Happy Burn!

Soooooo.... Burning Man was a whirlwind experience. Some personal highlights:

• The best hugs ever
• Joining a camp full of wonderful people and hosting fun events
• Beard spa
• Scotch and cigar night
• Life-sized hungry hungry hippos
• Late night grilled cheese
• Lavender massage
• Yoga and meditation
• Mini golf
• Fruit tasting, bourbon tasting, craft beer tasting
• Lots of booty spanking
• Cattle prodder to the butt cheek for a shot
• So many interactive art structures
• Riding random art cars to random destinations
• Exploring random camps and meeting tons of interesting people
• Dancing pretty much all the time
• 3 all-nighters to watch the sunrises (2 of them back-to-back)
• Gifting things and receiving gifts
• Getting lost during dust storms
• Bawling my eyes out inside the temple
• Watching the man and the temple burn

It was such a unique experience that I can only say that everyone should consider going at some point in their life. Here's a few more of my favorite photos in an effort to show you a fraction of what goes down throughout the week.

Several times we walked around the streets picking up trash and spraying "windex" into people's mouths (vodka and blue juice). Great way to explore the neighborhood and meet new people.

The playa featured some of the most impressive and beautiful art I've ever seen. One of my personal favorites was this massive whale constructed out of metal and stained glass. The lights inside played different effects and was complimented by peaceful whale noises.

Late night roller skating to 70's disco? Yep, they had it. Only took one spill after getting cocky.

Several times throughout the week we hosted a "Big Air Big Flair" event. The bike jump we brought was the cause of at least 50 faceplants into the dirt. After being reluctantly coerced by Sebastian and his megaphone, this girl below proceeded to hit the jump, faceplant and break her elbow. Her cast and sling must have provided a great story for the rest of the week. 

Decent skatepark for those who want to shred.

Another beautiful art sculpture.

Our blind fruit tasting was a massive hit. Whodathunk fresh fruit could taste so good in a harsh desert environment? 

Our craft beer tasting was also a huge hit. Our camp brewers did an awesome job brewing up 20 gallons for the event. 

The big man on campus this year was definitely the Mayan Warrior car. At over $2 million ($1 mil for the sound system alone), it dominated the playa and drew the biggest crowds all week. Lots of fun dancing in front of this beast.

Bourbon bacon booty event. Bourbon tasting with a lecture on the history and styles of bourbon. Crisp bacon provided along with spankings during the post-lecture quiz. We cooked 30 pounds of bacon throughout the week.

Another big air contest with some generous judges.

Resident biker Corey made sure we kept the distance record in-house all week.

The man with a view of his intricate gear configuration in the back. The goal was for him to spin via humans turning a wheel at the base. Some issues were encountered and deemed unsafe for spinning. still fascinating engineering. 

One of the larger DJ stages on the playa.

Sunrise set by Tycho. It was so cool finding the art car via word-of-mouth and following it way out to the boundary of the city with 500 others then dancing until the sun came up.

The gang at sunrise. It got cold that night!

One of the art installations that was burned. 3 gorgeous wooden orcas that appeared to be jumping out of the playa. Notice the smoke tornado coming from the fire. Very common event. 

Shot of the massive crowd during our bourbon bacon booty event. Katie did an awesome job leading the event and spreading some bourbon knowledge.

Real life hungry hungry hippos. Super fun event!

Part of the crowd during burn night.

The firework show during the burn was better than most 4th of July shows I've seen.

Note to self: Don't stand downwind from the massive bonfire. Especially if you're wearing fur.

Insane amount of fire...

Eventually it burns down enough to the point where everyone rushes in to get closer.

3 MASSIVE lighthouses were also burned that night. 

People actually brought marshmallows to roast over the embers. Not sure why I didn't...

Climbing around on the gears from the man. The lack of crowd control was slightly unsettling yet very refreshing.

Biagio and Grady braving the dust storm that blew through around 3 in the morning.

Good morning.

The temple burn the next night had a very different vibe. No music and lots of silent reflection.

Long story short, I hope this isn't my last burn!