{"id":4367,"date":"2022-05-27T08:38:50","date_gmt":"2022-05-27T15:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/janetalcorn.com\/staging\/1364\/?p=4367"},"modified":"2022-05-27T08:38:50","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T15:38:50","slug":"uranium-springs-postapocalyptic-town-and-pre-enactment-site-plus-the-usual-news-and-memes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/janetalcorn.com\/staging\/1364\/2022\/05\/27\/uranium-springs-postapocalyptic-town-and-pre-enactment-site-plus-the-usual-news-and-memes\/","title":{"rendered":"Uranium Springs postapocalyptic town and pre-enactment site (plus the usual news and memes)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this week’s update, we’re going to visit Uranium Springs, a postapocalyptic town outside Holbrook, Arizona. Uranium Springs is the site of the annual Detonation<\/a> festival, a postapocalyptic “pre-enactment” (read: cosplay) event. Long-Suffering Husband attends every year, along with a few hundred other Mad Max maniacs who are much more optimistic about the postapocalyptic aesthetic than I am. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Attendees at Detonation, and its larger, better-known cousin, Wasteland Weekend<\/a>, make the woman on the left look drab. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m kind of fascinated by the whole postapocalyptic pre-enactment thing, and I love a good postapocalyptic story. I even wrote one: “Collateral Damage,” first-place winner in the Arizona Authors Association 2020 literary contest (learn more here<\/a> and here<\/a>). And I have a soft spot for Uranium Springs Detonation, because it’s the reason I get the house to myself for a few days every year \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But before we get to our virtual visit to Mad Max Land: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share<\/a>, hosted by Natalie the Explorer<\/a>! Grab a drink, pull up a seat, and let’s get this party started. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The postapocalyptic town of Uranium Springs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Uranium Springs is on private land outside Holbrook, AZ, a small desert town best known as the place you stay when you visit Petrified Forest National Park<\/a>. Accessing the site requires a 45-minute drive on a dicey dirt road. I’ve never attended Detonation, because while I like camping, I don’t like camping in an uncomfortable costume and makeup with no running water, a homemade pit toilet, no showers, high winds laced with desert grit, and 300 drunk people dressed like extras in the latest Mad Max movie. My husband’s pre-enactor friends think I’m missing out. I’m entirely OK with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, while I’ve avoided the event like an apocalypse-inducing plague, I’ve been out to the site a few times for informal meetups with my husband’s friends. It definitely has a Mad-Max-meets-Waterworld-Without-the-Water vibe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Long-Suffering Husband at the entrance to the “town” of Uranium Springs, 2017 March<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The postapocalyptic town of Uranium Springs, 2017 March<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another view of Uranium Springs, 2017 March<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Old car, either decoration or bonfire fodder (they burn a car every year)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A “hovel” built by one of the regulars.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The official greeting at Uranium Springs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The land near just outside the grounds is fascinating, with interesting landforms and colors typical of Arizona’s Painted Desert<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n