making but anyone who has seem me cook knows that's often the case but good results are the norm in such situations. 

Day 6: On the Road to Better Places...

Mk picked me up this morning and I said goodbye to my car, hopefully not for good (given the neighborhood) if so I'm insured. Just need to make sure and make that payment online on Friday *ties string to finger - spins string on finger decides to just try and remember*  we had such a day talking and driving and towards the end getting very goofy with road fatigue. It feels comfortable and I'm glad we are on this journey together. I am also glad how sacred we each hold our respected journeys and it's clear we are two travelers together in this but each having our own perception and individual experience out of it all. Conversation comes easy and I hope my many stores that I love telling help entertain our path. The whole experience has been fortuitous with clear signs, small but noticed, saying fate has our back and will carry us on the wave to have the experiences we were meant to have. Surrender is the only thing we need do and just let it happen.  

Later today... Saw my step mother and sister for the first time in 6 years. My step mother is in hospice with stage four cancer in multiple areas including her brain. It's hard to say we are close yet it's hard to say we're not either. She is my family and I am glad I got to see her and say my goodbyes. She might not be here another week yet it's virtually certain she won't make it through the Holidays. I'll miss her but I'll be glad for her too. I grew up in death. Family- wise I lost tons of people and relatives, pets, grandparents all when I was young and it never really bothered me all that much. 

When I was a teen I was told I had 10x the chance of getting skin cancer as the average person and when I started loosing moles and developing white patches I never told anyone I just assumed cancer and emanate death so I sort of face mortality a bit young. Turned out white spots and such are signs that I have e type of immune system  that fights off cancer  get halo moles after. Cool beans! Too bad my tactical nuke immune system also decided to eat my brain with my Multiple Sclerosis. I've even got to joke around and help my step mother over the phone with antidotes  and advice for some brain damage symptoms I've had that she's now facing. 

Silver lining time lol. Tonight we both had a good laugh at how shot our memory is now and how it's so much less stress to not have to fight with anyone about who said what when you have no means of remembering. You just accept others stories and apologize and move on...oh wells... It does make it hard to justify your decisions to people though when you can't tell someone why you do or don't like someone. In fact its lead more and more to me just trusting my intuition and instincts. I live almost exclusively in the now and I am happier for it.

Day 5: Safe in Philly

August 21 still...

Ended up and changed plans from staying at the flow oasis tonight and crashed with some friends from Fahernhight Flow fest who happen to be seasoned spinners and burners and got some great advice overall about my future performing career to how to survive the Playa. Also decided that doing one night in Reno prior to The Burn will be a good idea so we get some sound sleep and shower time before leaving. Excitement is really starting to build. Tomorrow we pack everything into one car and hope it all fits and head out. Need to do about 12 hours a day to make it in time. Only issue left is that this place is not the best neighborhood to effectively be abandoning your vehicle for 30 days. Going to see if I can pull in a favor. *cross fingers*