Pronghorn Are Not Antelope

In all the miles we have driven, seeing wildlife is an unusual event even in some of the most remote places we pass through.  Today though was different.  I spied a herd of pronghorn from my side of the coach.  At first I thought deer and then antelope.  But the horns were wrong.  They rose straight up from the head of one of the animals, obviously a male.  He was accompanying about five others that seemed to include a juvenile or two and some females.  It was exhilarating to see them from above on the highway but it all happened so fast I was not able to photograph them.  The photos above and below are from the Web.

These beautiful animals are the fastest hoofed animals in North America and can reach speeds up to 60-miles per hour.  Interestingly these animals are unique to North America.

Yesterday we passed by Fernley Basin.  It is part of an irrigation attempt started in the late 1800s to bring water from Lake Tahoe to this Nevada area via the Truckee River (the source of that river) to combine with the Carson River.  Then using both, the intent was to create an irrigation system to support agriculture over a 400,000 acre parcel of land in western Nevada.  Apparently this resulted in the usual battles over water (just as we saw in California) that continues to this day.  Interestingly, at one time San Francisco even wanted to claim Lake Tahoe as its water source!  But I could go on for pages telling about the battle for water in this area, so I will leave the history behind this photo to those of you who wish to research more about it on the Web.  It makes for interesting and frustrating reading all at the same time...

Today was our eighth anniversary.  The years have passed so quickly, it is hard to believe.  We went out to dinner last night at a local truck stop called Bella's.  It is one of three truck stops in Wells, Nevada which has just two exits and about three main streets.  We are in the western Nevada high desert on Interstate-80 traveling easterly and tomorrow we turn north and will reach Idaho.

As a note of humor, at dinner we spied a framed Wall Street Journal article about Bella.  It described how in Nevada the legal, oldest profession thrived during the Salt Lake City Olympics.  We did not see any evidence of that during dinner.  It seems now Bella is involved in promoting the sale of espresso and coffee beans.

And that is it for today's edition of "As the World Turns" from along the road...

Chris and Jim