Butler II Fire: "Adventures" in Green Valley

The Butler II fire started Friday afternoon, Sep 14. I was driving down to Heather and Rob's when I noticed at least 20 emergency vehicles passing me on Hwy 18 near Lake Arrowhead. I called Jarod to see if he could find out anything. Neither of us expected to be evacuated the next morning!

These pictures where taken when we were allowed to return on Monday. Oddly, when we were evacuated, we couldn't see the fire or smoke, as it plumed tall on the ridge behind us. But, when we returned we could see it burning about a mile away from the lake. We were allowed to return at that point because the fire was somewhat contained. It was burning out of control when we were evacuated. (which makes it scarier to me because we couldn't see it or smell it at the point when it was most threatening.)


Helicopters flew over all day Mon and Tues, filling up the huge buckets from our tiny lake. The lake's water level was noticeably lower afterward.
It's pretty exciting to see the helicopters dip down, practically touching the water, as they refill. It's easy to see was a dangerous job these guys have. We could also see the fire planes flying right into the smoke, but we don't have good pics.

Burning Man: The Open Playa

The dry lake bed where Burning Man takes place is called the "playa" and many art intallations are placed in the open, more desolate areas of the playa, outside the "city" where people are camped.

The Oil Derrick installation was the one that exploded (shown in an earlier post). Here you can see it from different angles. The statues beneath it are worshipping it in various ways. I think they look especially life-like from a distance.


I love riding around in the middle of a dust storm and stumbling upon an exit door. We were caught in a huge dust/rain storm when we were out on this bike ride.
The theme this year was "The Green Man" so much of the art was made of recyclables. I think this whale skeleton was made of recycled plastics.

Our Burning Man Camp: Pandemonium by Synaesthesia

I know Burning Man doesn't fit into the Green Valley Lake theme of this blog, but it's something that we hold dear and often don't get to share with all the friends and family. Here are a few pics:

This is Camp Synaesthesia's 30ft. geo-dome...brought out for the first time since 2002. It serves as the DJing and dance area at night, but during the day we had poi, massage and staff workshops which were very well attended. Our friend Anna made our sign, "Pandemonium"; all the decorations made the inside look like flowered forest. It was awesome.
Rob made this illuminated Pan light to set the mood.An artistic perspective (some might just say "blurry") of the turntables lit with dragonflies. Jenn and Heather made costumes for everyone in camp and we wore them to the burn. We had a choreographed dance we performed in them earlier in the week. We looked freaky, though pretty cool, in these costumes. People took pictures of us like we were an oddity. That's saying something given the general freak factor at Burning Man.
Mike and Steve's mom, Arlene, joined us this year and she was a trooper. It was a joy to have her there!

We still have to get pictures from people in our camp, as once you get to Burning Man it's hard to remember to take pictures. It happens every year!

Burning Man Craziness/Oil Derrick Explosion

More pics about our adventures at Burning Man to follow, but here is some footage of one of the most incredible things I've ever ever seen:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=G_mWRIY45Yk