Wind, snow, fire -- Nov. 18 & 19, 2011

Reno, Fernley, Fallon, NV: Yesterday, Nov. 18, we had high winds in the afternoon. When we returned home from work, our door mat had blown away, the plastic wheel chocks looked like they tried to get away as they were a few inches away from the tires.

Last night we had dinner at Black Bear Diner. We really like this place. It is very comfortable. I had herb & garlic crusted trout, mashed potatoes with gravy, salad and sauteed veggies. Bob and I shared a scoop of Bear Claw ice cream (chocolate ice cream with chocolate-covered cashews and carmel ribbons)--yummy! The diner has a "gazette" with "Nevada Fun Facts." The menu is in the center of the paper.  Here are some interesting Nevada facts:

• The ichthyosaur is Nevada's official state fossil
• Nevada takes its name from a Spanish word meaning snow-clad
• Nevada has more mountain ranges than any other state, with its highest point at the 13,145 foot top of Boundary Peak near the west-central border.
• Nevada is the largest gold-producing state in the nation. It is second in the world behind South Africa.
• The state's Highway 50 is known as the Loneliest Highway in America. There are few road stops in the 287-mile stretch between Fernley and Ely (pronounced E'lee).

You may have heard about the 3,000 acre wildfire yesterday in Reno which destroyed 21 homes, killed one person and injured multiple others. With the wind whipping through the area, it was difficult for the firefighters to control the conflagration. However, last night, as the wind died down, the temperatures dropped, and we had a light snowfall, they were able to contain the fire. I feel sad for the people who lost their homes just before Thanksgiving. 

This morning, the desert was covered with a light dusting of snow. We drive to work at dawn and as we turned the corner to go to Amazon.com, the most gorgeous sunrise greeted us...red and orange with clouds to give it interest. The sky was on fire!

At work, mandatory overtime has been instituted from now until Dec. 23. Our assigned overtime day is Sunday, which means we would have had to work SIX ten-hour days in a row this week (since we had just worked five of them). I discussed it with our manager and he said he would check into it. I also mentioned this Sunday is my birthday. Later in the day he came back and let me know we would not need to work overtime this coming week. We will start with next Sunday as our overtime day. Yay!

I will leave you with my favorite quote: "Though we may travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we will find it not." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Beauty"

Travel Bug out to get dessert!
(That's a sweet treat, not an arid landscape.  : P )