Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,
Terribly sorry for the delay. The 'borrowed' internet connection has been troublesome the past few days...but I finally got the pictures loaded. You're welcome. So here's the details of the Lake Tahoe trip...and long story short, I want to move there. We started out early Thursday morning...and by we, I mean my mom & I. We had about an eight hour drive across the beautiful open nothingness that is northern Nevada...but we made the most of it. Like most people, we stopped in Wendover to...get gas. We also stopped in Elko to...stretch our legs. Then it gets really boring...so we had to make our own entertainment. So when we saw the signs of approaching cities, the imagination wandered a bit. My mom would say something like, "Golconda? I wonder where that name came from." and I would respond with, "You've never heard of Golconda?" "No. What is it?" "Oh, I figured you would know more about it than I would. It's been on the History Channel...but basically, it's a giant golden snake that was worshipped by the settlers here in the Nevada wastelands. Legend has it, that thousands of years ago, there was a giant snake that was ravaging the landscape and the Shoshone Indians asked King Midas himself to come and stop him by touching him and turning him into solid gold." "The same King Midas from ancient Greek mythology?" "Oh so you have heard the legend? Well, to this day, the inhabitants of this town worship this snake, much like those snake kissers in Appalachia...only without the whole Praise Jesus thing...it's straight golden idol worship." "$teve, you need help." "I know." Then we would pass the road sign that says "Golconda / Midas" and just look at each other...like maybe I'm not that crazy...just creepy psychic. Then I googled it...and Golconda's actually named after one of the leading diamond mines in India...and is where the Hope Diamond was found. Go figure. I wasn't THAT far off (that's my story & I'm sticking to it). You can probably guess the kind of story I came up with when we passed the "Deeth / Starr Valley" sign. "Hmm, so this is where the Emperor's rebuilding it..."
Terribly sorry for the delay. The 'borrowed' internet connection has been troublesome the past few days...but I finally got the pictures loaded. You're welcome. So here's the details of the Lake Tahoe trip...and long story short, I want to move there. We started out early Thursday morning...and by we, I mean my mom & I. We had about an eight hour drive across the beautiful open nothingness that is northern Nevada...but we made the most of it. Like most people, we stopped in Wendover to...get gas. We also stopped in Elko to...stretch our legs. Then it gets really boring...so we had to make our own entertainment. So when we saw the signs of approaching cities, the imagination wandered a bit. My mom would say something like, "Golconda? I wonder where that name came from." and I would respond with, "You've never heard of Golconda?" "No. What is it?" "Oh, I figured you would know more about it than I would. It's been on the History Channel...but basically, it's a giant golden snake that was worshipped by the settlers here in the Nevada wastelands. Legend has it, that thousands of years ago, there was a giant snake that was ravaging the landscape and the Shoshone Indians asked King Midas himself to come and stop him by touching him and turning him into solid gold." "The same King Midas from ancient Greek mythology?" "Oh so you have heard the legend? Well, to this day, the inhabitants of this town worship this snake, much like those snake kissers in Appalachia...only without the whole Praise Jesus thing...it's straight golden idol worship." "$teve, you need help." "I know." Then we would pass the road sign that says "Golconda / Midas" and just look at each other...like maybe I'm not that crazy...just creepy psychic. Then I googled it...and Golconda's actually named after one of the leading diamond mines in India...and is where the Hope Diamond was found. Go figure. I wasn't THAT far off (that's my story & I'm sticking to it). You can probably guess the kind of story I came up with when we passed the "Deeth / Starr Valley" sign. "Hmm, so this is where the Emperor's rebuilding it..."
The random tree sculpture between Slick City & Wendover
If you have to ask why this picture's here...
Poke & Peek?
Another town that I was forced to resort to this kind of entertainment was Winnemucca. See, we took the business loop to find a pisser, so I had plenty of time to explain to my mom the story behind Winnemucca...which had been passed down from generation to generations purely through my own anus. "Winnemucca is a Paiute word meaning 'Yellow Mud' because...Winne means yellow...like Winnie the Pooh...and they used to call mud Mucca...because the children would would pick it up to play with it and say eww mucca." "Really?" "Okay, I'm just pulling some BS out...but it probably means Yellow Mountain or something because of that yellow hill over there." "Hmm, maybe...but I like your explanation better." "Me too." So I googled that sh*t...because I was curious and despite the city's motto being "There's More Than Meets the Eye" which is an obvious Transformers reference, Winnemucca doesn't mean Optimus Prime. Rather, there's a far more interesting story about Chief Winnemucca, which loosely translates to "One Moccasinsin" and his daughter Sarah who was the first Native American woman to secure a copyright & publish in the English language. Far more interesting than the drive through the business loop, I assure you.
We stopped in Reno rather suddenly because we saw an In-N-Out Burger (technically in Sparks) and we had to have some lunch. I am of the opinion...that if I were to live near an In-N-Out Burger...that I would probably be well over 300 pounds within a month. That stuff is just delicious. After getting lunch there, we continued on to the Northstar-at-Tahoe ski resort area near the northern shore of Lake Tahoe. This may be where I work in the future. Enjoy the pictures during the Mud Season...but I'm sure Ski Season's even better.
Then we drove around Lake Tahoe to the southern end where our hotel was. This lake is HUGE!!! It's 22 miles long & 12 miles wide and averages about 900 feet deep. That's enough water to flood all of California about 14 inches deep. Hot, right? Well, it's also cleaner than the water that comes out of your tap. Here are some of the pictures...
Car Show at Harvey's Casino
This is where I said, "Yeah, I could live here"
The next day, we set out to check a few apartments in the northern part. Now, I won't bore you with pictures or details about the places we checked out...but it's definitely doable...and combined with the simply gorgeous surroundings of this happening mountain town, I'm really excited to see if this'll be my future habitat. The area's we looked into were the northern shore of the lake called King's Beach (very nice...and looks like a lot of former campgrounds turned into homes) and north up to the town of Truckee. So remember Sarah Winnemucca from earlier? Well, her grandfather was named Tru-ki-zo ('Good' in Paiute) or what was translated to Truckee (so not the truck stop that I thought it was originally). This area was a nice little historic town right along the train tracks...and we had lunch there...and here are the pictures to prove it.
It's no Rocky vs Apollo
because Bacon ALWAYS wins
This only cost five dolla in Vietnam...
"Tehehe...blow your own..."
Elvis' ki
Now, at this point, I want to share a little thing that I noticed about the ladies in this region. Being a male in his twenties, I was very keen to the appearance of the ladies that I encountered who were also in their twenties. There were basically four that I actually had a conversation with...and they all had one thing in common. The girl that checked us into the hotel, the clerk at the...adult beverage store, the young lady who showed us around the Sawmill Heights apartments, the sweet thang that served us paninis in downtown Truckee, all four had facial piercings. You know, like the little piercings that look like chrome-plated zits on the upper lip or the corner of their nose? Every girl that I met in their twenties had these piercings. I just found it odd. I don't have anything against them (though as mentioned, I do think they look like cyber-acne) but I just found it out of the ordinary...being from Utah where I could count the girls I've met with such piercings on one hand (and don't mind what the other is doing). Anyway, back to the trip.
The next day, we boarded a boat cruise for a four-hour tour of the lake (and where I gathered a few of those factoids from earlier). It was simply gorgeous...and they made us a fine meal of kabobs. Here are some pictures...including the Corleone estate from Godfather Part Two. Oh yeah...
"Shall I...show you the bedroom madam?"
"FREDO!!!"
This water is cleaner than what's on bottles...
Emerald Bay
That night we wandered around the casinos and had some dinner...but nothing really out of the ordinary. Then the next morning, we drove home through Carson City, the state capital. Here ugh...here are some pictures of the drive home. There was more napping and hits from the 70's than on-the-spot mythology about city names on the return trip. So yeah...that was it...and now I just have to see if my future employer wants to call for that first interview soon. It's an absolutely gorgeous place...and I hope that you all get the chance to check it out in your lifetime...if not just for a quick romantic trip (ladies...) or if for some reason you're in the neighborhood. Anyway, I'll keep you posted on the possible move there...but in the meantime, have a great night everybody!!!
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