Power Outages

I have been in Fresno and the san joaquin valley. The first thing I noticed is there are not nearly as many people there as there are on the coast. Same with the mountains where the snow is. I actually preferred it although the farm country is pretty boring if you are not a farmer and they were pissed about the water, or lack thereof.

I've travelled and lived in sone third world countries. 2 years in Zambia, a month in Burkina Faso, travelled in Zaire and Bottswana, and from FD to the bottom of Yucatan in Mexico. There are parts of the USA that are worse - in many ways.

The mountains of New York, Kentucky, and the virginias have some beauty - but NOBOFY should have to live the way many have to there in a DEVELOPED country.

Probably went to Orlando and Miami.

We have spent a lot of time in that tristate area were Georgia Tennessee and North Carolina converge. It is really a pretty nice area but watch out for the Trumprers. That is where the Greene woman is from. It is an easy mountain trip from Florida although we still prefer flying into Atlanta and renting a car. That 600 miles of I-75 is mind numbing and wastes a day each way. The last 4 times we went to DC we went up through the mountains instead of I-95 and took a week. We flew home.

The black hills in SD are cool but the rest is Nebraska. We were all over the Dakotas and ended up running back to the black hills.

My SIL's family is from Nebraska. His dad was a professor at one of those universities. I asked him what they had in Nebraska and he said "dirt".

We liked Montana. Dipped into Wyoming on both sides. The Tetons are cool. We stayed at Grand Targee. Turned down a job in Tucson.

We did an Az NM trip. The high plains are good, the desert sux.

Meh It is hard to tell where western Md stops and NY starts, Skiing in 7 springs isn't bad if you like low hill skiing. I white water rafted on the Yuk.

Did that loop from New Hampshire through Vermont, across the lake to NY to Buffalo.

And to get it back on topic, I never had a power outage in Livingstone in 2 years - - - Never had POWER inFabedougou until we got the solar cells, batteries, and inverter set up. The power went out at 8pm at Macha and Mbereshi unless there was something special going on to require later community power (Diesel is expensive)

Well, here on the coast it's currently 35 degrees and the heater is running.

And you'd be surpised at how many people live in fresno, bakersfield[*], sacramento, redding and chico. Not to mention the large ag operations that consume energy, including the almond processors.

As for farm country, I prefer the northern parts of the state. Much prettier. Highway 299 from Burney to Alturas is quite nice.

Had plans to go there a few years back but my wife had some surgery and was never up to a trip like that after. I was taking a norther route west, dropping to Las Vegas to see a new great grandson, then home on a more southern route. It is a variation of two previous trips west.

Spent a lot of time in that area after moving to CT. Some nice small town.

I have never been to Vegas and have no interest in going. We have been all around the west tho. This is my vacation picture directory

We avoided all of the cities as much as possible. We did like the area around Lake Placid but when we got to Buffalo we went straight through to Canada. That is like getting in a time machine comparing New York to Ontario. It is the same on the other side of the lake in Detroit. Canada is Mayberry.

You really should go sometime when you have an hour to kill. Take a ride out to the dam, then go down the strip and spend 15 minutes in a casino. Done.

Been there more times than I cared to be. We went for some work "seminars" for a few days. Daughter lived there for a few years and I still have two granddaughters living there.

Pretty good list. I have most of the east well covered but not much in the northwest. Been to Mexico a few times but no desire to return.

Casinos are all alike, whether it is AC, Nassau or Immokalee. I have seen bright lights and blighted neighborhoods too. They are usually right down the road from the Casino.

Mexico is OK once you get away from the border and the tourist areas. We took a day trip about 50 miles south of Cancun for a horseback adventure and ran into a girl from South Dakota. It was a totally different experience.

Years back, I was on a business trip from Atlanta to Ontario, California with a change of planes in Las Vegas. I had a few minutes until boarding time and four quarters in my pocket. I decided to deposit in the slot machines right at the boarding gate.

Long story short- I hit the jackpot with the last coin. Sirens went off, bells started ringing and quarters poured out of the machine.

I ended up filling a half-dozen 32 ounce drink cups. But I couldn't get the change ladies roaming the concourse to accept the quarters and give me bills. They said they were only allowed to change bills into quarters, not vice-versa! So I ended up trucking them onto the plane with me.

I was met right at the gate in Ontario and whisked immediately to lead a meeting at my client's office. The six cups on the conference table made for an amusing story and got everyone into a good frame of mind for the not very good news I had to deliver to them...

You forgot the buffets... The Luxor was fun when it first opened with all those hot women made up like Cleopatra (who did not look like Michelle Obama).

The only one I really enjoyed was Harold's up in Reno. They had a fantastic gun collection but it's been sold off.

When I was trucking at stopped at night at a casino in Jean. Around 4 AM I climbed out of the truck and went inside to get a cup of coffee. I got a quarter in change for the coffee and threw it into the slot by the coffee stand. Same deal. The girl at the coffee counter said 'You son of a bitch! I've been feeding that one all night!'.

That was my big lifetime casino win.

We used to have slot machines in Md when I was growing up and we went down to Waldorf drinking and playing the slots pretty often when I was in high school. Only once did I ever do well. I hit 2 jackpots in one night. Total $87.50. The real jackpots were paid by the bar owner, not out of the machine. Dumping that little stack of coins was literally chump change. We were rich for a while. ;-)

Back before 65 or so Maryland had slot machines and HO gauge casinos. We had a Stardust, a Desert Inn and a Sands in Waldorf. It wasn't Vegas but you could still drop a paycheck in there. Alas no real buffet, just snacks and no free drinks, at least not for peasants like us. I am not sure if they had high roller rooms. I know later when A/C opened, you could be a Sands Platinum member and only play slots but those are progressive machines you stick your Sands card in and play for your house, not something that you use coins in. My sister used to get greeted at the door, given a gift basket with her brand of cigarettes, a bottle of 12 year old scotch, an assortment of munchies they liked and a comp'ed room key. My BIL said it was like a cruise for them. Give them five grand and they treat you like a king for a few days. Every once in a while they actually made money but when I asked him about his 1099G he just looked down and changed the subject. When my Mom died my sister signed over her inheritance to pay her Sands bill.

I know all I need to know about casinos.