Back in the land of grapes.

Somebody braver than I on a downhill trail at Northstar.

Somebody braver than I on a downhill trail at Northstar.

Last weekend I stayed at Northstar Resort in Truckee, CA. I took the dogs for a hike on Saturday, and went biking on Sunday. They were having a race on Sunday, so that was pretty cool to see. I wanted to compare Northstar to the other places I had biked on this trip. Their website said they stopped running the bikes on the chair lift on September 1, so I was pessimistic that it would still be going. It was still going – I was really thrilled to get to enjoy Northstar this summer. I had been up two years ago and the jumps and technical ‘features’ had scared me out of my gourd – I stuck to the fire roads. This year, since Tamarack had shown me the way of the fun, I totally hit every type of trail I could find – Northstar has a plethora of choices. It was really fun, but a bit more rocky than Tamarack. I definitely understand the need for the extra suspension you get from a downhill bike – am I going to buy one? No. But I will rent one this weekend at Tamarack and see what it’s like!
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Art Gallery of Graffiti

At a place called Tonopah Junction along US 95 in Nevada, there is ruins of the salt harvesting equipment and buildings from the Rhodes Salt Marsh. Some enterprising people have turned it into a graffiti art gallery! These are some very cool looking graffiti, even though its probably historic concrete, though no one seems to care, because there is not even a historic marker near the site describing the stuff.

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Location Scouting

Click on image for closer view.

Click on image for closer view.

One of the things I’m doing on this trip is location scouting for a feature film I’m writing. North of Tonopah is probably a great location for part of the film. I first saw this area back in April and needed to return and take another look with a different perspective.

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Travel Progress Week 9

Wow! Nine weeks already!

Miles: 767


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Touring Area 51

I’m out on my road trip, and I get this call:

“This is the office of Robert Gates – the Secretary of Defense. We’ve been reading your blog, and are aware that you’ve been getting denied for tours at several Air Force Bases. We’d like to offer you an exclusive tour of R-4808N, I’m sure you’re aware of what that refers to.”

Needless to say I was a little shocked. How do you respond to an offer to tour an Air Force Base that doesn’t exist? What’s the catch?

*Gulp* “Yes, I’d love to a tour!”

Exclusive photos and a description of my tour after the jump! Continue reading →

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