I love the sky in Reno. It’s the prettiest I’ve seen. Mostly sunshine, but when we do get clouds, they tend to be spectacular. I’ve heard we get some formations here that you don’t see anywhere else. And this makes for some really great sunrises and sunsets. Here are some photos of a few that I’ve enjoyed over the last 2 months.
And for the grand finale….
Rebecca Knabe
I don’t really have a good answer. The best I can come up with is that I’ve been tired…. I know, that’s a terrible response. But I’m back, and have a bunch of pictures of the stuff that’s been keeping me busy (and tired) for the last 2 months.
I helped this wonderful couple, and two of my favorite friends, celebrate their 10th anniversary:
Then I watched the Sierra Nevada mountains go from this….
…to this:
I also had a myriad of visitors! Some stayed with me in the pink trailer, and some did not. Some were invited, and others, not so much….
Cassi’s best friend, Bella. Cassi and I, and Bella and her mama, Shawn, all lived together in Bend, Oregon in 2003/04.
A great night out with Shawn & Steve, visiting from Oregon.
Dannica (we have been best friends for nearly 40 – ugh! – years) visited from Kelowna, BC for our annual super-happy-fun-extra-long-weekend-and-Black-Friday-shopping-extravaganza.
Next, my sweet sister-in-law, Sierra, visited during the coldest few weeks of the year.
My favorite fella, John, visited from upstate New York for a few weeks.
And I can’t forget Joey, my frequent uninvited guest, who loves to rub his hairy butt all over my bedding. Good thing I’m allergic to cats….
With all the extra days off during the holidays, I had a few sleepovers at friends’ houses. Conveniently also during some very cold days and nights.
Here, all are participating in a community napping session.
New Year’s Eve was spent trading makeup and falling asleep before 11:00 with these two beauties.
I nearly froze to death, on a couple of occasions. On nights like this, living in an un-insulated trailer feels like barely a step up from being homeless. But I’ve managed to figure out a system with my space heaters that prevents my pipes and I from freezing solid in the night (even when the temps hit 0F/-18C), without blowing a fuse, and while keeping my electric bill under $200.
Even on bright sunny days, the pink trailer was home to many icicles.
Beautiful icicles flanking the laundry room of a local trailer park.
Then my friends let me babysit. Although “let me” doesn’t sound quite right. I wasn’t exactly begging to do it…. But remember the 10th anniversary friends up above? As part of my anniversary gift to them, I bought them a movie date and offered to babysit. It was my first babysitting in a couple of decades. No one died, no one pooped, and we only had one crier, so all in all, a pretty successful evening….
I have also been spending a little time at a great new local coffee shop, Coffee Bar….
…where Marty McFly’s De Lorean was recently parked:
And finally, I had a fantastic long weekend in Vegas (one of my favorite cities to visit), catching up with friends and family:
Wearing blue to Blue Man Group.
Enjoying The Strip at night.
Watching the Bellagio fountains, Ocean’s Eleven style.
Beautiful Red Rock Canyon.
The breathtaking Nevada desert.
So that’s a little of what I’ve been up to, while being the world’s most neglectful blogger. I promise to be better. I promise. 🙂
Rebecca Knabe
Early October saw some truly awesome sunrises at Virginia Lake. It’s like a reward for getting up before the sun, and a motivation to do it again soon.
It looks like the ducks are enjoying the scenery too.
Rebecca Knabe
Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it,
and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth
seeking the successive autumns.
~ George Eliot
*****
I have a love/hate relationship with autumn. I love the intense color and beauty of the season. But it is also the threshold to winter and cold, and the pink trailer and I aren’t as happy during those months.
But for now let’s just enjoy the lovely parts of this time of year….
Red sky at night, sailors’ delight; red sky in morning, sailors’ warning. This time of year, red sunrises are sure to mean a blustery day.
But there are some spectacularly clear days too.
Leaves and grasses give us one bright splash of color before hiding away for the rest of the year.
Happy Autumn!
Rebecca Knabe
This fancy number was spotted by my cousin, Carly, during Burning Man season, when all the super creative trailers come out of the woodwork.
Rebecca Knabe
Every September Reno’s most colorful and exciting festival sweeps me off my feet, and I fall in love with it all over again.
The Great Reno Balloon Race is the “world’s largest free hot air ballooning event.” For 3 days, thousands of locals drag themselves out of bed at an ungodly hour to sit bundled-up in a large open field and enjoy the festivities. The days start at 5:00 am with the Glow Show, followed by Dawn Patrol, and finish with the Mass Ascension.
There is nothing that beats the sights, sounds, and excitement of watching a hundred hot air balloons inflate, launch, and float away into the clear blue desert sky. It’s indescribable, really, so I’ll let some pictures that I took this morning describe it for me….
Pretty exciting stuff! Seeing it in person is even better. In person it’s this kind of exciting:
Rebecca Knabe
The Yosemite Rim Fire still blazes on – 2 1/2 weeks from when it started. It has burned nearly 370 square miles, is the 4th largest wildfire in California history, and is now about 80% contained. Its smoke continues to find its way into the Truckee Meadows, resulting terrible air quality for the Reno/Tahoe vicinity.
On my way to Canada last Thursday, we flew over the fire and got an incredible view….
Here you can see plumes of dirty smoke rising from the mountains below.
This picture explains why our skies are so hazy, and our views are so obstructed.
Being out-of-town for 5 days, I had nearly forgotten about how bad it was. Now that I’m back, I’m quickly reminded. And while it is pretty uncomfortable for us in Northern Nevada, it’s much worse for the people who have lost their homes, the animals who have been driven out of their habitat or have died, and the giant, old sequoias that have been lost.
Hopefully this thing is fully contained soon.
Rebecca Knabe
Here are some photos that I’ve taken around town in the last few weeks….
A little bit of lake jumping at Frenchmans.
Enjoying the local trails at Caughlin Ranch.
Morning sunflowers.
Beautiful trailer park sunsets.
More smoky sunsets.
Watching the sun dip behind the Sierra Nevada’s.
Reflective ponds at dusk.
Rebecca Knabe
If you live in the Northern California/Northern Nevada area, or have friends that do, your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter feed is probably blowing up with hazy photos of the horrendous smoke in the air. It is coming from the Rim Fire in Yosemite, that is currently burning over 105,000 acres and is only 2% contained.
The smoke is permeating everything – our clothes, our hair, our homes. Outdoor exercise is not an option, and for many of us, neither is a headache-free day.
For the first time ever, the citizens of Reno are praying for wind. Lots and lots of wind, so we can all breathe again.
The mid-day sun.
There is one up-side, however. It does make for the most magnificent sunsets!
Rebecca Knabe
Posted by Rebecca
One of my favorite things to do in the summer is to get out of the Pink Trailer, and head over to Reno Street Food in Idlewild Park for an evening of food prepared in other people’s trailers. All you need to bring are blankets, chairs, a little cash, and lots of friends. There is a playground, a train, and lots of open grass to keep the kids busy, while the adults can enjoy some great food, drink, music and a little shopping.
The line-up varies each Friday, but the choices are always delicious. And if you can’t make it this Friday, the trucks and trailers will be back every Friday until October.
For a more urban scene, check out Food Truck Fridays downtown, on the first and third Friday of every month through the summer. If less kids and louder music in a bustling part of Reno sounds more like your thing, this will be right up your alley.
Rebecca Knabe
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