Teri and I are decompressing in a hotel room in Reno before we head back to Michigan on a red-eye flight. We are exhausted, but continue to reminisce and ruminate over our adventures. Getting there was filled with nervous energy and anxiety, but leaving was filled with unexpected emotion and a sadness that is still unexplainable.

Half the fun was sharing the trip with a friend in my general age group. She is a mere 63 with an old wise soul. My wait for her on Monday night turned into her nightmare flights, which meant I left on the Burner bus on Tuesday as planned. Meanwhile, she trooped through flight delays, a control tower fire in Chicago, hotel stays and a rebooking on a new airline with the crew timing out. Agony.

I hopped aboard the Burner bus at Reno airport and seated myself next to a Cuban ballerina virgin-burner with ambitions of medicine as a career. I made a friend in the airport from Chile with a Navy background and he and I were the last ones off the bus. I hopped aboard a shuttle to Camp “Nailed It”. @ 4:45 and Jove in the horseshoe-shaped city, surprising my daughter and hubby by arriving early. Their camp was in full party mode with their “Office Space” party. (Watch the movie!) Burners loved smashing the copy machine with a baseball bat, discussing their pieces of flair, which was the camp gift.

Our shiftpod was totally set up with our beds already made, the swamp cooler set up to cool our hot bodies and a “love box” filled with wipes, nasal spray, energy bars, flashlights, bike locks and necessities for our survival.

Twelve camp mates passed out love, hugs and adult beverages with ice before a great dinner. The huge shade structure, complete with bar, rugs, lights, chairs and inflatable furniture would turn out to be our favorite hangout for the week.

A three-wheeled bike with a large basket for the girl with the broken wrist was a lifesaver. I had to re-learn riding a tricycle in order to journey onto the playa with my daughter and hubby, and riding on alkaline dust in blowing conditions was a challenge. I was also blown away with the views and immense vast city that sprawled around me on that first night!

I slept fitfully that first night, alone on my air mattress shivering under three layers on my bed, dressed in long johns and a fur vest. The camp at the corner with their techno party until 4 a.m. never tempted me to dance, but the vibrations jostled my innards as I attempted to sleep in my new environment.