Black Rock Desert was filled with burners, but now they're all heading home.
Some are hitting the roadways while others are filling up the Reno-Tahoe International Airport.
Playa dust and dirt still cover suitcases. Some burners are still covered too, and they aren't too hard to pick out at the airport. After a week in the desert, most of them say they're ready to head home.
"Well, I'm flying standby," says Rashida Alisha, who is flying home to Houston. "So if a lot of people want to go to Houston today, I will not get on the plane. I will get bumped out because I'm still on a special standby ticket."
Actually getting to the airport was probably the biggest headache though. Alisha sat in her car for hours at the playa, and says people were actually falling asleep in line.
"The line wouldn't move and then we'd figure out that the person was sleeping so you just have to drive around them," she says.
Because those lines of cars were so long, one woman we talked to did not make it to the airport on time.
"I actually have to wait until tomorrow, I missed my flight so the next one I can jump in is tomorrow sometime," says Lilya Germanova.
And simply jumping on a flight isn't going to be easy. There are people from 35 different countries all trying to make it back home.
"We're expecting a busy couple of days here at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport with about 12,000 to 15,000 Burning Man attendees returning back from the playa," says Heidi Jared, spokesperson with the airport.
Nobody wants to be stuck at the airport, but the Burners say it's just part of the adventure.
"When you leave your house to go until probably I get home, that is the whole experience," says Alisha.
Written by Adam Rasmussen
