What a wild, wet, and snowy weekend on the eastern side of the Sierra’s! Saturday’s photo was taken from McCoy Station at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area about five hours to the south. Although those of us on the high desert plains of Northwestern Nevada didn’t get snow, we certainly received cold rain.
Saturday was a wonderfully cozy day for two honeymooners. We started the day by going to Walmart to grab a few staples and take a gander at THE visitors. While most of the outsiders should have been on the road to Burning Man, weather-caused road closures forced them to stay put.
These days, our little town of 25,000 people struggles to find employees to run the few restaurants we have. Now that weekend visitors were forced to stay, services were strained to the max.
Our local Walmart isn’t one of the best in the nation. More likely, it rates as one of the worst. Servicing our town and interstate travelers, shelves are often missing things that other Walmart’s offer. It has trouble competing with Tesla and Panasonic who pay twice as much per hour while offering transportation to work.
Add thousands of stranded travelers to any little town and you have a real mess. Due to the heavy crowds, every single check-out stand was open and servicing customers. On a normal day, here on the high desert plains, we have one human checker on the tobacco aisle. Just one.
Burningman.org and Burning Man radio kept everyone informed about road and traffic information. Everyone is being told to stay put wherever they find themselves until the gates are open. When that might happen is anyone’s guess, but no one wants a repeat of last year.
The ways people choose to spend the week in the desert is always interesting. There are those with lots of money that have million dollar RV’s with custom kitchens, bathrooms, and internet connections. Then, some choose a more practical approach with very old rigs that have visited the playa on many occasions. There are those that find U-Haul trucks perfect for their needs. Some just camp from their cars.
When talking about all the choices, HHH assured me that he could make the U-Haul idea work just fine. Good to know. I’m a little more high maintenance than that should the opportunity arise some day.
We’re all praying for clear skies so these folks can find their way to the playa. Behind the locked gates until September 2, there’ll be a collective sigh of relief while restocking the shelves. Burning Man 2024 will be in the history books before we know it.
This week, the weather should return to summer normal. The highs will return to the 90’s. With shorter days, evenings will return to pleasant temps while the gardens of Winterpast begin to wind down for their long winter’s sleep.
Whatever you do today, you might tune in to find out what’s happening on the playa. Today, I learned there are some providing evening movies, popcorn, and candy bars for the masses. Let’s hope the rain dries away quickly so the visitors can be safe.
More tomorrow.