RenoVous

  We camped in the wide open desert outside of Black Rock City. The pups were curious about the train. The night life at Burning Man begins. The fireworks show. Burn, baby, burn.

  We had a great spot for camping at Lahontan. The event was put on by Friends of Nevada Wilderness, Nevada State Parks, and the Nevada Division of Outdoor Recreation. The day had some booths set up, but most people came out for the night - there was a band on that stage there, and all red lights only. Down the lakeside they had telescopes set up, but my night sight didn't catch that so well. The stars came out alright though. Tent View And the pups.

  We found a time capsule in the middle of the desert. Some filming for Independence Day  took place in Rachel, NV. Specifically, the mobile home park Russell Casse lived in with his kids. And it was during this time that SR 375 officially became known as the Extraterrestrial Highway. The studio is now owned by Disney. It's important to note that when Will Smith is walking towards Area 51, he is on the Bonneville Salt Flats.  Not even Nevada desert.

  Father Crowley Vista Point before you start driving down, down, down. You hit sea level at Stovepipe Wells. Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. We turned into the Harmony Borax Works site. Now below sea level. The mountains were seriously mosaic.

  Trego Hot Springs

  Out in the desert of Goldfield, junk cars are the canvas of The Last Church. "More akin to a druidic henge than any Christian chapel."

 We found a lukewarm spring in the Kirch Wildlife Area. We stopped in Eureka, which has some old timey bits. And a perfect Valentine's Hot Spring.

The Atacama Desert in Chile is known as the driest place on Earth. But after an especially rainy winter, it is experiencing a bloom. The rain was enough to activate bulbs and latent seeds that were hidden beneath the surface for years.  According to the National Forestry Corporation, it may have awakened a seed bank that had been dormant for a long time. The above includes violet guanaco paw and white huille, but there are more than 200 species expected to appear, many of them endemic, creating a "true chromatic mosaic of ecological and scientific value." And it is expansive.  

  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.

  Antelope bitterbrush. Number one on my bucket list is to graffiti a train car.  Not with a tag, but with a quote.  Something colorful to catch the attention of those who may be stuck behind a crossing.  I've always enjoyed that. Stopped in the desert will be the place to do it, I think.  I just need to have the spray paint ready to go.