It's Not My Imagination

Leave it to me, huge weather nerd, to move to the place with the least amount of severe weather in the continental US!

This is why I'm so fixated on earthquakes. Because what else is there? Thunder? Nope. Snow? Nope. Hurricanes? Nope. Tornados? Nope. Waterspouts? Nope. Even the rain is usually just a mist or drizzle (which is a good thing!). 

I miss thunderstorms. 

Jackpot Top 10

Top 10 Reasons Why I Love Jackpot, NV:

10. It is in the middle of nowhere with very few people.

9. Rock hounding. 

8. It's only a 10-hour drive from Seattle.

7. The size of the casino (cactus pete's) is perfect in size: not too big, not too small.

6. Texas Tina slot machine at Horshu casino.

5. Kitty Glitter slot machine at Cactus Pete's.

4. Free drinks in the casinos. 

3. Earthquakes. Although I didn't feel any, it is near a swarm area.

2. The people-watching.

1. The landscape. The color palette and texture of the land are beautiful. The silver sage brush to the sculpted hills spotted with brown, yellow and green. Even behind the casino, it's all natural land. Apparently you can even hike and camp in the BLM (bureau of land management) areas according to some guy I met in Big Sky. There are owls hooting and doves cooing. It is a special place. And to think, I discovered it just by swiping around randomly on google maps. 

Note to self... Retirement plan: open an espresso stand or coffee place in Jackpot!

Jackson, WY

I really like the town of Jackson, WY. To be fair, I've had a distant crush on Wyoming since 11th grade. Maybe the lack of people? The under-the-radar status? The Martian landscape? Love those things. But also love the culture in Jackson. It's Wild West for sure with a touch of tourist and some real artistic culture. 

Take for example this taxidermy that holds Rocco's interest:

Or, more seriously, this show at the Art association for Borbay's paintings:

I like this bar:

And this is a great place to take Instagram photos:

I met up with friends in Grand Teton National Park (very exciting!!) and we all took the tram up to 10,450 ft at Jackson Hole/Teton village:

Gran Teton National Park

I find the mountains here to be memorizing, which I think is because of the shape of the peaks and the snow to rock ratio.

Lots of bison and moose here!

Yellowstone and Geysers Galore

This is one of the most beautiful places on earth. 

Old Faithful:

The best place for geyser photos, in my opinion, is the Geyser Hill walk by Old Faithful. Some highlights:

Grand Prismatic Spring, above, is big and has gorgeous colors. 

Bison just walking down the road. So close I felt him snort.