What Was New: January 28, 2001Nevada, Sierra, Death Valley(Gregory Melle's Web Diary / Blog)
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I had a long Christmas break at the end of December. I drove through the deserts of Nevada and Southern California. It certainly has been a strange year. I spent time in some of the most crowded parts of Asia. I viewed the best of world culture and art. And finally, in my recent travels, I visited the vast open wastelands of American culture and scenery...
I started the Christmas break with a few days in the Carson City, Reno
and Virginia City area. The weather was cool and unusually dry.
There was only the briefest dash of snow on the upper slopes. In Carson
City I saw the old and new Nevada Legislature Buildings. To remind one
that this is Nevada there is Jack's Saloon directly across the street.
Virginia City was slow on the morning of Christmas eve... slow like it has been since the Comstock mine closed and the Cartwright Family moved to the coast.
I drove south through the vast open landscape of Western Nevada. It is quite amazing how there can be so few people in the fastest growing American state. Unlike lightly populated parts of Canada, here one finds few trees, few animals and very few scars of human existence. Even mines and military bases seem to blend into the background.
I was impressed with Death Valley's grandeur. Though one might speculate what a real estate agent could do with a more scenic name and a few hundred foot rise in elevation.
These two photos are at Badwater. This is lowest land elevation in the Western Hemisphere. The mountains rise from the minus 280 foot depression to heights of more than 11,000 foot.
In the midst of those unappreciated wonders the holiday crowds packed the casinos and streets of Vegas and Laughlin, Nevada.
In Las Vegas I only stayed long enough to take a slow drive up and down The Strip. Dense traffic crawled so slow that I was able to take photos from my car window. Good thing that I missed hitting the Lamborghini in front when it braked for the Statue of Liberty! While I will have to visit again, I think that good fake copies of world architecture are still fakes.
I spent a day in Palm Springs and drove back to Northern California. Just enough time was left in the year for another apartment rental application and a couple days in Sacramento. Why is it always foggy there?
The apartment came through and I have been getting settled after yet another move within Fremont. (When will I stop?) I have signed up for another six months of working and living here.
| Earlier Page - December 2000 | Later Page - March 2001 |
