Reno. Yesterday.

Yesterday, Skeena & I went for a walk up Evans Canyon. I miss being able to take walks with the dog.

Hot Mash

I was going to go out and take some photos this afternoon, but as soon as I stepped out of the car, I realized it was just too hot. 103F is just too hot. I snapped these pics then got back in my car and came home, where, truth be told, it's not much cooler.

Gratuitous Doggie Shots

What's K Up To?

Biking and hiking, of course!

Bacon & Waffles

This was the first thing I ate when I got back to Reno on Sunday morning. Then I slept for 18 hours.

Mash + S

Tonight I spent a little bit of time (but, of course, not enough) with my best friend (we had dinner at Washoe up on 4th St). I'm lucky to have someone that I can spill every last bean to.

More Downtown Reno Motels

Coach Inn

Rancho Sierra Motel

Swan Inn

Time Zone Motel & Wonder Lodge

Time Zone Motel

Wonder Lodge

Monte Carlo Motel

Virginia Street Motels: Reno, Nevada

 The Golden West Motor Lodge, which is fenced off and looks like it might be torn down.

You know what I've always admired on the Heart o'Town Motel? That windowed corner space above the enter sign.

I picked up developed film today! I'm so excited. I've just started going through my rolls, which include pics from DC, Virginia City, and some of Reno motels. Honestly, I'm most excited about the motel shots. I've always wanted to do a series of photographs of the downtown Reno motels. I should have done this years ago when the Oxbow was still standing. Now it looks like both the Golden West Motor Lodge and the Heart o'Town Motel are going to be torn down (I say this only because they're both fenced off, not because I really know anything about these properties). I should buy some more film (I'm shooting 120 on a cheapo plastic camera....Lomography as it should be) and take a walk down 4th Street and snap some shots of those motels as well.

On a side note: I haven't forgotten about posting the recipe & pics of my Christmas Beeramisu, which turned out really nicely I thought. I promise that info is to come as well.

Breakfast at the Club Cal Neva

My dad and I had breakfast at the Club Cal Neva this morning. He had steak & eggs and I had french toast with sausage and eggs. 

10125 Peavine Road

I walked up to the top of Peavine today. We parked at the Kings Row access area and followed random roads up, up, up to the top. Yeah, it's easy enough to drive up to the summit, but I've always wanted to hike it. It took us about six hours and I figure we climbed about 3200 feet (Peavine sits at 8266) and maybe walked 6-or-so miles (update: I was just told that it was closer to 13 miles up-and-back, which just goes to show how terrible I am at estimating distances). According to the sign above, the peak has an address, but when I plugged it into USPS's zip code finder, no zip code for this address could be found.

(Side note: While I was looking up information about Peavine, I found this interesting-to-Kirsten site on arborglyphs, which, if you know me well, you'll know I love seeing Basque-carved aspens.)


And, of course, a few obligatory Skeena, Wild Dog of the Sierra photos...

Mike Colpo

Dear Mike,

I miss you.

xoxo
K

My First Truly Successful Drawing Project

Remember Storyboarding K? My storyboard was deemed good enough to put on display. Happy K!

Digital Harinezumi 2+++ Does the Downtown Reno Motel Circuit

Drawing K

This morning saw me getting rolling on my final version of a treehouse drawing I'm doing for one of my classes. I spent about an hour lightly laying in guide lines for my building and platform. I had to stop, though, because I needed time to think about where to put the tree. I'm about to get back to work. Hopefully, buy the end of this afternoon, I'll have the bulk of it laid out and I'll be able to start darkening lines and committing my drawing to the paper.

If you notice, on the iPad, occasionally a photograph of the treehouse I drew on newsprint pops up to use as a reference. That's been quite helpful so far, actually. I'm glad I thought to snap a photo of it.

The Nevada 'N'

Yesterday was Homecoming at UNR and, as they do every year, the Sigma Nu fraternity constructed a large sigma next to the Nevada "N" (although I thought they used to do this earlier in the year closer to the beginning of the school year in August). Ephemeral as ever, the sigma was gone this morning, but I thought it a good excuse to post a few random facts about this particular hillside letter.

Hillside letters are primarily a phenomenon of the American west (although I have seen letters in Canada and a hillside clock in Alexandra, New Zealand). The first hillside letter, a C, was built at the University of California, Berkeley in 1905. Located on the lower slopes of Peavine (and within walking distance of the R), the N was constructed in 1913 and is the first hillside letter to be built in Nevada. According to the 1913 Artemisia (UNR's yearbook), the N was constructed to measure 150 feet in height and 140 feet in breadth. Each leg has a thickness of 20 feet. It was the largest hillside letter until 1925.

Interested in further reading? Here's a collection of references gleaned from a research paper proposal I wrote many, many, many years ago for one of my classes:

Graham, A. (1987, October). If it's 'T' it must be Tonopah. Nevada, 47, 69-72.
Melton, R. (2001, July 2). The story behind the 'Block R.' Reno Gazette-Journal, pp 7A, 7D.
Parsons, J. (1988). Hillside letters in the western landscape. Landscape, 1, 15-23.
Somers, L. (Ed.). (1914). Artemisia. Junior Class of the University of Nevada.


....and a few web pages as well...

Hillside Letters: In Plain Sight but Not Intended for Planes
List of hillside letters in Nevada (Wikipedia)
Nevada's Hillside Letters (Google Maps)
Denied...Not! (the N could still use a new coat of paint)

Rabbit Brush

The rabbit brush is a-bloomin'.

Changing Aspen Leaves

I haven't been in the US in October since 2004. One of the things I really missed about October is the changing of the leaves. Earlier this morning, Skeena and I did the Jones-Whites Loop. On the final leg back to the trailhead, I couldn't help but stop and take a photo.

A Star Is Born, Mash Style

For one of my classes, I have to create an original star that adheres to the guidelines of the project. Earlier this week, I asked a few people which of the above stars they preferred, the left one or the right one. Based on feedback, I went with the one on the left. The time lapse video below shows me creating the final version of the star for my project.

Great Reno Balloon Race in Time Lapse

My attempt at time lapsing the balloons yesterday failed. I had to reformat the camera's memory stick on a Windows machine (oh....the horror, I know). This morning, I had the camera pointed in the wrong(ish) direction. I aimed it for where the balloons had drifted on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday mornings, but the wind pattern was different today. Part way through the video, I repositioned the camera but I missed the rising of the balloons. Oh well...there's always next year!

More Hot Air Balloon Lovin'

Did I already mention that I love hot air balloons? They blend two types of magic: flight and rainbows. These two photos are from the Great Reno Balloon Race this morning during that time after Dawn Patrol has ended but before Mass Ascension has begun. I came home after taking these photos to set up the time lapse camera to catch the view of the balloons from in front of the house.....fingers crossed I've set it up at a good angle. If not, I have one last chance tomorrow (which is the last day of the Race).