RenoVous

  I learned something this weekend about ants, aphids, and sagebrush. After coming across this above, I thought at first the ants were tending some larvae, but then I realized they were bugs too.  So I Googled and found out. The aphids eat the sagebrush, and the ants farm them in doing so.  They'll move them around to different locations, protect them from predators, and milk them.  They stroke the aphids in a certain way and they exude a nectar that the ants eat. This is called honeydew, a by-product of the sap they feed on.

 We took a turn to find a reservoir and ended up enjoying a beautiful drive. We made camp at Wildhorse.

 The Dionne quintuplets, the first quints to survive infancy, were born on this day in 1934 just outside of Ontario. Yvonne, Annette, Cecile, Emilie, and Marie. They were born premature, and after four months with their family, custody was signed over to the Red Cross, which paid for their care.  In 1935, the Ontario government passed the Dionne Quintuplets Guardianship Act, which made them wards of the Crown. The Dafoe Hospital and Nursery was built for the girls and their caregivers, but it was also what has been called a "baby zoo."  The outdoor playground was designed to be a public observation area, which came to be known as Quintland. The girls were also tested, studied, and examined.  Along with Dr. Dafoe, they were used to sell commercial products like Karo corn syrup and Colgate.  He profited immensely from his involvement, and Ontario did as well through tourist revenue. In 1943, they were returned to their parents after much effort and pressure was pl...

  Helen Mirren Taraji P. Henson Elle Fanning Colman Domingo Milly Alcock Jennifer Lopez Cate Blanchett Sarah Jessica Parker Elizabeth Banks Ana de Armas

  The first ever encounter with a live Sulawesi coelacanth has been reported by divers off the coast of Indonesia, photographed for the first time in the wild. They were thought to have gone extinct millions of years ago, but then in 1997 one showed up in a fish market.  It was quickly given protected status to avoid intentional fishing. One was caught in 1998 and was given to an ichthyologist, who was able to document its coloration, fin movements, and general behavior.  It didn't survive the catch, and was donated to the Indonesian Institute of Sciences. It is locally called raja laut, or King of the Sea. Coelacanths are an ancient species of lobe-finned fish, and there are only two living species.

  Just a walk around the gardens. Aesculus flava Crataegus laevigata Cornus kousa Iris  Oak

 The ghost town of Kirwin, Wyoming. In 1885, Harry Adams and William Kirwin found gold and silver while hunting deer. During the 1930's, the Double Dee Dude Ranch was a popular destination, and was visited often by Amelia Earhart to get away from the fame she had acquired. In fact, she was in the process of building a cabin there when she disappeared in 1937. And it was on this day in 1932 that she became the first woman to make a solo, nonstop transatlantic flight.  In 1928, she was the first woman to cross the Atlantic in an aircraft, but that was part of a three person crew. She was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by the US Congress. In 1935, she was the first to fly solo from Honolulu to Oakland, and won a $10K cash prize. And with that, she wanted to become the first woman to fly around the world.  The Coast Guard received radio messages that she was lost and low on fuel.  It is believed the plane went down near Howland Island.  The Earhart Light sta...

 We have a Roku so streaming is our only source of television and movies at home.  (Well, we do have DVDs still too). We mostly use Netflix, Paramount, and HBO Max - but Shudder is my favorite.  If you like horror, I highly recommend it.  You get some oldies and you get some originals that are pretty great. Weekly I've been watching Beverly Hills 90210 through Paramount along with the 90210MG podcast.  I grew up with the show but hadn't really watched from start to finish.  It's been fun revisiting the 90's. We finished a documentary on OJ Simpson last night.  I was young during the trial, and there was a lot to learn about what all was going on at that time, not to mention his actual football career.  I mostly like to watch true crime docs, surprised? Hubby likes the access to anime, from Netflix to Crunchyroll. We spend time surfing the options much like we all once did through cable channels, never really sure what movie you want to watch until...

Julia Garner Kristen Stewart Ariana Greenblatt Pom Klementieff Pedro Pascal Natalie Portman Irina Shayk Wan QianHui Angelina Jolie Halle Berry Ms. Berry is one of the jury members this year.  

  We've been to a number of these now, you may recall some shots from  Cathedral Gorge  and  Valley of Fire .  We stop by Washoe Lake a lot, and there's a few up in Tahoe. One of my favorites was Berlin-Icthyosaur State Park, home to our state fossil. The ghost town of Berlin. Dayton State Park had some history too. Rock Point Mill. Fort Churchill came to mind when we were talking about Fallon earlier this week. Some of them are more classified as State Recreation Area, such as Rye Patch and Lahontan, as well as South Fork.  These are all reservoirs. That also includes  Wildhorse . And this was just a stop, there was a visitor center, but it's about the adobe. "The only US state park located in a city that houses the first building ever built in that city." Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort Share your favorite state parks!