Friday, April 12, 2013

brothels and aliens


I may not spend much time here, but I have returned to the state I now call my legal residence.

We left Bullhead City (in Arizona) Thursday morning around 8 and arrived in Reno just before 6 PM.  That is one of the joys of Nevada.  Being able to travel long distances at high speeds -- and feel relatively legal.  It is no wonder libertarians are attracted to the place.

Along with other sorts.  I realize this photograph runs the risk of being
labeled cliché.  Tourist traps and brothels are not everything about Nevada.  But even the rankest stereotype is based on some truth.

Well, truth may not be the correct word.  Take this tourist trap.



It is on the main north-south highway in western Nevada.  The fabled Area 51 is in eastern Nevada.  But that does not keep clever entrepreneurs from spinning fables about the huge tracts of federal land in the state.

Of course, there are some identified flying objects that can conjure up real and imagined fears.  We were pulling into Indian Springs when Darrel noticed this object.



It is a Predator drone.  About to do a touch and go on the local Air Force landing strip.  Another was on its final leg.

I could have spent the full day watching them climb and dive.  What I did not know was where the location of the "pilot."  It could have been anywhere in the world.  And, unlike Rand Paul, I find them a bit comforting.  They could be the precursors of commercial flight.

But that is far in the future.  My more immediate future includes a quick trip to Bend tomorrow.  And an end to our little automobile shuffle adventure.

No comments: