2003 07 Nevada, Idaho

Well, it appears I got the date wrong in my mail yesterday .. oh well .. today I got it right.

Today was not much of a photo day.  It was much of a driving day.  I did not get going until about 11, and then had some things to do in Reno.  I was on the way out to Elko by 1, and the way 80 moves (85+) I was here by 5:30. I found a place to stay and then headed north of here to the area that Tuscarora is in.. The Independence Valley, up in the far northeast corner of Nevada.  It's not much different than all the other basin and range valleys in Nevada, but this part of the state is pretty high up.  It's all sage, and in the valley itself is some ranching.  Beautiful area.  It was snowy and winter here that last time I was out.  Tomorrow I am going to head back up the same way to go through Owhyee, the Owhyee Desert, and then to the Bruneau Dunes in Idaho.  I hope the latter are worth seeing and spending some time with...  I have never been there.

Here's a semi-representative shot of what you see on the way to Tuscarora.  It's a hilly part of the drive on State Highway 226.  Nice hill contours and I did shoot some film here.

About 15 miles further along I literally ran into a lot of bugs.  These guys:

See all those specks on the road?  Really dumb and really lethargic grasshoppers.  (BTW, this is the Independence Valley.  It's about 8 by 15 miles.. very pretty.  I just sat in about this spot until the sun went down .. very red sunset.)

This next pic is rated X-BG, for eXtra Bug Guts.  This is what you get when you have to drive through all those grasshoppers.  I just had to show you ..

Aren't rental cars fun?