I started this blog in hopes that my trials and errors will benefit others on their journey of purchasing and refurbishing their first camping trailer. I purposely disabled Ads to provide the reader with a cleaner palette. All the items mentioned in my posts are things that I personally use and like and are NOT paid advertisers.
-- Happy Trails,
RB
What to do with kids over Winter Break if you're not a skier. When the days are short and the nights are l o n g. There are only so many hours I can play Mario Kart. And can I ask - when do you start to lose your ability to be good at video games as an adult? I could've sworn I was decent at Double Dash. But now I can't beat a six year old to save my life.
If you want to take a break from video games, get in your van or SUV and find a drive in. I prefer parking backwards and leaving the rear hatch open.
That's City Camper Boy's head peaking out of "Frosty."
Mr. City Camper and I were toasty in our red sleeping bag.
The best part about a Drive In is you can bring all the snacks you want! A bucket of chicken and biscuits from KFC and a bag of Pirate Booty and you're good to go.
A few years ago my mother in law took the entire family to Kauai. We had brunch on New Year's Day at the St. Regis Princeville over looking the ocean. I want to say it was Hanalei Beach. Ever since then, I resolved to start the new year on the beach. I have not been successful until this year. We went camping on Dec 31st. And woke up to this:
Well, we got rid of Moby because we just didn't use her enough. But then Molly fell into my lap. She was a regular passenger van that belonged to my mother in law. When she finally bought a smaller hybrid, I harassed her on a weekly basis about letting me have the Van. She finally obliged - either from pure exhaustion or because I am her favorite daughter in law. She only has one son, so do the math :)
At first I only took out the second row captain chairs and installed a small sleeping platform which utilized the rear bench seat as part of the sleeping area. After our road test to Oregon, I found it to be OK, not great.
So then I took out the rear bench and put in another sleeping platform. Now it can fit a 6' 1" adult plus a 5' person sleeping in a "L" formation comfortably.
I received a quote for $2500 for custom pullout sleeping platform. No doubt it would've been awesome but I kept finding things I would rather spend $2500 on. I decided to try my hand at putting together this rig with some bed legs from IKEA and 3/4" maple plywood. There is 11.5" of clearance, which gives me plenty of storage underneath. The cushions are from Cushion Pros, they can make any size you want. The prices are very reasonable. In fact, they were so much cheaper than some of the other places, I was nervous about quality. My worries were unfounded and their customer service is top notch.
Check out the blue box underneath. It is the Holy Grail of storage bins. The All Access Rubbermaid container comes in three sizes and has a clear door on the SIDE so you can access your stuff without having to pull out the box. Brilliant. I use the SMALL size. Which fits perfectly under the sleeping platform and can hold 4 sweaters, 4 pants, underwear and swim suits.
This collapsible wine flask from GSI ($10) is a must have. Not only can it store an entire bottle of wine using 50% less space, you can fly under the radar when consuming alcohol on the beach. Note that City Girl Camping does not condone illegal drinking *cough* *cough*.
Check out the side by side comparison:
With approximately 1.5 inches width left in the cooler, I was able to pack it without any problems.
My second space saving tip for the day is cashmere. This miracle material not only feels splendid next to your skin, it is the perfect temperature regulator. I can wear the thinnest sweater and it will keep me as warm (if not warmer) than any bulky cotton sweater. I promise you, it is worth every cent. Pro tip: Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus and Barney's all put their cashmere on sale starting three weeks prior to Xmas. I buy a whole year's worth of sweaters during this window.
Look at the difference between three cashmere sweaters vs. one cable cotton sweater.
**All photos belong to this site. Please give proper credit if redistributing.
Don't forget to scroll all the way down for the video**
The Man
Can you believe this structure gets burned at the end of each event?
I must admit, I was a bit taken aback by the mostly negative reaction I got from people when they found out I was going to Burning Man. The conversation would usually go something like this. "You're going to Burning Man?!?" Said like I had just announced I was moving to Afghanistan.
Me: "Umm, yeah...why?" Them: "Well, I heard that it's a bunch of stoners/hippies/group sex/druggies." Me: " You heard or you've been?" Them: "I've heard."
Let me put your mind at ease. At the heart of it, Burning Man is an Art Festival. Disorderly conduct and irresponsible behavior is highly discouraged. And since you shouldn't just believe everything you hear....you should research the actual Burning Man site to verify this information. The one that states, "The use and possession of illegal drugs are violations of the law." And "It is a State and local offense for anyone under 21 to consume alcoholic beverages or to pass themselves off as being of age. It is a violation of Pershing County law for minors to even possess alcoholic beverages."
Having said that, were there dudes wearing ass less chaps. Yes, a few. Were there some topless ladies? Indeed, there were. To be completely honest, I suspect there was some pot smoking too! Considering it's a city of 60,000, (albeit a temporary one) there's going to be a little bit of everything. But you don't have to go to Burning Man to experience heavy drinking, pot smoking and kinky sex. I guarantee at least a couple of your neighbors drink two to three bottles of wine every night. I'll bet that at least one of your neighbors is cruising the Casual Encounter section of Craig's List looking for some NSA sex. Hint: It's usually the super pious one. The point is, there's no need to drive 7+ hours to partake in "illicit" activities. All of those things exist right in your back yard.
In addition to some amazing art installations on the Playa, Burning Man has hundreds of official and unofficial theme camps (much like booths at a convention, if you will) These camps offer everything from AA meetings, (proof that not everyone there wants to party like a Rock Star) to a Genital Photo Booth (no, I did not.)
Here are just a tiny sample of what's available:
Unnecessarily High Fives
The Meaning of Life in Five Words. Yes, I opened it and I can't tell you.
I ordered a Warm and Fuzzy with a side of Pinch.
My neighbor made a Mobile S'more Station out of his bike. I asked him if he's ever done this in the real world. He did once and got fined $230. It took six cops to figure out what to put on the ticket.
They finally came up with "dispersing embers in public." Buzz kill!
While this is just a sliver of the kind of services available, I can tell you from first hand experience that the majority of them are rated PG. Don't get me wrong, there were also camps that offered adult beverages, spankings or a ride on the Orgasmator. You will find the kind of experience you seek. For the record, I did not ride the Orgasmator!
It's worth noting that Burning Man is a commerce free community. Which means services and goods are offered as gifts. Yes, these generous folks transported the necessary supplies all the way out to the desert to build and man their booths for free, all for your enjoyment. And they did it with a smile.
Another unique aspect about Burning Man is no cars are allowed. The exceptions are Rangers, Medical, Art Cars and Mutant Vehicles.
Art Cars are large, float like moving vehicles.
Some invite participants to hop on for a ride.
Mutant Vehicles are smaller personal vehicles
Bikes are the most common form of transportation.
Many of them are decked out!
This is one of my favorites. It's decorated like a donkey.
This one is decorated like a pirate ship.
Gas powered surf board. Yet another creative way to get around.
What makes the art extraordinary is that not only do each piece need to withstand the extreme conditions of the desert. It must look interesting during the day and evening - since the "gallery" is open to the public 24 hours a day. If you think about it, traditional art installations are done in a climate controlled environment. Where the artist can manipulate the lighting at will. Or do final tweaks in the comfort of a warehouse. When you remember that all necessary supplies, including electricity need to be transported to the desert in order to complete the final assembly. You truly appreciate the dedication and work it takes for each piece to come together.
The Man at Dusk.
The Man at Night
(see what I mean about consideration for staging an installation for day and night?)
It gets extremely windy and dusty. My eyes hurt so much the second day I had to visit the Medical Center to have them flushed. Much thanks to the nurses and doctors who volunteer their time at the Medical Camp. I was very impressed at how efficient and organised the clinic was.
There was so much to see and experience, I barely scratched the surface. Click here for more info about the art at Burning Man.
The "City" is formed like a Clock from 2:00 - 10:00. Your address is the time and a street name from A - J (or maybe it was K...) My address was 5:00 and Jasmine. The middle round area is the Playa where all the art is located. It would take 45-60 mins to walk across the Playa. That's where a bike comes in handy!
For more photos and clips, check out this short video
Thanks for checking in. Hopefully, this post offered another point of view to Burning Man.
Happy Trails,
RB
PS: Some people were confused about how I switched from driving up with Rosebud and ended up flying home. I traded with someone to use my trailer + drive it back to the Bay Area for a private plane ride home.
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