Elko and Silver State Stampede

There are a few things in Elko that are worth writing home about. The best is probably the taco truck. It is actually a great food truck and that says a lot coming from a Portland resident where food carts are everywhere these days. Here is Julie, Jean and Katie enjoying our lunch at the truck.



I had the opportunity to attend the Silver State Stampede, aka the rodeo. It was exactly what I expected. My favorite parts were the cowgirls racing their horses in the clover pattern. One of the ladies is even an aesthetician. My other favorite part was the "Ring of Fear". They had 6 guys standing in their own circles in a small ring. The goal is stay in your ring when they turn the bull loose. The last man standing wins $500. I heard a woman won the night before, but she also works at a ranch and was more like a "bull whisperer". There was no whispering tonight, these guys got their asses handed to them except the last one. The bull didn't even make it over to his part of the ring and didn't have to do anything. Here is the bull about to charge one of the other poor dudes.



It was a very interesting night...another good time in Elko, Nevada.

Nevada - Take 2

I am back in Nevada after three weeks at home. This time I have a new partner and a whole new area to explore close to the Nevada-Utah border. Right now we are on mountains surrounded by juniper trees.



This cactus was on top of the summit of one of the mountains.



The easterly view from the summit over the mountains and the salt flats in Utah.



One of the many lizards we have observed.



So far this rotation has been a lot hotter and dryer than last time. It is a good thing we start so early in the morning and can be done by the time it gets super hot. Plus the birds are more active then as well. Some new species so far include Pinyon Jay, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Juniper Titmouse and Blue-grey Gnatcatcher. Hopefully we will see more hummingbirds this week.