This is a tiny non-village along US 395, one of my favorite drives, alongside the Eastern Sierras not far from Topaz Lake. I'm not real anxious to drop further south, or out of the high desert, but a weather change this weekend offers a possible opportunity: a quick dash into Death Valley if the temperatures are favorable, less than 100 degrees. Probably won't happen. I did figure out my travel plans for the next few weeks. Go down to Pahrump,...
Lake Washoe is between Reno and Carson City, and the state park was recommended to me by a couple of friends. It is perfectly quiet, has large sites, no close neighbors, and very few people. The scent of sage dominates, which beats kerosene. During bird migrations this is a good place, but I might be a tad early. Never mind, watching nothing take off or land will be a novel relief. The air races met my expectations, and satisfied a long-time bug...
Bright and sunny after last evening's storm, but the wind was up all day, keeping things much more comfortable. This was the days of the finals, naming the winners and such. The big deal is the winner of the unlimited prop-driven race, though jets are always faster. Still, the unlimiteds can almost reach the speed of the jets, which makes them quite fun to watch. Right now there's an exodus going on, my neighbor Scott's friends are packing up to...
Nice storm going on right now, but it feels good. I didn't go onto the tarmac today because the sun is really brutal, and shade is almost non-existent at the air races. I've seen up close all the races and shows, and can spend the hot afternoon under my neighbor's awning snoozing. We do have a view of the action, though. My neighbors. Scott and his buddies have been doing the races for 35 years. They're packed into 2 spaces next to me, are...
More people came in today, so it looks like this weekend will be quite crowded. My favorite class is the Jets. These are like a typical business jet, all roughly the same power, speeds around 500 mph. The races are a bit quicker, and I get a good view from the top of my house. I paid the $30 today for a stroll through the pit area. I'm glad I didn't buy the week-long pass. You get a chance to see the performers up close, then a large array of...
The two classes I watched were Sport, a modern kit-built prop plane capable of 350 mph, and the WWII T-6 which are big, old, noisy, and not particularly fast. While I'm at the RV I can kinda watch the other classes, and I'm thinking the jets will be a favorite simply because of the speeds involved (500+). Close finishes are rare as these are weeding-out races, the fastest advance to the next heat. But I did get a taste of the fun when the last...
Today I watched actual races. Formula 1 and Biplanes are one-design, small aircraft that reach surprising speeds. Formula 1's might be home-built, limited to 100hp, the smallest Cessna engine. Speeds reach 250mph. The views of the racing are outstanding. I plan on watching 2 or 3 classes a day, so I can see every class race. Attendance seems much lower than what organizers were expecting. Not just viewers, the planes and pilots are short, enough...
Races begin tomorrow, but the pilots were using today to qualify and to make some practice runs. The vendors were getting set up, and there are a lot of them. I went over to check out the venue this morning, and noted that the sun needs to be considered when visiting. The entire system of race courses and viewing stands are beautifully engineered for the event, one can see everything that's going on. The first plane fired up at 0600 this...
I haven't any idea what to expect here at the air races. I got myself parked and settled in, and will explore a bit tomorrow. Meanwhile, airplanes are buzzing around, and I have a little view of them from my RV. Parking here is much like the Albuquerque Balloon Festival: the cheap places are amazingly tight on the desert dirt, across a road from a manufacturing plant, and a short walk away from anything interesting. My neighbors so far seem like...
It's coincidence that I had planned on a few days in Sacramento (in the CalExpo RV Park) just as Howie and Norah were to arrive to begin a stint as hosts there. And happenstance that since we were both coming from the north headed to the same place, that I ran into them at a rest stop. Good to see them again. Sacramento is hot, around 100 degrees, but that's not unusual at all. It would be nice if the RV parking was not on asphalt, but several...
I tend to believe US 97 might be the prettiest, most dramatic, road in the US. From begin to end, it's the grand tour of the Cascades, the volcanic mountains. From the north, by the time you've seen the hundreds of cones, driven through the Newberry Caldera, and crossed a few lava flows, Shasta looks downright dangerous. It's not, chances are good you'll make it, but you'll get a funny feeling in your stomach. I'm in the Central Valley of...
I'm watching closely the development of rules and regulations for legalized cannabis products in Washington and Colorado. Washington revised it's rules today, changing the annual production limit from 120 tons to 40 tons,a rather significant change. Neither state has any good facts on it's production and consumption, which would be most helpful to design the rules. Colorado is starting with data from existing medical marijuana dispensaries,...