RV Packed, Almost On the Road

If you see us on the road, honk
Originally uploaded by marytsao.

We got to El Monte RV in Oakland this morning at the stroke of 8, surprised to see one group of burners had beaten us there. We watched the requisite movie about taking care of our temporary home, then got through the paperwork and were presented with the keys to our beauty.

The process took only an hour and was a great start to our adventure since the RV place is Burning Man-friendly and has pictures and Burning Man memorabilia up all over. Not to mention that four or five groups of people clearly on their way to the Playa came in shortly after us. Woo hoo! I heard at least one guy on the phone to Home Depot, trying to find 5-gallon water jugs.

We brought our baby home and spent about three hours loading her up. She's got lots of storage space, both inside and in a cargo hold. We were able to easily fit all of our stuff in appropriate places. On the advice of fellow campers, I taped painter's plastic down on the floors and covered it with old throw rugs (saved for just this purpose!) When we get to the Playa, we'll cover all the chairs with old sheets. These things should help with clean up.

The RV has one main sleeping section and another sleeping area over the cab. Both have the equivalent of full-size mattresses. I made everything cozy and as much like home as possible. This RV will be our little retreat from the sometimes (okay always) crazy world of Black Rock City.

Two awesome things the RV has: a good-sized refrigerator and a mirrored closet door. Both of these things will come in handy at Burning Man.

Now we're relaxing and about to go to dinner. Tonight I'll cook some food that we'll bring with us to the Playa -- taco meat, ham-n-macaroni salad, and spinach dip. I'm doing some last minute laundry and straightening up the house. I am imagining it will be nice to come home to a clean house.

We're hitting the road at 4 AM. This is my last blog post before Burning Man. See you on the Playa!